Been asked to do a presentation thing..

DangerMouse27

Hi all,

Well first the good news. I have been asked to talk to a group of dyslexic teenagers and adults about my book. The only thing is that I am self published via Amazon and as such, I'm not sure If I am what they are looking for.

The organiser did ask me to bring copies along so they could buy them and I did tell her that it wasn't possible to bring physical copies, and she is okay with that. I wonder since I said yes, is she just happy to have someone.

My big fear is that I have no idea what I'm going to do. I know there are published writers in the area that would probably jump at this chance so should I give it to them?

I will have copies of my next book so I could do it then. Also, I am mostly self taught myself, having not attended any writing courses as such, so what exactly about my unique experiences when writing could I tell them that would be of value? I am at a bit of a loss with it.

I am also fairly certain that the lady involved in organising this has not read my book. That sort of has a big bearing on it for me.

Das Kitty

DangerMouse27 wrote: »

Hi all,

Well first the good news. I have been asked to talk to a group of dyslexic teenagers and adults about my book. The only thing is that I am self published via Amazon and as such, I'm not sure If I am what they are looking for.

The organiser did ask me to bring copies along so they could buy them and I did tell her that it wasn't possible to bring physical copies, and she is okay with that. I wonder since I said yes, is she just happy to have someone.

My big fear is that I have no idea what I'm going to do. I know there are published writers in the area that would probably jump at this chance so should I give it to them?

I will have copies of my next book so I could do it then. Also, I am mostly self taught myself, having not attended any writing courses as such, so what exactly about my unique experiences when writing could I tell them that would be of value? I am at a bit of a loss with it.

I am also fairly certain that the lady involved in organising this has not read my book. That sort of has a big bearing on it for me.

The first thing I would do would be to phone her up and ask her what they're hoping for. What they'd like to see etc.

Am I mixing you up with someone else but is your book about filming model trains?

You need to find out if they're interested in the content of the book, or the process of writing it or both. Are they interested in self publishing process. Are you yourself dyslexic? Is it something you could bring into the presentation?

It's very hard to do a presentation when you don't have anything to hang it on. Best get more info from them first.

DangerMouse27

Das Kitty wrote: »

The first thing I would do would be to phone her up and ask her what they're hoping for. What they'd like to see etc.

Am I mixing you up with someone else but is your book about filming model trains?

You need to find out if they're interested in the content of the book, or the process of writing it or both. Are they interested in self publishing process. Are you yourself dyslexic? Is it something you could bring into the presentation?

It's very hard to do a presentation when you don't have anything to hang it on. Best get more info from them first.

Hi Das Kitty,

No, I myself am not dyslexic. I did try and contact her but she seems happy in whatever format I want to take the talk at. She did mention that I would be talking about my experiences, my craft and how I go about starting a book.

No, I am not the train guy.

Thanks.

EileenG

I would talk a bit about how you got the idea for your book, and what it took to turn it from an idea into a published book. Espeically things like how long you spend writing every day, and how many rewrites and edits you had to do before the book was ready.

Talk about the sort of research you have to do, any funny things you found out, how to use the internet to murder people, stuff like that.

Queenalocin

If you are using PowerPoint for an audience with dyslexia, keep the slides simple and not fussy. Use a font like Arial or Comic Sans MS. The background should be white, black text and don't have it justified. Many dyslexic students struggle to read coloured text, especially green or yellow.
http://www2.yorksj.ac.uk/pdf/A%20Guide%20to%20Dyslexia%20(PowerPoint)%20A5.pdf

looksee

A group of people with a specific issue, such as dyslexia, is not going to be looking for advice on how to find their muse or the deeper meaning of every phrase you have written. In fact they don't need to read your book at all. Though you would need to give a description of the kind of book that it is, and possibly read a short (a page or so) extract.

You are talking about how you actually went about the process of planning and researching your book, how you organised yourself to write it (did you do regular hours, or put in an hour here and there as you had time, for example). Did you write too much and have to cut it back, or were you struggling to make it long enough. How many times you re-wrote it and who proof-read it for you. How difficult it was to take advice as a result of the proof reading and your need to tighten up on spelling and grammar. What aspects of writing you found most enjoyable, and most difficult. These are all just examples of the things that you could discuss, you might think of more interesting angles.

What was required of you to submit it to Amazon (what kind of format, for instance); did you have to sign any contracts with them etc.

Don't try and play down that it is self published and on Amazon, it is impossibly difficult to get anything published by the normal channels, and these days even more so as fewer paper books are purchased. By talking about what you did you will offer encouragement to other people to actually get on and do something rather than sitting back saying, I couldn't do that!

Congratulations on your success!