That’s the funny thing about doing events and publicity for books – publication and all it entails: launches, radio interviews; writing columns; getting pics to go with the columns taken at odd times like 5pm (kids’ tea time in our house and always a zoo!), Sat morning just before you have to get the kids out to soccer; book events and book tours – it makes you realise how much you actually enjoy a normal writing day.

Some writers love the whole buzz of publication – but most don’t. Most – me included – would like maybe 2 or 3 days of it – just to mark the fact that a new book is actually out – and would then like to be allowed slink gracefully back behind our desks to write again.

But such is the life of a writer these days – you must do whatever you can to make your book sell so that a publisher will actually pay you to write another one. And if that includes telling journalists (who I must say are mostly lovely) what you had for breakfast, so be it.

But the most important thing is the writing – get that right first. Worry about all the rest of the hoopla later.

Here’s something I’ve learned over the last 15 years – if your book is really, really good, word of mouth is the most vital ingredient of all when it comes to book sales. You can have the best cover in the world, be on all the radio and telly shows, have bookmarks and posters coming out your ears, and if the book isn’t up to scratch no one will recommend it to their friends or family.

So heads down and write!

But I must say visiting 8 schools all over England and meeting some amazing girls and teachers was an experience I will never forget. More about that next week . . .

Have a fab weekend.

And remember – heads down, the writing’s the thing!

Sarah XXX

First of all, thanks so much to all the lovely libaries and schools around the country who hosted Amy Green events or workshops or just plain old talks during the Children’s Book Festival – I had a ball.

I just thought I’d jot down some observations on the festival and generally how you can make us writerly types happy – mostly involving food and some TLC. Here goes:

1/ Do have a glass or bottle of water ready for the author – throats do go Sahara after talking for an hour.
2/ Do make sure the authors get fed at the relevant times – lunch is always good! They may turn into pumpkins if you don’t.
3/ If staying over, put them up in the hotel you would choose to stay in – warm, quiet and clean. Remember some of your authors may need to write/work in the evenings – so do take this into consideration – a tiny room without a desk is a no no.
4/ Please don’t expect them to drive 30 or 40 miles between events – remember many authors are city slickers and more used to trains and buses. Cows in the middle of the road disturb them.
5/ Think about the logistics and what’s best for the author – it might be a better use of their time to base them in the main library rather than slepping them all over the county.
6/ Make sure the person at the desk/in reception knows an author is coming and greets them with a smile. Glum = bad, keen and smiley = good!
7/ Make an effort with posters – these can be ordered from the author’s publisher in advance – or at the very least type welcome and the author’s name on a sheet of paper and stick it to the door. Make the author feel wanted – us authors are sensitive souls, be kind (rewind).
8/ A follow up email/letter to say thanks for visiting is always nice. Chocolates are even better.
9/ Do try to have the author’s books in stock – they will look for them on the shelves!
10/ If the author asks for 5th and 6th class girls, don’t give them 1st class boys – there is a reason for their request! In my case involving bra talk and ballet tutus!!!

Some of the brilliant things librarians and schools did for me this festival:

Cootehill made me a lovely welcome poster and book display.

Alexandra School library provided six copies of Amy Green, Teen Agony Queen for the girls to win on the day of the visit. They also gave me a book token and a box of chocolates. And a follow up thank you card. Many Brownie points for Alex!

Bray/Wicklow libraries presented me with a huge box of Dairy Milk and two darling pink candles for my study. Darlings!

Clare libraries put me up in the Old Ground Hotel – which had a desk so I could work in the evening! Yeah!

Much kindness all round!

SarahX

Did a magic writing workshop with kids in Tallaght LIbrary today. There were supposed to be 1 group of 6th class kids, but I ended up with that lot plus a gang of 4th class kids. So 60 odd in all. Difficult enough for a workshop but they were great – very imaginative and interactive.

We talked about genre, what makes a book ‘good’, how to write interesting sentences – I asked them to come up with a more interesting way of saying ‘The mouse ate the cheese’ and some of their answers were brilliant!
What else – using detail in your work, memory, the importance of unforgettable characters, plotting and conflict and lots of other things.

My tip for doing workshops – be very, very prepared! Lots of exercises for them to do, ones that can easily be adapted for different age groups (in case you get landed with 1st class instead of 6th – happens all the time! Lots of show and tell material – books, photos, diaries etc. And a whole heap of energy and attitude – vital for entertaining 30/60 or more kids!

Paddy O’Doherty’s (Puffin Ireland) wise words keep coming back to me – you must make them know you are in control – in her case she meant her good self, the editor, and she was talking about writing, being in control of the story – but it goes for doing children’s events too – the kids must know you are in control, that you have the session planned, and that you know what you’re talking about and are prepared to be honest, open and attentive during the whole hour/90 mins.

If they start getting twitchy or flicking bits of paper at each other – they’re bored! Try an Abba song (only half joking – it actually works!). Get creative – engage with them. Ask them questions – about their lives, their families, their hobbies/interests, their school.

More next week after sessions in Clare, Lucan and LImerick! Ah yes, Children’s Book Festival – don’t you just love it?!

SarahX

Phew! I’ve been having a fun time at the Children’s Book Festival. I kicked off my school visits last week with Arklow, Wicklow and Bray; Deansgrange, Stillorgan and Alexandra College in Rathgar.
All the visits were lovely, and a bit shout out to the girls in Hollypark and all the other schools. And thanks for all the emails you’ve been sending me, including the amazingly great poems and stories – it’s a pleasure to read them.
And a big thanks to the librarians, especially Noelle Ringwood, for all their hospitality.

I have just come back from Cavan where I visited Cootehill, Balieborough and Cavan libraries and met pupils from St Mary’s in Drung, (sorry I kept calling it Dung!), and The Dorley school in Cootehill.

5 Things I Love About the Children’s Book Festival

1/ Meeting great boys and girls from all over the country.
2/ Visiting some really fab libraries – and the lovely librarians who run them.
3/ Finding out about the students favourite books – from Jackie Wilson to Derek Landy and everything in between.
4/ Talking about some of my favourite books with the students and teachers – and believe me, I have a long, long list! (Wilderness is right up there, with Judy Blume and The Cat Mummy)
5/ Answering all the odd and bizarre questions that are thrown at me – from ‘What’s your favourite pet?’ to ‘Are you Cecelia Ahern’s sister?’

Hi everyone,

I had a great time in West Cork, writing away. I managed to finish Amy 3: Bridesmaid Blitz (working title), and I’m now working on the second edit. Or I would be if The LOving Kind copy edit hadn’t bounced back to me.

Main points: I did not tell readers the colour of any of my characters’ hair apparently – oops. So I’ve had to go back in and weave through some references to conker-coloured/blackberry/chestnut manes/locks/strands etc.

Also – I used the word snorted a huge amount of times in the book for some strange reason – so I had to tweak all those to she gave a dry laugh/wry smile/chucked etc etc. As my characters are not all horses, snorting too much is not good.

But I’m half way through the copy edit and getting on grand.

Oh and the Bubblegum Club Book Bash was a great success. For pics of the day see David Maybury’s site here:

http://www.davidmaybury.ie/journal/?p=2284

More on the school visits later this week – and tips for writers visiting young readers and writers. I could have done with them when I started out I can tell you. ie bring a whistle and if they get to noisy, use it!!!
(no, I’m not joking!)

SarahXXX

Hi All,

The weekend was a bit hectic – with the Mountains to the Sea Festival children’s events running both days. Fab authors – Marita Conlon McKenna, Derek Landy, Oisin McGann – all gave thier all. David Maybury did a stonking Dahl reading – very talented boy, that David.

Festivals and talks are an important part of a writer’s life, and it’s always lovely to meet young readers and their parents. So hi to all the gang I met at the festival, especially the lovely Abby!

As the Indo did not have room for my children’s reviews last month – here they are – a little out of date but not to worry!

August round up:
There are many ways to create a reader for life, and taking children along to meet their favourite author is one of them.

Here’s your chance, with two September Book Festivals – Books 2009 and the Mountain to Sea Festival – both providing comprehensive children’s programmes. And October sees Children’s Book Festival swing into action in schools and libraries all over Ireland.

Derek Landy, author of the hugely popular Skulduggery Pleasant books will be speaking at both September festivals – Saturday 12th September in People’s Park, Dun Laoghaire, and again in the National Gallery, Dublin, on Saturday 19th September. Other highlights include John Connolly reading from his new teen novel, The Gates (Books 2009); and much loved author, Marita Conlon-McKenna talking about her writing (Mountain to Sea).

Speaking of creating readers, O’Brien has come up trumps with The Train Driver by Kunak McGann (e5.99), a charming and well written early reader about a young boy, Dara, who’s mad about trains for children of 4 plus, with excellent full colour illustrations. For GAA fans, Feile Fever by Joe O’Brien (e7.99) will hit the spot. Fast paced, exciting, with lots of authentic match action and well rounded characters, this is a welcome addition to sport literature for readers of 7 plus.

And Somerville Press in Bantry has just published West Cork and Kerry for Kids by Cammy Harley (e9.99), a comprehensive guide to activities in these areas, ideal for holiday makers.

Finally, for teens, The Wisdom of Dead Men (£6.99 Random House) by Irish author, Oisin McGann is an explosive fantasy read, set in the Victorian era. It opens with a gripping spontaneous combustion scene and the action never lets up. Idea for any Philip Reeve fans. Oisin McGann will also appear at the Mountains to Sea Festival, don’t miss him!

Sept round up:
Teenagers are well served this season, with some exceptional titles including The Bride’s Farewell by Carnegie Winner, Meg Rosoff (£10.99 Penguin), a beautifully produced hardback about Pen, a young woman who runs away on the morning of her wedding. Set in the 19th century, it’s a lyrical, Hardy-esque read for older, thoughtful teens.

Love, Aubrey by American writer, Suzanne LaFleur (£9.99 Puffin) is another hard hitting novel, this time set in America. When Aubrey is abandoned by her mother, she has to fend for herself, before starting to rebuild her life with the help of her granny and some old and new friends. Cleverly plotted, with some exceptional writing, ideal for older readers of 14+.

If Darren Shan books are your teen reader’s poison of choice, check out The Enemy by Charlie Higson (Puffin £12.99), a taut, gore-filled horror/thriller set in London. A strange disease has turned everyone over the age of 14 into a zombie, but one hardened gang of youngsters is determined to survive.

Life Swap (Walker Books £6.99) by Abby McDonald is a clever, well written ‘grass is always greener’ novel about two girls, American party girl, Tasha and shyer English girl, Emily. What happens when the two girls swap places makes for light hearted yet compelling reading. Ideal for Meg Cabot fans.

And finally, Irish author, Celine Kiernan is back with book two of the Moorhawke Trilogy, The Crowded Shadows (O’Brien e10.99), a theatrical historical fantasy set in medieval Europe. This time our feisty teen hero, Wynter Moorhawke sets off to find the Rebel Prince, encountering dangerous wolves, and the strange and otherworldly Merron people along the way. With smatterings of Irish, used to great effect as the Merron language, this is a cracking adventure yarn, with added layers.

Hi All,

I finished the – let me see, I think it’s the 8th or 9th, I’ve lost count – edit of The Loving Kind and set it packing to my editor in Pan Mac this morning! Yeah! Huge relief.

This afternoon I got stuck into Amy Green book 3 – which is currently called Bridesmaid Blitz but this may change. It was fantastic to get back to Amy, Clover, Seth and the gang, I’ve really missed them. I read over the 15k words I’ve done so far, made some tweaks and minor changes and giggled to myself at some of the funny bits which is always a good sign. Can’t wait to get back to writing it tomorrow – also a very good sign.

Found this cute website – daughter of a friend of Mum’s is one of the writers – www.babyccinoblog.com – full of fun bits about children, books, clever things for the house etc.

Did I post news on the festivals I’m doing in Sept? Maybe not – here goes: (excuse the use of the 3rd person!)

Books 2009 Festival – Dublin City Centre

Sarah will be hosting a Magic Writing Workshop for all those interested in writing in the Shaw Room at the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin at 1.30 on Sat 19th Sept. She will also talk about how she came up with the idea for Amy Green and answer questions on writing. Numbers are limited so do book asap if you’d like to join her! Age 9+
Check out the details here: www.bookevents.ie
Here is the booking link: http://www.bookevents.ie/event-details.php?prod=SarahWebb

Mountains to Sea Festival
Sarah will also be appearing at the Mountains to Sea Festival in Dun Laoghaire on Sunday 13th September in Dun Laoghaire Park. The Books in the Park event starts at 1.00. Sarah will be on at around 3. Other authors include Marita Conlon-McKenna, Joe O’Brien and Oisin McGann. Check out www.mountainstosea.ie for details
Admission free! No booking needed.

SarahXXX