Costs, available dates, booking formTerms and conditions – please read
How much does a visit cost?
I charge a day rate in line with fees recommended by the Society of Authors for author visits to schools:
- £400 per day (I do not do half days, so please don't ask).
- For visits to the same school on two or more consecutive days, the rate is reduced by £50 per day for every day after the first day (i.e. day 1 at full rate, day 2 and beyond less £50 per day).
- Please enquire for details about making a block booking (i.e. several visits over the course of a term / year).
- For the Make a Non-Fiction Book Workshop you will typically need between 7 and 10 worksheets per workshop session. Each sheet costs £5.
- Travel expenses to and from home (Winsford, Cheshire): - by car charged at 45p per actual road mile travelled - by rail charged at actual cost - use this distance calculator to work out the approximate mileage from me to you. Enter my postcode CW7 in the Start box, and the first part only of your school's postcode in the Finish box. It's the road miles figure that counts, not the as the crow flies figure. Also, remember to double the road miles figure to take account of my journey home.
- If you are a primary school and choose not to distribute the order form for signed copies of my books (see below) you will be surcharged £25.
- Accommodation expenses if an over-night stay is needed (i.e. Premier Inn / Travel Lodge / B&B close to school).
- I don't expect payment on the day. I will invoice you after the visit. Payment can be made by cheque or BACS transfer (full details are given on the invoice). All I ask is that payment is made in full within 30 days of the invoice date.
Am I available to visit you?
- You can see my available dates here, in my bookings diary. It's an embedded Google diary – if you can't see it, refresh the page. If you still can't see it, and you're viewing it from a school, your LEA has probably blocked it, so you'll need to view it from your home computer.
- Click the arrow buttons in the top left corner of the diary page to scroll through the months.
- If your first choice date is already booked, please consider another date.
- I'm happy to take bookings several months in advance.
- To get in touch, send me an email or complete the contact form – both are at the bottom of this page.
Can you send us display materials?
I'm often asked for display posters. Well, if my publishers made any, you'd be welcome to have some! Until then, you'll have to create your own display using images and text from this website, book covers from amazon, and your own creativity. I've put photos of examples of display materials made by schools in the Ideas for Pre-Visit Work section of this site – click link in sidebar to the left (the Pocket Biographies and Storyboards have been replicated by many schools).
Where will I visit?
I live in Cheshire, and many of my visits tend to be in the North West, West Yorkshire, the West Midlands, and North Wales. However, don't let geography stop you from inviting me to visit you – contact me and between us we'll see what can be arranged.
This map shows most of the schools I've visited (about 450, as of 2016).
- Schools within 60 miles of mid-Cheshire (CW7 postcode) should be in reach for a day visit starting at 9:00am.
- Schools further than 60 miles of mid-Cheshire (CW7 postcode) should timetable for a later start (say 10:00am).
- Schools well away from mid-Cheshire (CW7 postcode) will need to allow for travel the day before and an overnight stay in your area; this includes all London schools (HS2 is a long way off!).
- To see which schools I've been to, use the map + and – buttons, or your mouse scroll wheel, to zoom in and out.
- Click a marker to see the school and the date I visited.
- Book me for a visit and you'll be added to the map!
Book sales – primary schools please read
For primary school visits I offer signed books for parents/children to buy on the day of my visit, and will send you an order form (A4, double-sided). I will either post the form to you, or email it to you as a PDF attachment. Please photocopy it and send it home with the children a few days before my visit. The form shows a selection of my books, all suitable for KS1 / KS2. If parents decide to purchase a book, they need to return the completed order form and payment to school in time for my visit (there is a return date printed on the form). I will sign books at lunchtime or at the end of the day.
Please note that if your school chooses not to distribute the order form, a £25 surcharge will be made as part of the cost of the visit (see above).
Book sales – questions I'm often asked Q: Can children order books after the visit? A: Yes – but only if the parent or the school pays for the postage.
Q: Can school order books? A: Certainly! Schools buy books for the library, as guided readers, and as prizes. If you decide to do this, please try and let me know in advance of the visit, so I know how many copies to bring with me. No need to pay on the day – I'll add the cost to the invoice.
Q: We are in an area of high social stress and don't think parents will buy your books. What do you say to this? A: Simple – give your parents the choice and let them decide. You probably do that when you have a book fair, so do it when you invite an author to school. As I write this, I'm thinking of two inner-city schools with very similar demographics, visited within days of each other as part of World Book Day events. One school denied parents the chance to buy books, the other didn't, and almost 100 of their children went home that day with a signed book.
Q: We have a school book fair and think your book sales will reduce our commission from it. What do you say to this? A: The book fair is probably in school all week, but I'm with you for one day only. Children enjoy meeting authors and welcome the chance to buy signed books. My books are hardly ever stocked by book fair companies, which makes it hard for children to find them. For children who prefer reading fact books, my visit gives them the chance to buy something they really want – look on my visit as adding value to the book fair, not as competition to it.
If you have concerns about book sales, please talk to me before the visit, as this will avoid embarrassment on the day.
On the day of the visit – three things I'd like you to do
On the day of the visit, please make sure I have:
- Tables to set up my display materials.
- Drinking water.
- A school dinner.
Booking form to arrange a visit
Two ways to book me:
1. By email Please email me, giving your school name and address (town and postcode, please), the date or dates you would like me to visit, and your own name:
2. By form Please enter your contact information below, with preferred date of visit (please check my available dates in my Bookings Diary first – it's on this page, above this form), plus any other comments or questions.
EMF Online Survey
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