On Saturday 3rd March I was hosted by Infinite Parentesi Bookstore for an author event to promote my children's picture story books. The event started at 16:30 and lasted about 3 hours.
Here's a gif to do a quick recap:
For those of you curious about the details, keep reading ;)
The store:
I love this bookstore! They have a wonderful variety of books and toys for kids. It's also attached to an English language school. The staff were fantastic! So helpful and friendly. A real pleasure to work with, and amazing service for their customers.
My little table:
I was set up with a big armchair to sit on for the readings, and had a little table for my books and other bits and bobs next to it. There were padded mats on the floor for the kids and parents to sit on.
The readings:
I started with a brief introduction telling them a bit about myself and what I do, and then I read Out and About at the Zoo, The Box, and Fairy May.
Activity time!
Then it was time for some activities. I gave the kids some colouring pages, and they each took home a Fairy May tooth brushing chart. Whilst the kids were busy colouring, I talked to the parents and gave out by business cards.
I made some character masks to take with me, and the kids had fun having their photo taken.
You can find free printables, including the character masks used for the photo booth, on my Free Resources page.
I then gave the parents and kids the opportunity to read the books for themselves, and get a closer look.
I took the time to do some one on one readings with some of the kids during this time, which was appreciated by both the kids and their parents.
I had such a great time doing this event. The kids had fun, and the parents enjoyed themselves too. Feedback was amazing! I sold several copies of my books, and I've already been invited back to do more events in the future.
If you'd like me to do an author event at your venue please get in touch. Just keep in mind I live in Rome, Italy ;)
Looked like a successful event, congrats!
ReplyDeleteThanks. It was. I'm really pleased with how it all went :)
DeleteLooks like the children had a great time!
ReplyDeleteThey loved it. The majority got copies of my books too.
DeleteThis seriously looks like a blast. I think you're my new hero. The face masks were an awesome idea. Almost like a photo booth, but with a level of anonymity for kids.
ReplyDeleteThanks :) It was so much fun. The kids loved the masks. I'll definitely be making more for future events so they have more choice of characters. It was my sneaky way of encouraging the kids to engage more during the event, and it worked a treat! They loved posing with the masks. It made for some awesome photo's for my readers galley too ;)
Deleteso sweet, I'm glad they provided you with an adult chair - the last time I sat in a small chair in the preschool classroom, I had 2 fears 1) I couldn't get up by myself, 2) I would break the chair... neither happened, but I don't want to temp fate ;)
ReplyDeleteI loved the chair. It's from IKEA apparently. It was perfect for the event as it was nice and wide giving space for a kid to sit next to me on it to read.
DeleteThe store is so cute and it looks like you all had a great time. Congrats on your event.
ReplyDeleteLatoya
It was a blast. Both the shop and the English language school are really well laid out. It's very welcoming, especially for the kids.
DeleteThis looks so fun! Something I would have attended when my kids were smaller. Our number 1 hangout was the library
ReplyDeleteMy kids love the library too. We have a children's library near our house that we go to.
DeleteAww it looks like you had so much fun! Thank you so much for sharing your awesome post.
ReplyDeleteThanks Katiria. It was an awesome day.
DeleteWhat a successful event! So glad everyone had a great time!
ReplyDeleteI was a bit nervous beforehand as this was my first time doing an event like this in person, but it went amazingly well. A success all round :)
DeleteLooks like a great event. congratulations.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I'm really pleased with how it went.
DeleteLooks like you had a wonderful time and the kids are all so happy.
ReplyDeleteThey loved the books, and bringing along some activities to do was a good idea. So happy they enjoyed it.
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