Idea - and question - about author visit over chat

Share everyday things like field trips, homeschooling experiences, or just anything that doesn't seem to belong elsewhere!

Moderators: Theodore, elliemaejune

Kaza Kingsley
User
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Oct 29, 2007 5:47 pm
Contact:

Idea - and question - about author visit over chat

Postby Kaza Kingsley » Mon Oct 29, 2007 6:08 pm

Hi everyone!
I'm a kids' fantasy author (The Erec Rex books) and I have been doing a ton of school visits on my recent book tours. Lately (with my crazy travel schedule) I've been more interested in doing online things instead of hopping from city to city. This led me to think of interacting with kids that normally might not get author visits - - homeschoolers!

Here was my thought - let me know if this sounds like it is of interest to anybody. I am getting a discussion board put up soon, and am able to use it for author/school visit chats with kids and parents. It would be interactive. There would be a set time and day where I would go online with the kids who have signed up. Kids would ask questions by posting comments, and I would go through each one and answer - up to the ending time on the discussion.

Here is a similar style discussion.
(But it's with older teens / adults. Mine would have a younger feel.)

Let me know if this is of interest. I'd love to set up an author visit with your kids!

Kaza Kingsley
Kaza Kingsley ;D
Author of the Erec Rex series
http://www.erecrex.com

User avatar
Theodore
Moderator
Posts: 2115
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2005 4:14 pm
Location: Missouri, US
Contact:

Postby Theodore » Mon Oct 29, 2007 8:16 pm

If you're going to be doing a live discussion sort of thing, use chat, not a web board.

Kaza Kingsley
User
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Oct 29, 2007 5:47 pm
Contact:

Postby Kaza Kingsley » Mon Oct 29, 2007 8:34 pm

Check the link - it's actually a little saner with a discussion board. As long as it's pre-planned out as a "chat" the discussion board format allows for a little longer and more readable question/responses. I liked it better than the chat ones I've seen. I think kids would get more out of it.

What do you think of the idea in general?
Kaza Kingsley ;D

Author of the Erec Rex series

http://www.erecrex.com

User avatar
Theodore
Moderator
Posts: 2115
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2005 4:14 pm
Location: Missouri, US
Contact:

Postby Theodore » Tue Oct 30, 2007 6:16 am

I just think that if you're going to be marketing this as real-time meetings with you, it needs to be in real time. Everyone does web boards, very few authors do actual online chats. Just go through the chat logs afterwards and post the most interesting questions / answers on your web board, this way you get the best of both worlds.

From my viewpoint, there are hundreds or thousands of authors I can access in online forums, the chances of me being interested in you personally (unless I already read your books and like them) are rather vanishingly small. The best way to set yourself apart from the pack and attract new people is to do something different. Chat is different.

Just my two cents - take it for what it's worth.

Kaza Kingsley
User
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Oct 29, 2007 5:47 pm
Contact:

Postby Kaza Kingsley » Tue Oct 30, 2007 7:09 am

Yeah - I think we might be thinking the same thing. It actually is a chat - because it is real time, at a pre-ordained, specified time, with live questions and answers. It's basically just like a chat room, except in a more readable format.
I'd be fine doing it in a chat room if that's what people tell me they want. But the ones I've seen (like in the link I put in above) are so cool in the discussion board format. It's not at all like an author going back in a week to look at postings. This is a live chat-like event.
Check the link out!
:D
Kaza Kingsley ;D

Author of the Erec Rex series

http://www.erecrex.com


Return to “Homeschool Parents / Off-Topic”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 7 guests