Writer Spotlight: Colby Sharp

Nerdy, Donalyn, Camp, DiCamillo, MRA,

running, The Yarn, and Game Changer:

Author/read-aloud specialist Colby Sharp

Charlie Barshaw coordinates our regular Writer Spotlight feature and interviews writers of SCBWI-MI. In this piece, meet author/educator Colby Sharp.

[Note: the items in italics are from my research into Colby Sharp. My questions follow the italicized items.]

Kristin:You're involved in some special projects that have grown and attracted a passionate following. Tell us more about the Nerdy Book Club and Nerd Camp. 

Nerd Camp logo by Laurie Keller

Colby: The Nerdy Book Club is a blog that I co-founded with Donalyn Miller. We started it because we were hoping to create a list of book awards filled with books that our students would love. People seemed excited, so we decided to keep it going. We asked our community what they wanted on the site, and we developed a weekly schedule around their feedback.

Nerd Camp is an extension of Nerdy Book Club. It is sort of like our annual meeting. Last year we had people from more than 35 states come to Parma for camp.

That was Kristin Lenz interviewing you for The Mitten back in 2017.

Colby and Donalyn

Photo courtesy of the Horn Book 

I was never aware that you and Donalyn Miller co-founded The Nerdy Book Club. You and Donalyn go way back. When did you first meet? When did you decide to work together?

Donalyn and I first met on Twitter back in the summer of 2011. I had read her book and seen her speak, but we didn’t meet in person until that fall in Chicago at a conference. 

We sort of dreamed up Nerdy Book Club in a hotel bar at the conference. It started out as a joke on social media before the conference, but it was at the conference where we explored the idea of turning it into something more.

I feel like such a dullard now. Of course Nerd Camp (correct spelling: nErD Camp--the ED for Educational Development) was an extension of The Nerdy Book Club. It’s in the name. Ruth and I were excited to be part of Nerd Camp, and by 2017, it was in its full glory. People from 35 states attended! When was the first Nerd Camp? How many people attended? Who were the first authors invited?

The first Nerd Camp was in Battle Creek in 2013. It was a one day event when it started. We put the invites out on social media, so everyone was invited, but mostly teachers and librarians attended that first year.
 

The first year we specifically invited authors and illustrators was in 2014 when we started Nerd Camp Junior for kids.

Each year, Nerd Camp grew in size and prestige. At what point did you realize you had created a Monster? Was it when the gathering grew so large, it threatened to burst the Parma High School building at the seams?


I think the third year we knew it had become a bit of a monster. After that we had to start turning people away. It was really hard to not let everyone come who wanted to.

Nerd Camp assembly (FB)

2019 was the last year for Nerd Camp, right before the Pandemic hit. When the last light was turned off at Nerd Camp 2019, did you know it was over then?

I think we all had a pretty good idea that 2019 would be our last year during the 2019 conference. It was eating up half of all of our summer breaks, and we were getting pretty burned out.

Nerd Camp was a wildly successful venture, but it consumed your professional and home life after a while. Yet you learned a lot by doing. Michigan teachers and authors thirst for another chance at community. What would you recommend to a group who’d like to start their own annual gathering?

I think I would tell people to go for it, have fun, and don’t worry about anything other than the message you are trying to spread. It doesn’t have to be something that explodes like Nerd Camp to be awesome.

My most memorable experience at Nerd Camp was when Kate DiCamillo made a surprise appearance in front of an audience of a thousand teachers. The heavens aligned to allow her to be there, and her speech was magical. What do you remember about that day?

I think what I remember the most was the buzz leading up to the moment. It was a very difficult secret to keep. I remember hearing one teacher saying something about how she thought she saw Kate walking around near her hotel that morning. I love how much teachers love Kate DiCamillo. It gives me hope for the world.


After Nerd Camp, you were recruited by the Michigan Reading Association. You served as a conference chair and then president of the organization during the depths of the Pandemic. Out of the frying pan… What was your takeaway from your years with MRA?

I love attending state reading conferences, and I have been lucky enough to have been to about a dozen of them. Being a part of MRA really showed me how much love and hard work goes into making those events as meaningful as they are.


I follow you on FaceBook, and I always get short reels and videos of your book recommendations. When I used to visit Ed Spicer in Algonac, he always had boxes of books, and piles of unboxed books. Do publishers recognize your strong voice and send you ARCs and review copies?

I am blessed to receive quite a few books in the mail from publishers.


You are in front of a camera or behind a microphone a lot. How have you used your voice for literacy? How have you had to adapt to these technological forms of communication?

One of many YouTube videos

I try to share as much as I can about the power of falling in love with reading. I’m not the guy anyone should listen to on small group instruction, the science of reading, or specific reading programs (not a fan of any of them). I know what is possible when kids love to read, and have time to read what they want.


You and your wife are avid runners. What kind of routine do you perform daily? When you’re gearing up for a big race?

I have run every day since August 4, 2019. 98% of the time I run first thing in the morning. If I didn’t do it right away, I am sure that the craziness of the day would get in the way. Nothing on the race calendar at the moment. I did run a 55K with my wife at the beginning of August. It was hard!

What excites a fifth-grade classroom when you’re reading to them? Do you do voices?

I think just about everyone loves a great story, so it isn’t really that hard to get them excited about reading when you flood them with amazing read alouds. I try to do voices, but I wouldn’t say I am great at it. I am great at being passionate and excited about the stories we read.


You and Travis Jonker both teach at small town Michigan public schools, are authors, love books, and work together on The Yarn podcast. I asked Travis about his favorite Yarn episodes. He said: So many great conversations. Gary D. Schmidt, Jason Reynolds, Kate DiCamillo, and Mo Willems stand out. Any you’d care to add?

When I was a kid Hatchet was my favorite book, so interview Gary Paulsen before he passed away was pretty darn special.


How did The Yarn come about? How many years have you and Travis been interviewing kidlit authors and illustrators? What were some of your most fascinating takeaways?

I kept asking Travis to do a podcast with me until he said yes. It took a while! My biggest takeaway is how hard it is to write a book. These authors put so much into the books they send out into the world.

You seem to have mastered social media, with accounts on Bluesky, and Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. Which do you prefer?

I probably spend the most time on Instagram and YouTube. Mostly I just miss Twitter 2012.


You recently had a time-lapse post about your first day at Parma as a student, versus present day. How has the Parma school system changed over the decades? What do you remember most fondly about your early days as a student?

The biggest change was closing down our three elementary buildings last winter to move into one giant elementary. At the end of day, things are pretty much the same: awesome teachers, amazing kids, and supportive families. I feel very lucky.

Obviously, some teachers influenced you to become a teacher, too. Who were some of your influential mentors?

Ms. Frey was my third grade teacher. I loved her. She made me feel so loved. It was the only year that I cried at the end of the school year.


You’re still doing Sharpread! And you’re on Substack! How do you keep them all separate?

I have no idea. I try to do a Substack newsletter once a week, I do one episode of The Yarn each month, and try to post about books on the rest whenever I can. I don’t really have much of a plan.

Game Changer is your collaboration with Donalyn Miller. How does one co-write a book?

Google Docs! Donalyn is brilliant, so working with her made it go a lot smoother than I anticipated.
 

What’s next for Colby Sharp?

Year 21! I’m answering these questions the night before I head back to school!

Please list any social media you care to share:

@colbysharp -instagram