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- Authors/Illustrators can START by creating an account here: AUTHOR SIGN UP (pending approval)
- AFTER a visit has been scheduled independently (between an author and a school/group), THEN the author can login to access their AUTHOR DASHBOARD. From there authors can ADD A NEW BOOK(s) and then ADD A NEW BOOK SALE for the upcoming visit. (If it is a virtual visit, choose "yes".)
- The pending BOOK SALE will be approved in 1-2 business days IF it meets this criteria:
- There are at least 3 weeks before your preferred book sale closing date.
- The books offered for purchase are traditionally published titles (in print) that can be obtained by a U.S. independent bookseller through typical channels.
- The $30 admin fee has been paid. (We will email you an invoice that can be paid online.)
If the pending BOOK SALE is not approved, you will be notified by email and not asked to pay the fee.
- After approval, your BOOK SALE page goes LIVE on AuthorVisitCentral.com and can be accessed by parents with a unique 6-digit code or a direct link. The code is highlighted on the PDF book sale FLIER that you will also receive at this time. (Authors can view all their book sales on their AUTHOR DASHBOARD when logged in.)
- About 2 weeks before the CUTOFF DATE is good time for the school to begin distributing the FLIER which tells families about the upcoming visit and how they can purchase signed books using the 6-digit code on AuthorVisitCentral.com. (The best results come from schools who send home paper fliers as well as email reminders/other digital communication.)
- Your Book Sale page will close to orders after the CUTOFF DATE.
- We then place the book order with one of our preferred independent booksellers and have it shipped to the visit location a few days before the event (or after, depending on the closing date you choose). It typically takes 12 business days for books to arrive once the bulk order has been placed.
- We’ll reach out to you and the organizer by email to make sure the books arrived safely and send a list of book purchases- (student, grade, teacher, and the name(s) for the author to inscribe in each book). If the visit is a virtual one, the author will mail self-adhesive, signed book plates to the school to be placed in each book. (Shanda uses these clear adhesive labels for bookplates.)
- After the event, we may ask about your experience using AuthorVisitCentral.com and how we might improve, because we truly hope to take a load off your shoulders when it comes to school visit book sales!