I love doing visits, as I truly enjoy interacting with kids and encouraging their love for reading. I still fondly remember how exciting author visits were for me as a kid and I’d love to come to your school, library, book club, etc. to talk about my books and encourage your students’ love of reading and writing. As a former educator with experience teaching kids of all ages, I always plan my presentations to be interactive so your students can be engaged.
Currently, I am accepting both in-person and virtual visit requests for the 2022-2023 school year and beyond. In order to request a visit, please contact me after reading the information below:
For grades 2-5, I discuss Mindy Kim, my chapter book series for ages 6-9. Topics covered in my presentation range from: my own childhood of being the perpetual new kid and how that led me to become an author, the awesomeness of teachers, and the importance of following one’s dreams and being nice to others.
For middle-schoolers and high school students, I discuss I’ll Be the One, my Young Adult novel for teens. Topics covered in my presentation range from: how I started submitting my books to literary agents in eighth grade and the importance of not giving up on your dreams (while exercising self-care!), my inspiration for I’ll Be the One, and the whirlwind journey I had with the book, from my K-pop dancing hobby to both a publishing and Hollywood bidding war.
In-person Visits
I am fully vaccinated and boosted so I am currently available for in-person visits. Out of personal choice, I will be wearing a mask during the visit.
Please make sure you have: 1.) the means to project a power point presentation and 2.) a working microphone for visits held in cafeterias or other large spaces. I also ask that the students have already read my book(s) or be familiar with them at some capacity (even just a library group read of the first chapter).
For local visits (within the DFW area), my standard honorarium fee is $600 for a half day (2 presentations) and $1200 for a full day (4 presentations+lunch with students and/or teachers). If you are a local Title 1 school, however, please be sure to mention that in your request and I will provide a discounted rate.
If you are outside the DFW area, my honorarium fee is higher to provide for travel expenses (airfare, lodging, and transportation). Please suggest a reasonable honorarium fee with your request. I suggest splitting costs with other schools since I can cover my own travel costs when I book four days’ worth of visits in the same area.
My visits include a presentation about me and my books, a writing activity for your students (this can be excluded if you prefer), and a 15 min Q&A. I will also sign books if there are book orders involved. If there are other activities/topics you’d like me to cover in my presentation, please let me know in your request.
Please make sure to order books ahead of time to make them available for students to purchase. You are welcome to coordinate with a local bookseller when ordering your books, or go through my publisher to receive a special discounted 40% off rate here for the Mindy Kim books and here for I’ll Be the One.
Virtual Visits
If you are still not comfortable with in-person visits due to the COVID-19 pandemic and/or do not have a high enough budget to fund an in-person visit, that is totally understandable.
School/Library visits: For virtual visits, my honorarium fee is $300 for a single hour session (45 min presentation+15 min Q&A) and $500 for two one-hour sessions (with a minimum of a 15 min break in between). A discounted speaker’s fee of $150 is available for Title 1 schools. A reduced fee is also available should you require a shorter presentation, etc. If booking an event that will be attended by multiple schools, please note that there is a $50 fee per additional school.
Book Clubs: I am also available for book club visits for smaller groups (max 10 individuals and NOT affiliated with a school or library) that will follow a similar structure as my school/library visits. My speaker’s fee for such events is $200 for a single hour session, but again, a reduced fee is available should you require a shorter presentation, etc.
For all virtual visits (please read): As with in-person visits, I ask that students have already read my book(s) or be familiar with them at some capacity (even just a library or other group read of the first chapter). If you’d like me to also incorporate a writing activity like I do with my in-person sessions, please let me know and make sure that kids are ready with writing supplies/devices on your end.
Please also make sure to order books ahead of time to make them available for students to purchase. You are welcome to coordinate with a local bookseller when ordering your books, or go through my publisher to receive a special discounted 40% off rate here for the Mindy Kim books and here for I’ll Be the One.
Since I am unable to sign books in person for virtual visits, I can sign complementary book plates and send them to your school/library for students who purchased copies of my book(s). Please provide me the mailing address of a specific point person at your school/library and the number of signed bookplates you need after orders are finalized.
Past Appearances:
North Texas Teen Book Festival (Irving, TX)
Norman North High School (Norman, OK)
Reading Rockstars Fort Worth for Texas Book Festival
Vargas Elementary (Mountain View, CA)
Daegu International School (Daegu, South Korea)
Rockwell Elementary (Redmond, WA)
Rose Hill Elementary (Kirkland, WA)
Achziger Elementary (Mesquite, TX)
San Mateo County Libraries (San Mateo County, CA)
Captain Shreve High School (Shreveport, LA)
Louisiana Book Festival (Baton Rouge, LA)
Texas Book Festival (Austin, TX)
Korea International School (Seoul, Korea)
Lyla Lee 