INTERVIEW WITH POPULAR CHILDREN'S AUTHOR JUDE LENNON

I had the pleasure of connecting with Jude Lennon a popular children’s author and story-teller through Book Connectors a Facebook group.

I was particularly interested Jude’s fees for school visits. There isn’t much written about it on the internet especially for authors in the UK.  I have been visiting schools for over a year and have been doing so without payment, but as they take up a lot of time and effort think it only right to ask for something. Have you been constantly told that schools just don’t have the budget for author visits? So how do some authors get paid and others don’t?

Anyway, this was my motivation for contacting Jude.

I checked out Jude’s website and her books which all look amazing. There is so much to the work she does!

Jude describes herself as a storyteller and author and she runs a storytelling business the Little Lamb Tales where she not only visits primary schools she also runs writing courses and retreats. Jude was a primary school teacher for a long time before branching out into storytelling and writing. She has a plethora of children’s books and has been Amazons No. 1 bestseller amongst other accreditation.

I asked if Jude would be interested in a brief interview and she agreed, so here goes.

1. Are you traditionally published or self published? Can you say a bit about why you chose the path you did? I'm self and Indie published. I chose this path having spoken to several authors who had been offered traditional publishing deals only to find that they lost control of their book.  It also means that any money made from book sales comes to me rather than being split between agent, publisher, book shops and then finally the author.

2. Has being a teacher helped you with your writing journey? If so how? Definitely! I was always writing for the children in my classes and sometimes for the children in other people's classes. Having worked in Early Years and KS1 (3-7 year olds) for 18 years I feel I've got a really good understanding of children's books, what children want from a book and also what adults like in a book.

3. Where do you get your inspiration from?  Anywhere and everywhere! The first book I published The Dragon of Allerton Oak was inspired by a walk in my local park. Some books have been inspired by songs, by nature or by a snatch of conversation overheard. I'm also in a writing group and we write around a different theme each month. These different themes have offered a wealth of inspiration.

4. Have you come across any problems on your publishing journey? If so, can you say what it was and how you overcame it?  Self-doubt is never far away from anyone in the creative sector and I find the way to overcome this is to listen to the positive feedback, to the comments  from children who've enjoyed my books and to the teachers who have got in touch to say how useful they've found them. The other big issue is marketing. Not many authors love marketing - it's writing we love.  Marketing and actually selling books is really hard work and you sometimes have to think outside the box. This has led me to approach some local shops and ask if they'd be interested in stocking my books. The result - my books are in a pet shop and a beauticians.

5. What is the key to your success?  Hard question! I think the years in education have helped in this area. When  I go into schools everyone comments that they can tell I used to be a teacher because of how  relate to the children. Equally my organisation skills and ability to adapt my author visits for multiple ages help to reassure schools when I visit. Many of the schools are returning customers.

6. How many schools do you visit in a year? With a combination of the schools I visit for the Slow Down for Bobby assemblies (I wrote two books for The Bobby Colleran Trust charity  and now deliver assemblies on their behalf two days per week), Author Visits, Patron of Reading schools and Storytelling I would say I visit roughly 200 schools in a year.

7. What has been the highlight of your writing career? Writing the two books for the Bobby Colleran Trust has been a real highlight.  I was honoured and privileged to be asked by his family to write a book that would be both a lasting legacy and a way of conveying the important road safety message. The other highlight has been working with Hal's Books on our Awesome About Autism series. Working with Will, an autistic teenager, we have created a character that other autistic children can relate to. Will has grown in confidence since the beginning of the project and he is now looking a the very real possibility of a career in illustration because of it.

8. Have you had any problems getting schools on board and paying you your fee? If you have can you say what it was? Unfortunately, the creative sector always face this problem. Many people expect us to work for free or very little money. I don't think people realise the preparation involved in working in schools. Also writing is highly prized in the education system so those who write for a living should be highly prized too. Generally the schools who contact me expect there to be a fee and if they don't have the budget I suggest asking the PTA or other funding groups for help. Luckily for me, the schools I've worked with have valued the service I offer and have paid accordingly.

9. Have you any advice for new children’s authors wanting to do school visits? Or new children’s authors in general?  I actually run workshops for authors who want to run successful author visits. In that I cover what to do before, during and after the visit. Essentially organisation, being professional and interacting with the children are key. There is also good guidance on pricing visits on the Society of Authors website.

10. Have you travelled outside the UK to promote your books?  Not as yet but I did travel to South America last year and two of my mascot (book characters) came with me. Whilst  there I did research for my most recent book Tales from the Travel Pouch. As the lambs have their passports they would be more than happy to travel outside the UK to promote!

11. How do you market and promote your books and what have you found to be the best way?  So many ways. You have to keep trying new things. The most successful ways I've found are  - paying for professional PR (I use Lorna McCann PR), social media, book events and independent book shops. But there are so many things you can do.   The one thing I would say if people are promising to get you more page likes, book sales etc for large sums of money avoid these at all costs!

12. Where do you see yourself in five years time?  I'd love to still be doing what I'm doing now. Only 2% of writers actually make a living from writing. I'm so fortunate that all my living comes from books and writing related services so if I'm still doing that in 5 years I'll be very happy.

I would like to say a big thank you Jude for taking the time out of your busy schedule to answer my questions. They have been extremely helpful for me as a relatively new author and I hope that they have been for anyone who has read this interview.

Jude has a new new book due to be released in April 2019. It is part of a series of books about a young boy with autism. The first book Hal And The End Street is available to buy on Amazon.

I wish her continued luck in her writing journey.

Jude’s website is www.littlelambpublishing.co.uk