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Funding an Author Visit

Some districts provide funding for author visits, while many schools turn to their PTA or to Title I funds. But there are lots of other ways to fund an author visit as well. Here are some ideas to help you make an author visit a reality for your school.

• PTA/PTO
• Title I
• Title VII
• Grants
• Book fair
• Bake sale
• Local business sponsorship
• School Improvement Plan (SIP)
• Adopt-a-School Sponsors
• Friends of the Library
• Grandparents

Grants

If you decide to apply for a grant to fund your author visit, I recommend you check with your district to see if a professional grant writer is available to guide you through the application process. Whether you write the grant application on your own, or with the help of a grant writer, here are some educational grant resources you may find helpful.

• LeeAndLow Books - Finding Literacy Grants
• SchoolGrants.org
• State Arts Councils
• US Department of Education - Grants and Contracts
• GrantsAlert.com
• How to Write a Grant
• LeapFrog - Grant Writing Resources
• Wells Fargo Corporate Giving
• Amber Brown Fund

Book sales

I offer a 20% discount and free shipping for quantity book purchases, making it possible to defray part of the cost of my visit through student book purchases. This means that, for every book sold as part of my visit, your school will earn between $1.80 and $3.40. Depending on the size of your school and the socioeconomic background of your students, you can expect to sell between 25 and 300 books. An average school will typically sell about 75 books, earning roughly $150 to put toward the cost of the author visit.

I provide the order forms, and even pay for shipping, making book ordering as simple as possible. And, if you make time in the schedule, I will autograph and personalize all books purchased. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about offering books to your students.