In this Q&A, we talk to children’s author, Nat Amoore, about the value and benefit of doing live events with young people – and how to secure more event bookings as an author or illustrator.
What do you see as the value or benefits of live author/illustrator events?
I think the important thing for creators to realise is these events are beneficial in multiple ways. Sometimes they are only viewed as a supplementary income. But the real key is to leverage these events to benefit you and your career in more ways than just the amount you get paid for doing the event.
1) Every live event you do can lead to another. I would say that more than 80% of my bookings come from someone either having seen me at another event or being recommended by someone who has booked me previously.
2) Boosting your profile and getting your name out there. We all know this is a creator’s biggest struggle. How do you make people choose your book over the other 1000’s on the shelf? Name recognition or cover recognition is a huge advantage. By doing events, you are putting yourself and your work in front of people. Chances are, organisers and attendees are sharing the event on social media. And then, of course, there is the invaluable word of mouth.
3) Leveraging your live events into book sales. Too many people think of book sales and live events as separate streams of income, especially when it comes to kids’ creators and school visits. A lot of people will do a school visit, be happy they are being paid for it, and just hope it will lead to book sales in some way. But you have a captive audience and you want to make it as easy as possible for your book to get into these little reader’s hands. Work with a bookseller to attach book sales to every event. Make it as easy as possible for the school, you don’t want them having to handle cash or order forms so work to make it online, with books delivered to schools.
Finances aside, nothing helps you connect to your audience more than live events, especially when it comes to kids. They are most likely not on social media, reading blogs, scouring through book reviews, reading newspapers or book catalogues. So live events and school visits are such an incredible way to connect with your audience and the love they will give you for the work you do will make it all feel worthwhile.
Can you tell us a little bit about the kind of event work you do, and how you go about securing these opportunities?
I do a huge range of events from library and bookshop events to school visits and festivals all around the country and overseas. Online events have also been a part of this work, although much less now than in the last few years.
These opportunities come to me through a range of avenues. I have a speaker’s agent who will arrange events, school visits and tours for me. Sometimes people contact them and sometimes they will send out communications letting their clients know that I am in Brisbane for the week, for example.
Often festivals will contact my publisher directly as they might be looking at a few authors from that publisher for the event.
Sometimes people will contact me directly through my website, although I do often have to then pass those requests onto either my speaker’s agent or publicist depending on the event.
These contacts and requests will most often come from people who have either seen me present at another event or I have been recommended to them from a previous event which is why you should always put your best foot forward whenever you are asked to present.
What top tips would you give to authors looking to secure more event bookings?
Without a doubt, having a speaker’s agent can help – but it can be a little bit of a chicken or the egg situation ie. getting gigs to secure an agent/having an agent to secure gigs.
In the beginning, I took every opportunity I was offered in an effort to ‘get out there’ and it was worth it. People talk and the school community (especially teacher librarians) and the festival organiser community in Australia are small and they talk!
If you can stomach it, putting some video online can really help, even if it’s just on your website. It gives potential clients a chance to see what you are like in person and give them a feel for your presenting style. Are you a cartwheeling, fire juggling stand-up comedian? Great! Show them that. Are you a quieter, thoughtful artist who will teach kids how to find their inner illustrator? Perfect! Give them a little sample. Just make sure it matches what you intend to give them when you show up for the presentation. On that note, make it clear on your website where you are located/based, how they can book you, and make it easy for them to do so.
Most festivals allow and even encourage creators to pitch themselves. Put together a little one-page flyer about you and what you do and send it to festivals you are interested in. Contact schools directly and offer your services. Again, remember to include links to your website or further info (like perhaps the above suggested video)/prices/contact details etc. MAKE IT EASY!
And if you’re a kid’s creator and really looking at how to make the most of presenting to kids – whether it be at schools/festivals/online/book launches – and what to consider when looking at different age groups, you can always try my Presenting to Kids course with the Australian Writer’s Centre.
Nat Amoore‘s debut novel Secrets Of A Schoolyard Millionaire was Dymocks and QBD’s ‘Kids Book Of The Month’, becoming Australia’s #1 bestselling debut Aussie children’s fiction in 2019 and selling into the UK, US, Italy, China, Estonia and Romania.
The Power Of Positive Pranking won the 2021 Environment Award for Children’s Literature, The Right Way To Rock was a CBCA Book of the Year Notable and We Run Tomorrow hit stands in May 2022.
Want to learn more? Explore the findings of the Live Literature in Australia report by University of Melbourne and Australia Reads.
