 Hello Publishing Friends! Just a reminder that when I (Heather) post a blog entry it's often followed by a lot of emails with questions for me and it may take me a week or so to get back to you. This week I have oral surgery and don't know how I'm going to feel, so just FYI about that, too. I sent out a recent update and we got a lot accomplished. Below you will find the latest info (some of it repeated so you don't have to scroll back to the previous updates). I wanted to also mention that some people felt my last note about unpaid invoices was directed at them individually. There were 15 who had not paid out of over 100, and that message was only intended as a nudge to check spam or let us know you are dropping out and to let those who didn't pay know that we would be moving ahead to next steps in the event planning. So that post was only meant for you if you hadn't paid yet. These are group messages and general information posts, and therefore not every part will apply to every person. We are passed all that now, though. If somebody hasn't paid by this point they are considered as withdrawing their participation and will get a private email. If you think you paid but can't find your invoice, let me know. Nobody who paid or tried to pay or did anything in good faith is going to be booted from the event. We try to be reasonable, but I just have to move on to the next phase of planning. As far as what's going on in the political climate and how it may impact us, we are doing our best to stay flexible and pivot as needed, just like we did through the pandemic. We still have everything planned that we had planned originally and have no intention of changing it, including Drag Queen Storytime and loud and proud live poetry, as well as books in a variety of genres. A gentle reminder that the tables at this event are primarily 18" deep by 6' wide. They are shallower than the usual banquet tables, so please plan accordingly. I did lay this out very clearly in registration because people get disappointed when they bring a lot of stuff and it won't all fit. AM I REGISTERED FOR BOTH DAYS? This question has come up a few times so this is a reminder of what your registration includes. Your registration includes both the 19th and 20th. Saturday is an author/vendor tabling/signing. Sunday is panels and workshops (more about that lower on this page). Sunday will have opportunities to either attend panels and workshops if you don't want to be on any panels. And will also include a little inspiration by our Keynote Speaker Golden Angel.
PANELS & WORKSHOPS As soon as I finalize the roster and updated graphics today I will be working on getting a schedule and info together for panel and workshop participation to be up by the end of this month. I had to wait until all registrations were complete and all invoices were paid before I could move on with that, otherwise it would have caused some confusion and organizing chaos. WHY ISN'T MY NAME ON THE WEBSITE? I am in the middle of updating the website graphics and page listings. This is something that I like to do in batches because it can be really hard to stay organized with people dropping out and coming in and not having my final lists, which means every time there is a change to the roster I have to update the lists and graphics. If you check the graphics and 2025 pages tomorrow, Monday 3/10 and your name is not on them and you've paid your invoice, I've simply made a mistake. No disrespect is meant, I make mistakes. Just send me a note letting me know. This also goes for if you switched from virtual to in-person, or in-person to virtual, or asked to change your genre listing and you're not listed properly, just let me know and I'll gladly fix it.
LIBRARY PARTICIPATION - OPTIONAL
 SWAG - OPTIONAL Want to send us swag for the swag bags? Swag is a nice way to reward attendees and keep your name in their minds. We recommend keeping some swag at your table, too. Send a minimum of 200 pieces of swag. A maximum of 500 pieces of swag. We do not yet know how many swag bags we will have and won't know until late June. We need swag no later than May 15th to: Heather Brooks 511 Prince George St. Laurel, MD 20707 PLEASE DO NOT SEND FOOD, OR ANYTHING THAT WILL MELT OR EXPLODE OR LEAK. Please add your name and information to this sheet and when we receive your swag we will check it off. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR SWAG HAS YOUR NAME AND/OR BRANDING ON IT! We do sometimes get swag with no identifying features which is sad because it's supposed to help sell your books.  Cardyn & Will stuffing swag bags 2022.  Cardyn & Heather stuffing swag bags 2022. GRAPHICS TO SHARE It's a great time to start letting people know you will be attending. Here are some graphics you can share. PLEASE send people to buy tickets. All levels of our tiered tickets are available on our website. Each ticket has the information you need if you click on it and read inside the ticket description. ALSO the one-day SATURDAY ONLY tickets are available on Eventbrite as well. The tickets cover all of the rest of our expenses. Tell your fans you will be there. Send them ticket links. Add it to your newsletters, and tell your friends. Instagram Square  Instagram Portrait  Facebook Post  Instagram Portrait  PRE-ORDERS WITH BARNES & NOBLE Most Importantly - Your Book Has to Be Able to Be in the B&N System If your book/s is/are not available through B&N and you want to provide for preorders, you'll need to set one up for yourself we can link to on our website. This option is best for people who are flying, for people who have a larger fanbase and are likely to have 20 or more book orders, or for people who might only want to bring a small amount of their own stock and really heavily push pre-orders. HOW IT WORKS Provide your readers with the store phone number and have them order your book from the Bowie Barnes & Noble and tell them it's for The Write Women Book Fest. The books will be ordered and held at the store by the manager until the event, or until the customer comes to pick it up - whichever comes first. That's it! Aren't sure if your book can be preordered through B&N? Call the number and they'll look it up and tell you. You can do this for however many of your books you want to offer up for pre-order through this process. The drop-dead last date for people to get those orders in is Friday June 27th.
If you are coming from out of town or want to offer pre-orders and don't want to use B&N or can't because your books are distributed to or through B&N please fill out this form as soon as possible but no later than April 1st so we can market it on our website and we recommend you heavily market it yourself, too.  So, that means the next update on here will be the signups for panels and workshops. Thanks everybody!
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