I love meeting readers at schools, stores, conventions, and book clubs. Below are some of my popular presentations, although I’m happy to speak on any writerly topic that supplements your curricular unit or conference theme. Further down are a few organizers’ testimonials and my honoraria info. If you don’t find what you’re looking for, feel free to contact me. I look forward to hearing from you.

“Silvia is truly an energetic and engaging presenter.”

– Dana Kaleta, Director, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Quest Project

Popular Presentations

Thirty minutes to one hour in length, including audio/visual highlights.

  • Me? (*GULP*) Yes, you CAN write!

    For all ages.

  • How a book is made

    For all ages.

  • Creating Wickedly Wonderful Unreliable Narrators

    For high school and up, especially those interested in writing.

  • Focus on Feedback: How to Start (or Join) a Critique Group and Make the Most of Criticism

    For high school and up, especially for those interested in writing.

  • World Building

    For middle school and up, especially those interested in writing.

  • Flipping Your Teenage Drama into a Teenage Publishing Dream

    For middle school and up, especially those interested in writing.

  • Let’s Make a Scene!

    For middle school and up, especially those interested in writing.

  • Dragons, Gods, and Fantastical Places

    For upper elementary school and up, general interest.

  • It’s Time to Talk

    For upper elementary school and up, general interest.

  • What do writers do?

    For elementary and middle schools.

  • I FLEW UP IN THE SKY AND THEN ...

    For elementary school audiences.

Download my Author Visits brochure PDF (3.2MB)

Testimonials

The Wisconsin Writers Association is always honored when Silvia agrees to speak or present for our members. She is the epitome of professionalism – a wonderful communicator with extensive, valuable, and updated knowledge in both the craft and the business of writing. No matter the topic or the medium, Ms. Acevedo inspires.

Silvia Acevedo was a fantastic fit for our writers conference! She was well-prepared and the audience found her knowledgeable and friendly. Silvia was an easy speaker to work with due to her professionalism and passion for writing. I would not hesitate to recommend her for an author visit or writing instructor.

Awesome student workshop! Silvia is truly an energetic and engaging presenter and provided an individualized and well-organized workshop for our diverse group of precollege students. I was impressed by the manner in which Silvia was effective in captivating a group of middle and high school students combined (representing an age range of 10-18 years) and engaging them in active dialogue without dumbing-down the information or excluding our more reluctant participants. Her combined lecture, activity and active learning format kept the students engaged throughout. Thank you, Silvia, for helping to prepare our budding youth citizen journalists for their upcoming service-learning campaign. We look forward to working with you again in the future!

As the Director of our annual Writers’ Institute, a conference that celebrates writers, agents, editors and publishing professionals, I have to say that Silvia’s presence at the 2017 event was enlightening. Silvia led a few workshops and participated on panels throughout the three-day weekend event. Her energy ignited every session that featured her involvement. Her enthusiasm shines through and her encouragement for our writers continues to this day as I write this a few weeks later. She invests herself 100% in mentoring and encouraging writers and artists to produce their best work. I look forward to inviting Silvia to be part of one of our events again soon – I know our writing community looks forward to her return also.

Ms. Acevedo is a sharp, engaging speaker. She captivated my freshmen Honors English class and opened their minds to the creative process. Approaching each of their questions with honesty and helpful tips, she inspired the inner writer in my students and in me!

We were honored to have Silvia Acevedo on our Young Adult Author panel during Teen Read Week. She was very engaging and willing to share her writing and publishing experiences in a candid way. We are looking forward to adding more of Silvia’s books to our collection and having her back at the Oak Creek Public Library in the future!

Thank you Silvia, for your participation in the Wisconsin Writes project. I have shared your writing process videos with educators all over the state to highlight the power of revision as an important part of a writing process. Your dynamic personality and obvious love for storytelling are valuable contributions to the art of writing, which carries over into your book with its larger than life characters and setting.

Silvia Acevedo was a great addition to our B-fest event. She brought professionalism, passion, and excitement for her craft with her. She made sure she got to know her fans as she spoke with them and relayed that personal touch to each signed copy of her book. Having a local author speak to those aspiring writers and avid readers made for an inspiring event and a fun one all the same. It is clear she will go far as she continues her journey in the book world.

It was a pleasure to have Silvia speak on a children’s book marketing panel during our recent Self-Publishing Advice Conference. The session, chaired by SCBWI, was informative and well-received by all attendees. Silvia was well prepared and brought great value to the session.

Silvia’s world-building presentation is a perfect blend of information and demonstration. Her writing prompts were especially helpful—you could see the lightbulb go on for many attendees as they discovered new insights about their story and characters. If there are missing elements in your story’s world, Silvia can help!

I realized I had the wrong villain, with no alternate! Silvia’s workshop helped me explore the new antagonist, the brains behind the crime. Yay and thank goodness! … She really knows her stuff and makes it relatable. If you get the chance, I highly recommend attending anything she teaches.

I wish I’d seen Silvia speak three years ago! During my time at the Writer’s Institute conference in Madison, WI, I attended her workshop … This was the workshop that made me want to dig back into book 1 from a technical perspective. Analyze it, tear it apart, get more critique, make it truly GREAT. So thank you, Silvia, for that lesson!

Great presentation on self-publishing in the #kidlit world. Thank you, @SilviaAcevdo_!

Thanks for the incredible session @SilviaAcevedo_!

Past Events

  • Featured Author, Wisconsin Writers Association 75th annual conference, October 2023
  • Panelist, Alliance of Independent Authors conference, October 2022
  • Presenting Author, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators annual summer international conference, August 2022
  • Event host, SCBWI-Wisconsin Spring Conference, May 2021
  • Featured Author, Wisconsin Writers Association, January 2021
  • First ever Literary-arts-administrator-in-residence, Write On, Door County, December 2020. This new residency program gives administrators of literary arts programs (in  my case, SCBWI-Wisconsin) the quiet, reflective time needed to create new programming or work on other program needs. Held on the non-profit’s beautiful grounds in Door County, WI.
  • Event host, SCBWI-Wisconsin Fall Conference, November 2019
  • Event host, SCBWI-Wisconsin Illustrator Workshop, September 2019
  • Featured Author, Books & Beer Book Club Meetup, August 2019
  • Featured Author, The Writescast Podcast, August 2019
  • Presenting Author, SCBWI-Wisconsin Meetup, Muskego, WI, July 2019
  • Featured Author, KidLit Nation Webinar, February 2019
  • Presenting Author, Lakefly Writers Conference, Oshkosh, WI, May 2019
  • Presenting Author, The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators’ Marvelous Midwest Conference, Naperville, IL, May 2019
  • Presenting Author, UntitledTown Book Festival, Green Bay, WI, April 2019
  • Presenting Author, UW-Madison’s Writers Institute, Madison, WI, April 2019
  • Featured Author, My World and Welcome To It Radio Show, Sun Prairie, WI, April 2019
  • Featured Author, The Morning Blend Television Talk Show, Milwaukee, WI, March 2019
  • Presenting Author, Wisconsin State Reading Association, Milwaukee, WI, February 2019
  • Featured Author, The Debcast Podcast with Deb Gonzalez, February 2019
  • Presenter, Is Self Publishing Right for You Webinar, Wisconsin, December 2018
  • Indie/Self Publishing Coordinator, Acting Freaking Happiness Fairy (Hospitality Coordinator), SCBWI-Wisconsin Fall Conference, Green Lake, WI, September 2018
  • Presenting Author, Wisconsin Writers Association Conference, Brookfield, WI, September 2018
  • Presenting Author, Lakefly Writers Conference, Oshkosh, WI, May 2018
  • Presenting Author, Wisconsin State Reading Association, Milwaukee, WI, February 2018
  • Presenter, Student Journalism, What is “Fake News,” University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Quest Program, Milwaukee, WI, September 2017
  • Half-Day Workshop Instructor and Presenting Author, Society of Children’s Book Authors and Illustrators Wisconsin Fall Retreat, Wisconsin Dells, WI, September 2017
  • Presenting Author, Manuscript Critic, University of Wisconsin-Madison Writers’ Institute, Madison, WI, March 2017
  • Presenting Author, Wisconsin State Reading Association, Milwaukee, WI, February 2017
  • Featured Author, Books & Beer Book Club, Neenah, WI, November 2016
  • Panelist, Southeast Wisconsin Festival of Books, Waukesha, WI, November 2016
  • Presenting Author, Wisconsin Writers Association, Neenah, WI, October 2016
  • Panelist, Teen Read Week, Oak Creek Public Library, Oak Creek, WI, October 2016
  • Presenting Author, Sheboygan Teen Book Festival, Sheboygan, WI, October 2016
  • Featured Author, Good Day Wisconsin Television News Show, Green Bay, WI, October 2016
  • Visiting Author, Barnes & Noble B-Teen Book Festival, Glendale, WI, June 2016
  • Visiting Author, Barnes & Noble B-Teen Book Festival, Racine, WI, June 2016
  • Presenting Author, SCBWI-Wisconsin Regional Event, Wauwatosa, WI, May 2016
  • Presenting Author, Lakefly Writers Conference, Oshkosh, WI, May 2016
  • Presenting Author, National Children’s Book Week, Boswell Books, Milwaukee, WI, May 2016
  • Featured Author, The Morning Blend Television Talk Show, Milwaukee, WI, May 2016
  • Panelist, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators’ Wild Wild Midwest Regional Conference, Chicago, IL, April 2016
  • Visiting Author, Barnes & Noble Creative Writing Con Fest, Carmel, IN, April 2016
  • Presenting Author, Carmel High School Creative Writing Con, Carmel, IN, April 2016
  • Featured Author, Conversations with Wisconsin Artists Radio Show, Sun Prairie, WI, April 2016
  • Visiting Author, Barnes & Noble Educator Appreciation Fest, Skokie, IL, April 2016
  • Visiting Author, South Milwaukee Public Library, South Milwaukee, WI, December 2015
  • Visiting Author, Martha Merrill’s Books & Toys, Waukesha, WI, November 2015
  • Visiting Author, Edgerton Sterling North Book and Film Festival, Edgerton, WI, November 2015
  • Panelist, Wisconsin Library Association, Middleton, WI, November 2015
  • Presenting Author, Wisconsin Book Festival – Pinney Public Library, Madison, WI, October 2015
  • Panelist, Wisconsin Writers Association Annual Conference, Wisconsin Rapids, WI, October 2015
  • Featured Author, Wisconsin Writes Online Video Series, September 2015
  • Visiting Author, Hartland Library, Hartland, WI, September 2015
  • Visiting Author, Waukesha’s Friday Night Live Music Festival, Waukesha, WI, August 2015
  • Visiting Author, Tribeca GalleryCafe & Books, Watertown, WI, July 2015
  • Featured Author, Books & Beer Book Club, Columbus, WI, June 2015
  • Featured Author, Interviewing Authors Podcast, July 2015
  • Visiting Author, Waukesha Literary Council Spelling Bee, Pewaukee, WI, June 2015
  • Presenting Author, National Children’s Book Week, Boswell Books, Milwaukee, WI, May 2015
  • Featured Author, The Morning Blend Television Talk Show, Milwaukee, WI, May 2015

Honoraria

I understand that different organizations have different budgets. One way to offset an in-person visit is to hold a book sale fundraiser, like so: my publisher sells my books to your organization at a deep discount, which you then sell at full or nearly full cost, thus giving your students a chance to read my work ahead of my visit while also funding the visit. I can also visit your school through online chats, which work best for small audiences. I’m honored by these requests, so I’ll do my best to work out a fee structure and date that’s mutually beneficial.

Contact Me
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