Yesterday I received the schedule for my NY/CT book tour taking place the last week of October. Some writer I can't remember well enough to credit once said, "The only thing worse than going on a book tour is not going on a book tour."
I understand this, because I mostly don't go on book tours. I'm actually pretty good at speaking to groups of people--I can stand on stage and talk about as well as I can sit on my couch and talk--but the thing about book tours is, the publisher pays me to go--pays my travel expenses, sets the whole thing up, presents me with an itinerary--and the truth is, they have to be making a decentish profit on my book before it makes sense for them to invest the cash.
However. Looking over this list of events, it occurs to me: I am going to have to prepare some talks. Not just one talk. Several talks. The only talking I've done about this book so far was last week, when my friends' bookclub invited me to drink wine with them. They asked questions; I answered. That's not going to get me far in a room of 100 5th graders. I am going to have to find something to said.
Also--there's a suggestion about Powerpoint. I have always been a very low-tech speaker. Yet I can see how Powerpoint could be my friend. One photo of an unresolved clubfoot in an adolescent child would be worth several paragraphs of explanation. Ditto the sidesaddle. You can't really understand sidesaddles without seeing them. But I'm not sure where the internet and plagiarism intersect. I know it's fair game for me to look at sidesaddles on the internet. I'm fairly sure it's not fair game for me to turn those photos willy-nilly into a Powerpoint presentation.
I shall have to research this. Any suggestions? If you knew nothing whatsoever about my book-which presumably is true for most of you--what would you want to be told about it?
Also, as long as I live, I will never learn to spell presumably. Thank you, God, for spell check.
I understand this, because I mostly don't go on book tours. I'm actually pretty good at speaking to groups of people--I can stand on stage and talk about as well as I can sit on my couch and talk--but the thing about book tours is, the publisher pays me to go--pays my travel expenses, sets the whole thing up, presents me with an itinerary--and the truth is, they have to be making a decentish profit on my book before it makes sense for them to invest the cash.
However. Looking over this list of events, it occurs to me: I am going to have to prepare some talks. Not just one talk. Several talks. The only talking I've done about this book so far was last week, when my friends' bookclub invited me to drink wine with them. They asked questions; I answered. That's not going to get me far in a room of 100 5th graders. I am going to have to find something to said.
Also--there's a suggestion about Powerpoint. I have always been a very low-tech speaker. Yet I can see how Powerpoint could be my friend. One photo of an unresolved clubfoot in an adolescent child would be worth several paragraphs of explanation. Ditto the sidesaddle. You can't really understand sidesaddles without seeing them. But I'm not sure where the internet and plagiarism intersect. I know it's fair game for me to look at sidesaddles on the internet. I'm fairly sure it's not fair game for me to turn those photos willy-nilly into a Powerpoint presentation.
I shall have to research this. Any suggestions? If you knew nothing whatsoever about my book-which presumably is true for most of you--what would you want to be told about it?
Also, as long as I live, I will never learn to spell presumably. Thank you, God, for spell check.
Your local public librarian can help you find images in the public domain. You may want a few, even if you don't do PowerPoint.
ReplyDeleteQuestions: What's the name of her horse? Why doesn't her mother want/love her? Why didn't she just go to the hospital to have her foot fixed?
Public domain is good. Usually you can search Flikr or another image source site for images using "creative commons" licensing. That type of license allows you to use the image for educational or sometimes even commercial purposes. Just read the licensing fine print. Another key is to ensure all the sources for your images are linked, unless you purchased the image. Make a caption for the image and put the photographer's name, username, or website up.
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