I am available to give PowerPoint book talks, lead creative writing workshops, and serve on conference panels about race and children’s publishing in the US. To learn more about my rates and/or to receive a list of my presentations, use the contact form on this website; for a Dragons in a Bag book talk contact Random House Author Appearances.

If you have already booked me and need a head shot for promotional purposes, please pick one from my BIO page.

Follow me on Instagram (@zettaelliott) for events that are open to the public.

Testimonials:

My son could not stop talking about your visit. He told me everything from your preschool years, the stolen microwave, saying hello (or was it thank you?) to a swan (was it a swan?), ancient burial grounds to the many books you’ve written. He started looking on Amazon after our conversation to see which books we should buy first! No author visit has really done this before. He is a great reader and is always willing to read at night before bedtime. Thank you for inspiring him to continue reading and add more books to his library!

Our author visit was amazing. Zetta Elliott is a wonderful speaker and she connected with our students. Everyone was engaged and interested in her stories and book talks. A couple of students raced out at the end of the presentation so they could be the first ones to check out her books. We had a number of students stay after the presentation to get pictures and to ask more in-depth questions of the author. The teachers wished (as well as I) that she could have stayed longer than one class period.

Thank you SO much for your inspirational talk on Tuesday. My co-teacher and I remarked about how there was no better way to start our intensive about diversity in children’s lit. One of our students reflected that you taught us how to really do a book talk without even realizing it. She discovered that a book talk should leave someone begging to read the book, and felt this way during your talks. One student who is glued to his phone remarked, “I don’t like books, but I want to read her books!” Hopefully, he will become converted & change that thinking. I am so excited to get your books into their hands. They also were really impressed with how open you were in sharing the inspirations for your books, especially your reflections on your brother. Your work showed them that people write as a way of healing themselves & others, and they are moved to not only read your work, but try this out themselves.

Zetta Elliott is a dynamic, inspiring, and engaging speaker. She has taught our students about the need for diversity in children’s books and she has done so in an interactive way that really engages and challenges our students. She also encourages and empowers our students to write their own stories. Zetta has spoken to our 2nd, 4th, and 5th graders, and she has done a fantastic job at tailoring her presentations to the different grade levels. We will definitely be inviting her back.

~ Robin Rosenthal, Meet-the-Author Coordinator, P.S. 32, Brooklyn