Host a Unique Book Club EventWhether your book club takes place in a library, school, bookstore, or home, I'd love to help you put together a unique event…even if I can't be there in person. About a month before your event, I'll send you a package containing a hardcopy of the map seen on
www.thirteenreasonswhy.com, and enough bookmarks and autographed bookplates for everyone in your group. To bring elements from the book into your discussion, if you e-mail me several questions at least ten days before the event, I'll send you an audiotape of me answering some of those questions. What's that? You don't know if you have a way to play tapes? Well, if Clay can figure it out, so can you! Some book clubs have used a decorated paperbag, similar to those in Hannah's Peer Communications class, to gather the questions. A guest speaker (perhaps a crisis hotline worker, a school counselor, or a teen psychologist) would make for a very positive event. E-mail me at WriteJayAsher{at}
aol.com with "Book Club" in the subject line, and I'll help in any way I can.
Where I'll be speaking/signing:
2009
January 30-February 1: SCBWI Winter Conference; New York City, NY
February 14: Satellite Beach Library; Satellite Beach, FL; 2:00pm
February 15: Suntree/Viera Library; Melbourne, FL; 2:00pm
February 16: Central Brevard Library (professional workshop for teachers/librarians); Cocoa, FL; 8:00am
February 17: Barnes & Noble Florida Teens Read! Book Club; West Melbourne, FL; 7:30pm
February 19: Port Charlotte High School; Port Charlotte, FL
February 20: Charlotte High School; Punta Gorda, FL
March 14:
Santa Maria Author Forum; Santa Maria, CA
March 26-28:
Oxford Conference for the Book; Oxford, MS
April 27: R.A. Long High School; Longview, WA
July 24:
Willow Bridge Books; Oakhurst, CA; 5:00pm
July 25:
Village Books; Bellingham, WA; 2:00pm
July 27:
Anderson's Bookshop; Naperville, IL; 7:00pm
July 28: Borders; Fairfax, VA; 7:00pm
July 29:
RJ Julia Booksellers; Madison, CT; 7:00pm
July 30: Borders; Newark, DE; 4:00pm
July 31: Borders; Bridgewater, NJ; 7:00pm
August 1: Barnes & Noble; Framingham, MA; 2:30pm
August 1: Barnes & Noble; Manchester, NH; 6:30pm
September 30 - October 1: FAME conference; Orlando, FL
October 9: Santa Maria Public Library; Santa Maria, CA; 4:00pm
October 10: Barnes & Noble; San Luis Obispo, CA; 6:00pm (with YA authors Robin Benway and Jordanna Fraiberg)
October 13:
Literature Festival - University of Kansas; Lawrence, KS
October 17: Borders; Goleta, CA; 2:00pm
October 19: Craighead County Jonesboro Public Library; Jonesboro, AR
October 22: Suicide Prevention Forum (ABC Church); Atascadero, CA
October 24: Eugene Public Library; Eugene, OR
October 27: Suicide Prevention Forum (United Methodist Church); San Luis Obispo, CA
November 13: Antioch Community High School; Antioch, IL
November 19: Teen Author Series; Philadelphia, PA (Branch TBA)
November 20:
Doylestown Bookshop; Doylestown, PA; 7:00pm (with Laurie Halse Anderson and Lauren Myracle)
November 21: NCTE Annual Convention; Philadelphia, PA
December 11: Joseph-Beth Booksellers; Cleveland, OH; 7:00pm
2010
February 18: Los Osos Public Library; Los Osos, CA; 6:30pm (book club discussion)
March 31: YA Literature Conference; Kennesaw, GA
April 10-11: SCBWI Western Washington Conference; Redmond, WA
May 1: SCBWI Michigan Spring Conference; Lansing, MI
May 15: Teen Literature Festival; Houston, TX
If you'd like me to speak at your school, bookstore, library, writing conference, or some other gathering, I am definitely interested. E-mail me at WriteJayAsher{at}
aol.com with "Speaking Gig" in the subject line and we'll discuss particulars.
Some topics I've spoken about in the past:
(For Anyone) How to Sell a Book in Twelve Years...or Less! - My lengthy journey to publication, and why I wouldn't change a thing.
(For Writers) No Bookmarks Allowed - How to inject suspense into any novel.
(For Writers) Why a YA? - Why writing novels for teens is so exciting. I'll discuss some of the pitfalls to writing a contemporary teen novel, as well as how to avoid them. All of this is done using
Pat the Bunny as an outline.