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Author Visits -

My appearances, like my books, are best suited to middle school ages and up. I speak to English classes, art departments, writing groups, college illustration / literature / design programs, and library special programs.

My standard rates are as follows:

Local (within about 25 miles of Boston): One presentation $200

Add $100 for each additional presentation/workshop (up to a maximum of 5 in a day.)

Semi-local (within 150 miles of Boston): Add $50/hour driving time plus meals, and lodging if neccessary

Anywhere else: $800 / day plus meals, transportation, lodging. Coordinate with other schools or libraries in your area to split up the costs, or check with me to see if your location might fit into my existing travel schedule.

Presentations:

The Basic Presentation- This is the core of most visits. I do a multimedia show & tell about my work, how I got to be a graphic novelist and what it's like. I also touch minimally on my work in the computer game industry. I show examples of my work, all the way from early childhood up to in-progress, not-yet-published books. I show the progression from an idea, a doodle, or an existing text to a finished, published work, and talk a bit about how I structure my time and stay organized. Usually I talk for about 30 minutes, then take questions for the remaining time. I need a computer and digital projector setup; if you can't provide this, let me know and I can bring my own.

I'm happy to modify The Basic Presentation to emphasize topics that you think your kids might have special interest in. Here are a bunch of examples: reading literature for themes and symbolism – adapting a text - visual storytelling - materials and methods - the business of illustration - the book and comic industries - contract and copyright - computer game art and the game industry - a particular one of my books - research and reference for historical subjects - printing and prepress - portfolio and promotion - running a business - graphic novels I like - other artists' approaches to visual narrative - comics in other countries.

Hands-on Comic Art Workshops: In these workshops I try to give kids a feel for the various stages or aspects of illustrating a story, and the range of problems and solutions involved in each. I show them examples and give them simple, quick exercises. I haven't standardized these yet, so each one is custom-made based on the age of the students, the time available, etc.

Exercises and concepts which can be included in these workshops include:
Approaching a story
Designing a world
Beginnings, endings, and middles
Panel-to-panel: choosing your moments
Composition and camera
Text-image relationship
Drawing: gesture and action, naturalism and iconography
Materials, methods, and visual language
Making action scenes dynamic
Digital techniques for comics
Digital techniques for computer games


Computer workshops: I can put together a workshop in Photoshop or 3Dstudio Max, focused on illustration, comics, or games. The content will be tailored to your needs and resources.

Additional Notes:

It is strongly recommended that the students have at least begun to read one or more of my books before the visit. This helps them connect to the work and to me, and gives them a chance to think of questions for the Q&A.

You can arrange for students to be able to purchase my books at the event, at a discounted price. You can get the books directly from the publisher with 3-4 weeks advance notice, but this can get a bit complicated as some of my books are published by Candlewick Press and some are published by THECOMIC.COM (my own self-publishing company). I recommend first contacting your local bookstore. Most bookstores, especially independents (i.e. non-chain stores) will be happy to bring books to the event and sell them at some discount, and they will handle any returns as well.

If you want to go the publisher route, contact Anne.Irza-Leggat@candlewick.com for the CWP titles, and email me for my other books. To find your local independent bookstore, search on http://www.booksense.com/

I am constantly trying to improve the presentations and workshops, so I appreciate all feedback you can give me. If you say nice things, I hope you won't mind if I quote you on my webpage!

If your school can't afford my rates, and you are local, do let me know. I try to do a couple of free events per year (schedule permitting).