Erin Soderberg Downing


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School & Library Visits



I would love to visit your school to share the "recipe" I follow when I'm building a story, the behind-the-scenes life of an author, the truth about revision, and the importance of reading in my life!

Please read through this section to find out more about the details of my In-person and Virtual school visits, and then reach out to get the ball rolling. My visits are arranged by How Now Booking - use the button below to link to their booking/request form, or You can send a note directly to sarah@hownowbooking.com.

If you have general questions about books/visits, you can also email erin directly at erin@erinsoderberg.com.


Book here

Thinking about having an author visit your school? Great!



I love spending time with kids, talking about reading and writing - it's the best part of my job!



During my author visits, I show kids—ingredient by ingredient—my recipe for putting a book together, where I get my story and character ideas, and we talk about where they can get ideas and spark inspiration for their own writing. I also share behind-the-scenes research info, and talk about my path to becoming an author—from my childhood as a reader to my years as a children’s book editor in New York City. Students will get an inside-peek at the life of a writer, including the truth about revisions!


Each session includes time for Q&A, into which I pack lots of writing tips and techniques that kids can apply to their own writing. Please get in touch with me to discuss the specific needs of your school, then let’s customize a visit—teachers and parents tell me their students walk away from our time together feeling energized about reading and writing!


Read on to learn about all of the author visit options, get tips for hosting a successful visit, and more!


If you've already booked a visit and want some resources to help you prepare for our time together, please click the link below for some fun prep materials!


School Visit Resources

Author Visit Options





I offer a variety of author visit options - In-person, virtual visits, and evening programs. Please take a look at the details below, then reach out to How Now Booking with your specific request, and they'll help organize our time together!

Please Note: If the cost is prohibitive, please reach out and let us know your concerns and school situation, and we'll do our best to Find a solution to work within your constraints.



In-Person Author Visits



Full-Day Visit

Up to 3 group presentations or writing workshops (or a combination of the two), time for book signing, and lunch with a small group of students and/or teachers.


Half-Day Visit

Only available in Minneapolis/St. Paul area. 1-2 group presentations and a book signing.


Family Reading Nights/Other

Pricing and availability will be determined on a case-by-case basis, dependent upon on schedule/timing and other author commitments.



Virtual Author Visits



Free Book Club/Classroom Q&A
When your class or book club has finished reading one of my books, I would be happy to join you virtually for a 20-minute question and answer session. Availability is very limited - please reach out via the Contact page to inquire.

Full Virtual Author Visit

This is a 45-50 minute virtual version of my full in-person author presentation (includes in-depth information and show-and-tell about my writing process, revision, as well as plenty of time for Q&A). Invite as many classrooms from the same school/district as you like!



Evening/Keynote Presentations



Evening Programs and/or Keynote Speech: These programs include anything that falls outside the typical school day, such as:

  • Presentations for students and/or teachers/famiilies at book clubs or book fairs
  • Writing conferences
  • Professional Development events
  • Family Reading Nights


Writing Workshops



Writing Workshops/Young Writer Programs: I would be delighted to join your young writers for a writing workshop, to help inspire them to start building a few fun stories of their own.


If you'd like to incorporate writing workshops into your author visit program, just let me know and we can discuss ways for me to help build on your curriculum and goals!




CLICK HERE TO REQUEST ERIN FOR A SCHOOL VISIT!

How to Host a great visit



Best PRactices & Tips for making the most of our time together!



Planning for an author visit



I am happy to speak to groups of any size (however many kids you want to fit in the space provided!), but it often works best to break kids up by age level (K/1, 2/3, 4/5). I require a microphone and access to a projector/screen for my talk.


The most important thing to remember: School visits are most successful when students have read at least one of my books prior to the visit. Several of my books—JUST KEEP WALKING, CONTROLLED BURN, THE GREAT PEACH EXPERIMENT series, or PUPPY PIRATES series—work really well as read-alouds in K-5 classrooms, and kids who have read some of my books especially love seeing behind-the-scenes “secrets” from the publication process.



Book Sales



If you are interested in offering families the opportunity to purchase signed copies of my books (this is highly recommended for all visits), we can help put you in touch with a bookstore that will facilitate pre-sales of my books that I will personalize and sign on the day of my visit.


Book sales are not required as a part of my author visits, but certainly add to the experience for kids. Many stores also offer a discount on school book purchases, which can either be passed on to families, or used as a fundraiser for the school to help pay my honorarium.



Getting Kids Excited



You don't need to greet me with a costume character school mascot (ha ha - that's only happened once!), but getting kids and teachers excited about my visit (in whatever way works for you!) will help everyone make the most of the experience.


Read my books ahead of time, discuss questions you want to ask me, do art or writing activities that tie into my books...all of these things will show kids how important reading and writing are to everyone at your school, and will help make the visit more meaningful for the entire school community! See below for some things other schools have done to prepare and get the whole school involved.


Check out the slideshow below to see how other schools have prepped for my visit!



Artwork decorating the walls of the library



Kids Welcoming the Author



Classroom Door Displays



Classroom Door Displays



Puppy Pirates Artwork



Bookmark Design competitions



Quirks Brainstorming



Working together to design Puppy Pirate Treasure Maps



Feedback from Past Visits



"All day long, teachers told me that your presentation was fantastic, engaging, just-right for the audience, and inspiring. This morning a Kindergarten teacher told me her students are choosing to write books during free play time so they can be just like you. It is rare that a speaker is equally appealing to all grades K-5, but you most certainly were!"


"Such a fabulous speaker. I have never seen anyone relate so well to the kids."


"I wasn't sure what to expect with a virtual author visit...it was incredible! The students were so engaged! I loved listening to their questions and your answers. And thank you so much for explaining your writing process, especially how many changes a story undergoes!"


"You shared so many great tips with the students about being writers and readers. Everyone enjoyed it, and the students walked away with a renewed energy and lots of excitement!"


"Thank you for inspiring our kids! What a wonderful, engaging speaker you are! My kids came home and read for the rest of the evening!"


"That was an awesome presentation! Very easy for our students to understand and I think you've really inspired some writers!"


"This was wonderful and fit in perfectly with our ELA conversations!"


"You inspired them - even the ones who are not necessarily readers or writers themselves. Your multi-faceted message really resonated...it's the more reluctant readers that we always need to try harder to reach, and you were able to do so."


"Everyone thought you were very informative while keeping things entertaining and funny."


"You were fabulous! You did EXACTLY what a keynote should do: taught them a writing lesson, included kids, got them engaged, and kept their attention."


"A wonderful presentation. Erin did a great job keeping the kids engaged and explaining the book writing process...my class was really inspired by the things she shared."


"I absolutely loved how you were so honest and kept the students engaged. They loved hearing about the work that goes into being an author!"


"By far the best author Skype we have had in the last four years! The students loved you... Never before have they taken notes! Today was a first."


"I loved that so much I give it two thumbs up, my toes are up, & even my taste buds are up!"



ART CREDITS:
Great Peach Experiment Design/Art: Michelle Cunningham
Controlled Burn / Just Keep Walking/What Happened Then: Oriol Vidal
Just Like Home: Johanna Tarkela
Puppy Pirates Covers: Luz Tapia / Interiors: Russ Cox
Daring Dreamers Club: Anoosha Syed