School is out, summer's here, the days are long. You'd think it would be the perfect time for bookstores to host author events geared to kids, but in fact, as publishers have found, the kids simply aren't around; a good number of them are away at camp. And some enterprising publishers are seeing that as an opportunity: they are sending authors to camp, too.
Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing and Houghton Mifflin Children's Books are both mounting author camp tours this summer. Although marketing to campers is not new for S&S—in recent years they've sent books and postcards through a camp care package company—touring authors at camp is completely fresh ground. Executive director of publicity Tracy van Straaten said there were a few novel hurdles. The first was locating the camps. "When we do a bookstore tour, we know where the stores are," she said. "But camps are unchartered territory. It's been a bit of a research project." The second was finding the right authors who would go over well at a succession of different camps. S&S chose two authors who write gender-neutral books that are published into a series—Bruce Coville (author of My Teacher Is an Alien, among others) and D.J. MacHale (author of the Pendragon series). Coville will tour camps around the Northeast while MacHale will visit camps in southern California. "We picked the region of the country the authors live in, so they can do day trips," said van Straaten.
Coville, for one, sounded game. "Stretching the parameters of what is normally done is fun. The explorer in me is delighted about this," he said.
The camp directors are also enthusiastic. "One camp told us that they have a staff cottage where the author could stay over," said van Straaten. "Others have told us they want the author to dine with the kids, or tell stories around the campfire." That kind of social interaction can't be had in a bookstore or school event.
Matt Stoltz, camp director for Camp Island Lake in Starrucca, Pa., is hosting Coville this summer and is gung-ho. "We think our seven-to-nine-year-olds will enjoy it. They will get to hear him read, learn about how the stories were created and then they can ask him questions," he said.
Houghton Mifflin is also sending two authors to camp: Lauren Mechling and Laura Moser, who co-wrote The Rise and Fall of a 10th-Grade Social Climber. According to publicity manager Karen Walsh, in early discussions of how to publicize their book Mechling mentioned wanting to visit camps. "Lauren said she wanted to talk to teenagers directly," Walsh recalled, "and not in a school setting." The authors, who live in New York City, will visit camps in the Adirondacks and Catskills.
For now, only all-girl camps are confirmed for Mechling and Moser's visits, but co-ed camps may still be in the works. "The authors are young and they have ideas of what they want to do with the campers," said Walsh. "They are good friends and they hope to talk about becoming involved in the writing process, as well as what it's like to work alongside a friend."
As for sales opportunities, S&S will proceed on a case-by-case basis. Some camps will be selling the author's books at the event, others will sell books in the camp store; some don't allow the commerce at all. Stoltz said nothing can be sold at his camp, but the kids will have information about the books from the publisher to take home. "This is really about exposure to the authors and books, not about sales," van Straaten said. "We think camp is a great place to reach the kids because they are away from TV and other attractions. We want to get kids excited about books in general. In theory it will generate sales in the long run." All the publishers can do now is wait and see how it turns out, but van Straaten is optimistic. "If it's as successful as we think it's going to be, it could change the landscape for summer author events," she said.
