KL Visits
Invite KL Going into your classroom or library via Skype!
To Book KL Going for a school visit or a Skype visit, please contact the Penguin Author Appearance Coordinator at penguinauthorvisits@gmail.com.
Thanks to modern technology, classrooms all over the world can connect with the authors of their favorite books. Meeting authors and having a chance to interact with them is a fabulous way to get your students excited about reading. By eliminating the costs of travel and hosting, virtual visits are easily covered within most school budgets (costs are negotiable, but range from $50 to $150). Visits can also be donated by individuals or hosted by the PTA, so ask a parent, board member, or local business if they’d like to sponsor an event.
A typical Skype visit lasts 45 minutes (or one classroom period) and includes introductory remarks by KL and a chance for students to ask prepared questions. Virtual visits are highly customizable and can include discussions about the writing and publishing process, a reading from one of KL’s books, or even a writing lesson on a specific topic.
“I’ve done Skype visits with groups ranging from elementary to high school, and I’ve honestly found that Q&A with students who have read my books is really fun and gets the kids the most excited. Q&A easily fills the time — in fact, we almost always have to cut things short — and kids are genuinely excited to personally interact with me. I’m always surprised at the insightful queries kids have about my books and about what it’s like to be an author.”
All you need for a Skype visit is a computer, a screen or wall to project onto, and a free Skype account. If you’re interested in arranging a Skype visit with KL Going, contact Penguin Group at penguinauthorvisits@gmail.com.
Want KL to visit you?
Okay, she probably won’t show up at your house, but she’d be happy to visit your school or library. Contact Penguin Group at penguinauthorvisits@gmail.com, or download the brochure.
Here’s what your visit could include:
KL is available for conferences, keynote addresses, workshops, panels and small group/classroom visits. Speeches and workshops are tailored to the needs of specific audiences. Examples of previous topics include, “What I Learned about Being an Author from Working at an Agency”, “First Books”, and “How a book becomes a Book.”
Small group visits include a 40 minute talk in which she walks the kids through the experience of publishing using her own books as a model.
Watch KL Going speak at the University of South Florida Writing for Children and Teens: Conflict and Resolution
Having worked in publishing before becoming an author, KL introduces props from various stages of the publishing process. She reveals how her books start out in the idea phase and even brings the first book she ever wrote – an unpublished novel written in high school. She then talks about how she moved from that earliest point to the point of publication. KL brings examples of adult and children’s book manuscripts, a publishing
contract, the first cover sketches for Fat Kid, galleys of books before press, an edited and a copyedited manuscript (so kids can learn the difference) and foreign editions of various books. There’s time for questions after the presentation and she will often read a selection from one of her books.
KL’s goal with her author visits is to give kids a hands-on look at the publishing process and to make the time as engaging as possible. She has given versions of this presentation to audiences ranging from pre-K through adult and finds audiences of every age equally fascinated to see first-hand how a book evolves from idea to finished product.
If your group were to book a longer visit, she would be happy to include writing exercises as well.
Feedback
“Kelly is a talented and passionate speaker, and we were honored to her share her wealth of knowledge from everything literary, from picture books to YA novels. My students, all graduate students and teachers, were as spellbound as any class of third graders.”—Dr. Caroline Hopenwasser, SUNY New Paltz
“Are you planning a writing retreat? Are you looking for someone who will help your participants dig deeper into their stories and leave with new tools and a revived feeling of motivation? Then hire K L Going. At The Novel Writing Retreat at VCFA, Kelly presented a lecture that participants still talk about years later. She did everything we asked her to do and more: She gave a great lecture, offered insightful and encouraging feedback to the writers and remained accessible and humble the whole weekend. Working with her was easy! Kelly clearly loves what she’s doing. She helped make our annual retreat not just productive, but also fun!” —Sarah Aronson, author, editor, and organizer of The Novel Writing Retreat at Vermont College www.saraharonson.com
“K.L. Going writes about issues that matter to teens and definitely makes you think when she presents; she’s the real literary deal!” —Joan F. Kaywell, Ph.D., Professor of English Education and Director of SCATTER, the COEDU’s Honors Program
“We were lucky enough to be one of Kelly’s first library visits. She spoke about Fat Kid and the publishing process and answered all our questions. It was great! The kids were talking about the program for months afterward and when they got the news that Fat Kid had won a Printz honor, there were huge cheers all over the library!” —Kimberly L. Paone, Supervisor, Adult/Teen Services, Elizabeth Public Library, Elizabeth, NJ
“Kelly’s school visit was the highlight of the year for many of my seventh and eighth grade students, and definitely for me as a teacher. She came bearing a spread of props (foreign editions of her novels, an original manuscript from her teenage years, and even a personalized ketchup bottle), and her explanation of the variety of jobs in the publishing industry was eye opening for many students without aspirations of authorship. Kelly is not only a remarkable author, but she is also a great teacher. We were fortunate to have her join us during National Novel Writing Month, and she crafted a workshop that first challenged each student to write a log line for their novel, and then guided them through an interactive experience to focus on less obvious sensory details. She provided a great structure for the kids to smell, see, touch, hear, and even taste an assortment of items, as well as guided instruction on how to apply these sensory details in surprising places in their novels. They came away with both a better understanding of the big pictures in their stories, as well as specific strategies to craft fine details. Overall, her visit was honestly even better than I could have initially hoped for. Kelly’s work with the students in class reminded me of her novels—she gets kids, and she knows how to offer them something with depth, craft, and core values.” —Rebecca Rourke