Sometimes teaching even after close to 20 years can yield new literary experiences. A few months ago, I attended a convention and came across the usual spread of artists selling their books. However, I was definitely ‘drawn’ to a short novel series by a teacher who lived about an hour away. Inspired by the popularity of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Captain Underpants in his class, he had written a set of books about two friends who loved pulling ‘mostly’ harmless pranks in their school and neighbours. You can learn more at https://itchygooneybooks.com.
I purchased an autographed copy of the latest and as predicted, they connected with the humour and doodles. At the end we decided to contact the author Mark Gunning by email listed on his website after exploring it. Despite him not being as highly prolific as R.L. Stine or Dav Pilkey, I prepared the students for a reply being slow in coming, if at all. However, I was so pleased to find out that Mr. Gunning offered to answer our questions LIVE via a Google Meet before our spring break.
The students were kept surprised and their only negative comment was that they couldn’t do the meeting in person, but in this age, they are accustomed to adjusting their expectations with technology. Mr. Gunning was able to offer some valuable insight into how to become an author and how to put your own spin on popular ideas. In addition, he was pleased at the activities we were able to create using his series to integrate with other subjects such as Art, Music, and Science.
Local authors often rely on word of mouth to build an audience and in this case, young fans and educators are paramount in assisting with selling books. Here are some suggestions on how to choose someone from your local area:
*check your local library for lists of books and check if there are virtual school visits. Many librarians are still connecting virtually to reach broad audiences and you may be able to coordinate a Q and A with other schools simultaneously.
*connect with the author as a staff member via social media yourself to keep everything safe and control communication. Most authors include a few platforms to follow nowadays.
*check for the books on other formats for accessibility. Some school libraries may have rules on vendor purchasing, and the local library may not always have copies. However, you may be able to get copies of ebooks (in this case, the first book is free in Mark Gunning’s I Told You So series as a Kindle download, which only requires a parent to have an Amazon account).
Mark Gunning said he got the ball rolling on his writing career after another author visited his school. Perhaps a budding author will credit an interest with writing as a career after a meaningful connection to guide them on their literary journey.
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