Happy World Read Aloud Day/Week!
This week, I Zoomed (and Google Meet-ed—Google Met?) with twenty-one different elementary schools.
Twenty-one!
World Read Aloud Day is held on the first Wednesday in February. It’s a chance for authors to read aloud to kids, and to answer their questions—about their books, about being a writer, about their favorite colors and pets… I’ve been asked how old I am. How much money I make. Whether I’m famous! (I am not particularly famous.)
I first participated in 2022, when Tally Tuttle Turns into a Turtle was only six months old. (David Dixon’s Day as a Dachshund was two months away from publication.) That first year, I got three requests. I organized one additional visit, with a teacher-friend, for a total of four Zooms.
In 2023, now with all three Class Critters books out, I got more requests, and ended up being able to schedule ten virtual visits. Six were on World Read Aloud Day itself, and four were in the surrounding weeks.
This year…I got so, so many requests! It was flattering, exciting, and honestly a little overwhelming. Maybe the deluge was because more teachers and librarians now know about World Read Aloud Day and want to participate. Or maybe more people now know about Class Critters, as well as my new middle-grade novel, The Thirteenth Circle. Regardless, my actual World Read Aloud Day schedule filled up in mid-December, at which point I decided to offer WRAD-style virtual visits throughout the week. And people were quick to take me up on it!
Which resulted in me doing twenty-one virtual school visits in a single week.
Will I accept this many requests next year? I’m honestly not sure.
I absolutely love talking to readers. I love reading to kids and answering their questions. When students ask me, “Why do you write books for kids?” one of my answers is, “This, right now!” Seeing kids light up at hearing my stories is simply the best. We have a connection, because of something I created. My imagination has triggered their imaginations. It’s magic.
But twenty-one visits in a week? It was a lot.
That said, I’m also coming off of a new book launch, in which my coauthor and I threw just about everything we had at getting the word out about The Thirteenth Circle. Plus, in the middle of this week, I was feeling a bit under the weather. There were a few visits that I really powered through, because I wanted to be there, sharing my books with those kids.
I love school visits. I’ve got four in-person author visits booked for March: two for Class Critters (so, early elementary ages) and two for The Thirteenth Circle (intermediate/middle school, aka grades 4-8). I’m chatting with a few other schools about getting something on the calendar. If you have connections to a school that might want to bring me in, either in person or virtually, don’t hesitate to reach out!
That being said, I’m feeling ready to put my “writer” hat back on. I haven’t done much actual writing since finishing the latest revision of a standalone middle-grade manuscript in mid-December. That’s partly been because I wanted to throw myself fully into promoting The Thirteenth Circle. It’s also because I’ve been waiting on the go-ahead for a few projects. Which should I jump into first?
Alternating between creation and promotion is part of the job as an author. Taking a break from creating can also be a meaningful part of the process. It’s like letting a field rest before planting new seeds. When I haven’t been writing much, and I start to genuinely miss it, I feel confident that when I dive back in, I’ll be doing good work.
School visits are inspiring. I write books for and about kids. Talking to kids reminds me who I’m writing for and what they’re really like. Interacting with kids gives me new ideas. It invigorates me. It exhausts me—in a good way.
And it makes me ready to get back to my desk. (Even when the visit is…at my desk.)
Hopefully, I’ll be back in the writing groove very soon.
Next week, I’ll give you more of a Thirteenth Circle launch recap. A lot of stuff has been and is happening!
Speaking of which, if you’re free tomorrow, 2/10, at 4pm Eastern Time, MarcyKate and I will be on a virtual panel hosted by Books of Wonder, featuring two other authors of new mysterious middle-grade novels, Anne Ursu (Not Quite a Ghost) and Ben Guterson (The World-Famous Nine).
HERE is the link to learn more about the event, and to register! (You’ll receive the link to log in tomorrow via email.) If you order The Thirteenth Circle from Books of Wonder, you’ll receive a bookplate signed by both authors. Will we see you there?
Oh, and if you’ve already finished reading The Thirteenth Circle, would you consider reviewing the book online? HERE is the Amazon link. As I’m writing this, it has zero Amazon reviews. Would you like to be the first?!
Thanks! See you next week!!
~Kathryn