For Alabama Library Association Public Library Division Mini-Conference, January 30, 2014

1. Virtual Author Visits @
Your Library
http://goo.gl/6EOPFa
Wendy Stephens
PLD
January 31, 2014

6. Kate Messner’s site:
Picture books
Middle grade
Teen
Adult

7. http://skypeanauthor.wikifoundry.com/Skype an Author Network

8. Social media…

9. Social media…

10. Another resource

11. Another resource

13. “As a final activity after reading the book we will have the
opportunity to Skype with the author, Beck McDowell. To
prepare for the interview I had the students brainstorm a list
of possible questions to ask the author as we were reading
Last Bus Out.
Here are a few of the questions:
• Why did you choose to write about Hurricane Katrina?
• How did you select Courtney Miles as the main character?
• Why was his story so important to share?
• Are there any fictional characters in the book?
• How did you get Courtney to trust you with such personal
information, i.e. his girlfriend and childhood experiences?
Sometimes the questions were later answered within the
text, but it was a way to keep the students actively thinking
beyond the text. A few times they would come back after a
weekend and announce they had thought of another
question to ask. We are the first group of students at Seneca
Grade School to interview an author via Skype and we really
appreciate the opportunity.”
http://marianslibrary.wordpress.com/2011/05/05/hurricane-katrina-the-emergence-of-a-high-school-hero/

26. Another virtual author visit idea:
author text chat…
Angie Manfredi, Los Alamos Public Library
• Prevents the “any questions?” inhibition
• Queue questions ahead of time
• Have all participants submit a question

27. Virtual Author Visits @
Your Library
Wendy Stephens
PLD
January 31, 2014