Visits

Bill loves talking to teens and adults about writing, reading, LGBTQIA issues, and suicide and depression. He is available for school and library visits, workshops, panels, and keynote addresses. He always creates specialized presentations that fit the needs of his audience.

If you want to book Bill for an event, contact him at bkonigsberg@gmail.com for rates and availability. He will be happy to answer any questions you have.

Bill will also do class visits via Skype or Google Hangout. See the blue box for information about rates for those.

A few extra thoughts on booking Bill:

  • A typical full-day visit includes up to three 45-to-60 minute presentations per day. In addition, he will make himself available for lunch and/or a GSA meet-and-greet at middle schools, high schools, or colleges. He is happy to share visits between nearby schools.
  • Bill is well-practiced in the art of all-school assemblies and keynote speeches. He has done assemblies on topics ranging from coming out to LGBTQ issues to suicide at schools across the country. His keynote speech at the 2018 National Council of Teachers of English resulted in an award being named for him, and he has recently given keynote addresses at the Arizona English Teachers Association, several regional SCBWI Conferences, and many area literature conferences.
  • Bill has found it useful, when talking about suicide, to coordinate with the schools beforehand to make sure there is available support after the talk. He has also found it useful to do small group sessions with young people on the topic after his talk, but will only do so if the school will commit resources to follow-up with students who need help. Bill is NOT a trained psychologist, but he is a caring, thoughtful man with knowledge on the subject and a willingness to listen and hold space.
  • Bill has had his most successful visits at schools and libraries where the students are familiar with his work. He strongly suggests that teachers and librarians make copies of his novels available to students before he arrives.

Packages & Topics:

Full-or-half day packages for high schools, middle schools and colleges are available. Any combination of the following is possible:

  • Assembly/Talk on writing a novel
  • Assembly/Talk on being openly gay in the world of professional sports
  • Assembly/Talk on the major changes in the world of LGBTQ young adult fiction in the past decade
  • Discussions and readings of my novels
  • Creative writing workshop
  • Q&A sessions for groups of interested students
  • GSA Group Planning and Talk Sessions
  • English class visits
  • Let’s Talk About Suicide – includes keynote/assembly talk and follow-up with interested groups of students.

A half-day program includes as many as two programs. A full-day program includes up to four, including an evening reading/signing and/or meet-and-greet.

Bill also is available for Skype visits. He offers an in-depth visit of 45-60 minutes for $100. Contact Bill directly at bkonigsberg@gmail.com if you have questions or wish to schedule a Skype visit.