School Visit Resources For Authors - Debbie Ridpath Ohi (Twitter: @inkyelbows)

DEBBIE'S SCHOOL VISIT RESOURCE FOR AUTHORS AND ILLUSTRATORS

(with a focus on virtual visits during the pandemic)

by children's book author and illustrator Debbie Ridpath Ohi

(Created for my Author's Guild session about school visits, last updated December 1, 2020)

~ If you arrived here accidentally and are looking for info about Debbie's visits during the pandemic, please see her Virtual Visits page.

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SOME TIPS FOR AUTHORS & ILLUSTRATORS GIVING VIRTUAL PRESENTATIONS:

- Respect your audience (no matter what age). Never take their attention or time for granted.

- Be prepared for things to go wrong. Exchange emergency contact info, just in case (power outage, tech failure, etc.). Charge up your devices, have an extra portable battery handy.

- Don't just talk at the camera. Show stuff (books, in-progress sketches or manuscripts, things in your office, etc.). If you can, do some kind of demo / interactive activity / call-and-response. However, be wary of the latter getting too chaotic - have a plan, and let the organizer know so they can help.

- Be aware that students who are e-learning from home may be participating from a small screen (tablet or smartphone), so don't count on them being able to read text or see small details in your presentation.

- Make sure there is at least one adult who is able to monitor any text chat, be able to mute students if necessary, be your main contact for Q&A (to make sure you can hear questions) etc.

- Be mentally prepared NOT to be able to see some or all of the students, if they are e-learning from home. Ask ahead of time about this, ask if students to leave their cameras if at all possible. For large groups, however, having many windows open may affect lag. Also, some students (and their families) may prefer keeping cameras off for privacy.

- Always aim to do a short tech test ahead of time, with just the teacher. I have found almost every school does things a bit differently re: format, permissions etc., so it's good to verify. This is also a chance to informally chat with the educator, get to know them a bit (and vice versa).

- PRACTICE. I was terrified and awkward when I first started doing virtual visits. No matter how much you research ahead of time, the best way to learn how to do virtual visits is to DO them. What I did: approach educators who were already familiar with my work, offered them short (free) visits in exchange for feedback about how I could improve.

- Make it easy for the educator to build excitement with their students about your upcoming visit. Make sure there is plenty of bonus content, author/illustrator info and print-ready activities on your website.

- Tip I got from my author friend and critique partner, Christina Farley: make a pre-visit video to get students excited about the visit and start them thinking about what they would like to learn and discover. "I have found the pre-visit video begins that connection between myself and the students so when they come into the talk, they are eager to learn. It also gives the school another avenue to promote the event and builds anticipation for the visit."

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Virtual venues I have experience with during the pandemic:

Zoom ~ Google Meet ~ Facebook Live ~ Periscope/Twitter ~ YouTube Live ~ Flipgrid (recorded short videos w/classes) ~ BBCollab (via University of Toronto) ~ Crowdcast

(schools, libraries, bookstores, universities, literary festivals, events geared toward professionals (educators, librarians, authors/illustrators etc))

Types of virtual visits I've done during the pandemic:

Virtual book tour ~ bookstore events ~ visits with schools who are 100% e-learning / schools with hybrid programming (some e-learning, some in-class cohorts) ~ workshop for professionals (Highlights) ~ virtual visit with university/college-level students (University of Toronto)

DEBBIE'S CURRENT (RECENTLY UPGRADED) SET-UP

***** PLEASE NOTE: You do NOT need fancy expensive equipment to do a successful virtual school visit. All you REALLY need is a webcam that has decent video and audio, good Internet connection, and engaging content (your priority should always be on connecting with young readers, not tech :-). I started out with a webcam on my computer, and that was it. I've been gradually upgrading, investing some of the money I make from virtual visits into upgraded gear to help improve my ability to engage young readers. ******

Physical cameras:

- Built-in camera on my (new!) iMac (27 inch, 2020): main headshot cam. I switch back to this cam whenever I'm not showing slides or doing a drawing demo.

- Canon EOS M50: for overhead drawing shots, powered by a dummy battery (don't use a real battery; you'll end up running out of power in the middle of a session!) and hooked up with my iMac. Can also be used for other photography, of course! I switched from a Logitech webcam to a DSLR because I wanted the option of a fixed focus for overhead video (I found my Logitech kept going in and out of focus because I moved my hands around a lot). I opted for the M50 because it's so light and small, plus affordable for a DSLR.

- Logitech webcam (can't remember the year I bought it, sorry): only camera I can easily move around, so I plan to use this for impromptu show-and-tell of things I can't easily bring to my other cameras (my office, etc.). When I know I'm going to be using it to do some show-and-tell, I stick it onto my FotoPro Flexible Tripod (latter isn't necessary, but it gives me the option of an extra tripod on my desk for another camera view)

Virtual cameras:

- Second monitor (DELL): I use my second monitor for slideshows, digital drawing demos, showing websites etc.

- iPad Pro: Backup in case I can't run my slideshow on my computer for some reason (I keep a PDF of my slideshow on my iPad, just in case), digital drawing demos.

Software and online services:

- Ecamm Live: what I use for my picture-in-picture, overlays, green screen effects. Mac only. I also use this to do recorded videos, like this one:

- Restream.io: I use this when I do simultaneously livestreaming to multiple platforms (FB live, Twitter/Periscope, Youtube) rather than just one at a time.

Non-essential but useful software:

Desktop Clock Live: To help keep me on schedule, I have an analog-looking clock in a corner of my screen. This makes it easy to quickly check the time without being obvious about it. I also the fact that I can make it transparent in the foreground so that I can always see it during my virtual visit, but it never gets the way.

My audio:

- Rode NT-USB microphone

- MEE audio Sport-Fi M6 Noise Isolating In_ear Headphones With Memory Wire (clear): I keep this plugged into my Rode.

My lighting:

Neewer 12-inch LED ring light and light stand: Another new acquisition for my overhead lighting. Up to recently, I used a ring light I made myself out of styrofoam and LED strips.

Neewer 700W Professional Photography 24"x24" Softbox with E27 Socket Lighting Kit: I originally bought these two softbox lights for my found object photography.

Neewer Advanced 2.4G 660 LED Video Light, Dimmable Bi-Color LED Panel with LCD Screen and 2.4G Wireless Remote: I use this light sometimes for Zoom meetings. I like it because I can use a remote to turn it on and off, and I can change the color temperature.

Other stuff I use:

Elgato Stream Deck XL: I just recently upgraded from the regular Elgato Stream Deck. I program my Stream Deck buttons to make it easier for me to quickly switch between "scenes" in Ecamm Live (each scene is a particular camera view with particular overlays and other settings). I am also starting to use it to streamline my workflow in other apps as well.

Elgato collapsible green screen: New acquisition! Up to recently, I used a green screen cloth backdrop (also had a wider version) along with a MountDog photo backdrop studio background support system. I use my green screen for transparent picture-in-picture inserts, custom backgrounds, videos. I always have to remember not wear or show anything GREEN because everything green turns transparent.

Manfrotto 244RC Variable Friction Magic Arm Quick Release: I use this for my overhead drawing camera with my Canon M50, secured to my desk with a Manfrotto 035RL Super Clamp. Before that, I used a Neewer Adjustable Desktop Clamp Suspension Boom Scissor Mount Stand Holder (which can hold my Logitech Webcam for overhead drawing). Before that, I used a piece of cardboard with a hole cut out of it for my iPhone, suspended it over my drawing area.

Author booking services I work with:

Author Village (not officially announced; I'll be added to the website soon)

Talkabook: I include this in my suite of virtual visit offerings. How I use it: family visits or homeschooling groups. For larger groups (10+), I ask people to contact Author Village instead.

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STUFF I USED TO USE AND/OR KEEP AS A BACKUP OR SOMETIMES FIND HANDY:

Anker PowerCore USB-C power bank: I use this with my dummy battery / Canon M50 while livestreaming. I actually have TWO of these because I find them so handy, not just for livestreaming but also to carry around when I'm out of the office. Strong enough to power my iPad Pro, too!

Flexible Tripod For iPhone & Camera, Fotopro Lightweight Tripod: In addition to sometimes using this during school visits, I use this mainly for doing quickie videos outside or on the go. Also take this with me on vacations because it's a handy way to taking group family shots with my iPhone set on timer, so I can be in them!

SmallRig Super Clamp w/ 1/4" and 3/8" thread: So many uses! I was using this to stick on the end of my desk-clamped suspension boom arm to hold my DIY ring light over my desk.

Lightweight Aluminum Flip-Chart Presentation Easel: I used to use this for my Skype school visits and still have it handy, if my overhead camera fails. However, it limits the type of art I can do (e.g. no close-ups, no drippy/messy art, no small art). I also found the paper expensive.

Quartet Easel Pads, Plain Bond, Single Pad: Expensive!! Once I realized I went through a bunch of sheets every visit, I started to keep this one pad as the base, but then would use painter's tape to secure multiple scrap blank paper on top. Here's a 2-pack listing (still expensive!).

Sharpie Markers that are flipchart-friendly: water-based, won't bleed through flip chart paper.

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