WRAD is always a very nifty day. It’s like running a race, hoping that no technical barriers or complications arise at the last moment. The wonderful Kate Messner posts author availability early each New Year and educators rush in to nab their brief free virtual sessions. It’s a great way for schools who could otherwise never afford an author visit to let their students interact with a live author.
On the other side of the screen, it can be a challenge for authors. I’ve heard stories of authors being booked for a full day and then when WRAD approaches, being faced with a string of cancelations when educators opt for a “better” author — how humiliating. Also, this can leave an author with an uneven day. I’ve heard of authors generously setting aside a 12 hour span to cover a wide number of time zones, carefully planning the day with brief intervals in between, but then when the day arrives, being confronted with no shows or last minute cancellations. This leaves the author in limbo, still needing to be on the ready, but having big gaps between presentations. Not a respectful way to treat authors who’ve kindly donated their time.
One way that I get around this is to not give a slot to any educator who sends a mass message to authors or who sends a canned message to me. In order for me to volunteer my time to speak to a school the educator must demonstrate that they’re familiar with me and my work and that their students want to hear from me. Also, I book short sessions — just 15 minutes each — and book them back to back with no downtime in between. This year I booked 12 in three hours. All of my slots were filled within 48 hours of them being posted. Today I did 11 of them. One educator had unresolvable zoom problems. But I was thrilled to speak with students for three hours straight and still have the rest of the day to concentrate on writing. A win-win all around.
Here are some students from today:
