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As a kidlit author, you know you’re marketing your books to the gatekeepers, aka the adults. Finding ways to reach out to schools will help you build your audience and sell more books. So here’s a marketing idea that can help you connect with more teachers and librarians. Turn your book into a script for readers theater! (also called reader’s theatre, etc., depending on where you look online)
It’s a classroom activity where a small group of students performs a play for their classmates (and maybe other kids in the school or families too). But these are not elaborate productions with a set and marks on a stage and most importantly, memorized lines. In these performances, the actors are reading directly from the script in their hands. They might be holding a puppet (like a picture on a popsicle stick or a brown paper bag) to show which character they’re playing. But that’s not necessary. All they need is the script in their hand.
And that’s where you come in.
If you’re adapting a picture book, then your entire book will be the readers theater. If you have a chapter book or a middle grade novel, then you will choose a selection. This might be the opening chapter, to get new readers engaged in your story as they wonder what happens next. Or maybe it’s a funny scene in your book or a scene with a lot of characters in the middle of your book. It’s up to you. And hey, you could create more than one script if you wanted to.
Take the text of your book and assign each word to a character. If it’s a line of dialogue, then obviously that character says it in the script. If it’s narration, then assign it to a narrator.
What if you have lots of narration? Or all of it is narration? Then create multiple narrators. This gives more kids the opportunity to play a part, and it doesn’t saddle one kid with reading most of the story.
You might also want to consider a part or two that intentionally have shorter lines. Maybe one narrator only makes the sounds each time or says the refrain after each adventure. Or maybe multiple characters or narrators say a line together here and there. This helps kids of varying reading levels get a chance to participate.
Remember that this is no longer in book format. Now it’s a play. So after you list the title and your name at the top, you’ll need to list all of the characters (including narrators) in the script. And then it’s time for the script itself.
Note: if you were writing a screenplay for Hollywood, you would put the character name centered on the page, directly above the dialogue. But since your readers are going to be kids, typically, the character name is on the left-hand side of the page.
NARRATOR 1: This is where the narrator’s lines go.
CHARACTER: And this is where the character’s lines go.
NARRATOR 2: You get the idea, right?
If you have the rights to use your illustrations for promotional material (check your contract), then you might want to put a small picture or two from your story on the pages of your script. You also might want to add color to your page with the character names, for example, but keep in mind that most teachers will probably be printing this off on a black-and-white printer.
You might also want to include blackline masters of character faces that could be printed, colored, cut out, and attached to popsicle sticks or brown paper bags for kids to hold as they’re reading the script.
On the last page of your readers theater, be sure to include information about the book this script was adapted from. Include the cover and information about you, the author. And don’t forget to link to where your book can be purchased, your website, social media, etc. If you offer school visits, you can include information about that too (or at least a link). You did all of this work to get your story out there, so be sure to include all of this information so that teachers, librarians, and maybe parents and grandparents can find you to purchase your book and schedule visits.
The easiest way to do this is to save/export your document as a PDF file and then upload it to your Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox account. You can then link it to your website for anyone to download.
Or, if you want, you could instead make it a lead magnet and have teachers and librarians subscribe to your email list. Then, once they’ve confirmed their subscription, you could email them a link to where you have the PDF saved. They get the readers theater script, and you get a new warm lead to your email list.
You might also want to consider creating an account on TeachersPayTeachers and offering your script as a free download there too. However, this won’t add them to your email list, and they may not visit your website. But it might work for you as another strategy to get more eyes on your work.
Readers theater is a great way for kids to build their confidence in their reading fluency skills. This helps them learn to read aloud and sound like readers rather than robots, where. they. stop. at. the. end. of. every. word.
They get to practice reading speed (a la Goldilocks, it can’t be too fast or too slow, it needs to be just right). They get to practice intonation. They get to work on their speaking volume, which for some kids can be huge. And they get to practice with a small group of classmates and put on a show for their friends. What’s not to like about that?
I hope you’ll consider readers theater as a marketing and educational tool. I can’t wait to see your scripts!
Check out more resources to help you write, market, and publish your book here.
I offer book coaching and editing for authors of picture books, chapter books, and middle grade and YA novels. Are you ready to get started? Send me a message to tell me about your book.
