Very Important Updates

The below is authored by Heather, but comes from both Heather & Cardyn.
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Hello LOVELY Book Fest Family! We have some really important updates for you, as well as the final list from Barnes & Nobel in terms of the books they will be able to carry for their in-store display. Please remember we have no control over who's books are published in a way that B&N can order them. We don't make any decisions on this. We partner with them to get as many of our author's books on the display as possible. B&N management has been very helpful and accommodating since our first year. That list will be at the end of this post. We know our dream was always to have our books in stores, so we worked towards this to make that a reality for others.

Ok, I want to talk about the elephant in the room--the recent unfortunate situation in Baltimore for an event that did not deliver and I want you to know that Cardyn and I always do our very best to live up to every promise we make. That event seemed to go way beyond slow ticket sales and "things happen" into a situation I could only describe as neglectful. Some of the authors at that event will be at our event and Cardyn and I are feeling extra responsible this year to make sure everybody has a nice time and feels seen. It really sucks to have to make some changes to The Write Women Book Fest on the heels of that catastrophe, because we don't want people to be nervous and think things are going to be like that event. So here is an update, some changes, and some very important news.

SATURDAY, JULY 19
This day's planning is almost finished. We upped our Children's Room game and the lovely Kim C. Lee came on board for this year to organize that portion of the event. We have some craft takeaways for the kiddos. There will be two balloon arches this year, one similar to the last time and a rainbow one in the kid's room. Live poetry all day with EC Poetry and Prose with Patti "little pi" Ross as the MC as we have had every year.

And we have more authors this year than ever! WOO HOO!

Full transparency - ticket sales are slow. This current economic environment we are in has people holding tight to their dollars. We decided to do away with the tiered tickets for a few reasons, and this was one of them. We kept the lowest tier ticket, which is at $29 (plus Eventbrite fee) in the hopes that it would mean generating more ticket sales. We will keep you posted. This falls under the "out of our control" category. I did do some ads and boosts over a month ago, but they didn't get much traction. I will be doing heavy social media and newsletter blasting starting right after Mother's Day. Anybody that can do the same, much appreciated. 

Other than the slow ticket sales, everything is going great. We have plenty of volunteers this year - the first year we've really had enough sign up. We've got the event manager booked, and we have about ten influencers this year! We recommend if you're on Instagram that you look for their highlights on our account and follow them. We have several hundred free books to giveaway for the "scavenger hunt." We've got some raffle baskets for I Support the Girls, and overall things look good.

SUNDAY, JULY 20
We have made the decision to move day two of the book fest, Sunday, July 20th, to the South Bowie Library. This was not my original vision of a two-day event at the hotel, but we believe it's actually an improvement. With slow ticket sales our priorities are two-fold, 1 - To keep the tabling day completely intact so authors could meet new readers and SELL BOOKS. 2 - To make the decision early enough that people could change their hotel bookings, or other plans if they needed to without incurring any cancelation penalties. 

It's actually a better situation for us and for the library, which WE LOVE. The more we do at the library, the more they can show need, which in this climate is important. This is great for all of us. 

The schedule will look different due to the difference in hours the library is open, and the size of it, and the fact that entry must be free, so we're going to figure out a hybrid situation for Sunday that means everybody gets some kind of highlight/spotlight, if not on Sunday at the library, then in virtual panels, blog interviews, on Erin's podcast or on our podcast (Heather & Cardyn's) The Bitchy Quill. The updated schedule, sign-up options, and information will be coming soon. 

WE ARE GRATEFUL
IMPORTANT NEWS ABOUT THE FUTURE OF TWWBF

We want thank you all for being a part of our event. Some of you have been with us since the first year and have come back time and again, and I can't tell you how proud that makes us. To know you put so much trust and good energy into us and our little event that could. It's grown from hard work, love, and the joy of reading and writing books we all share. 

For those of you who don't know, I started The Write Women Book Fest in 2019 when I couldn't find a woman-centered diverse event to participate with as an author. The first year was so great! Better than we expected. Then 2020 threw us a curve ball, but not wanting to lose momentum Cardyn and I worked on a virtual option. Then the next year was hybrid. Then the year after that was hybrid. Then in 2023 I felt we'd grown so much and were also pushing our luck at another year outdoors. When I tell you I got hives every time we set the date because I was worried people would make a bunch of plans and it would be cancelled due to rain, I'm not exaggerating. We moved inside to the Comfort Inn for the first day of the event. It turns out it poured that day, so we were grateful we made that call! We would have been rained out!

We have pivoted, shuffled, fox-trotted, and pirouetted our way for six years through so many challenges, with the help of some amazing authors, vendors and volunteers. With all of that said, Cardyn and I have made the decision that this will be our Grande Finale.

Honestly, I did cry. Cardyn let me talk for almost three hours straight at her on Zoom about it, bless her. It was a hard decision, but we think it's the right one.  This will be a final celebration of six years of the book fest, ending our curtain call on a high note. And while we made this decision about three weeks ago, and finalized it two weeks ago, the disaster that was the Million Lives book event has been hard for me to watch and casts a pall on all book events. Disappointing people scares the hell out of me and the bigger this event gets, the more risks are involved. Cardyn and I have always tried to be respectful, helpful, and resourceful in our efforts, we hope you all can see that. 

I know there will be questions as to all of the whys, so here are some of the main reasons besides those already alluded to:

We still have to fight every year to get people to notice us. Flyers, boosts, ads, postcards, social media, newsletters, we've done it all. Cardyn has spent time reaching out to local council members, the lieutenant governor, local papers, radio, tv--all six years, and nobody has taken her up on a visit to our event. That starts to feel ... erm ... not great.

Finding sponsors is hard and a lot of work. It would be one thing if our team was bigger and there was a dedicated sponsors person who could spend time looking for a lot of sponsors, but that just has not worked out. 

The economic climate in our area is bleak. People are not feeling celebratory. I would say a lot of people are even scared and stressed--me included. When you've got this much job loss and economic instability, people don't feel free to spend money on extras. Cardyn and I are on the hook personally for any financial shortfalls if tickets and sponsorships don't cover the remaining costs. Neither of us are feeling like taking that risk on for a seventh year. 

In addition to that, we are still a small team with most of the administrative work on me. Back in October I had to start working a lot more hours for my day job. I don't have the same amount of time to dedicate as I did before, AND it's taking more time than ever to organize this event because of how much it has grown. Plus each year new expenses are added on. The to-do list has gotten so long I ignore my own writing and sometimes housework just to keep up with the administrative tasks of the book fest that lay mostly on my shoulders. Cardyn also has a lot on her shoulders as well. If it wasn't for her outreach efforts we would not have partnered as quickly with the library! Also, she's just generally an amazing, balancing force full of good ideas who does most of the thank-you gifts, media outreach, ambassadorship, and a lot of "Heather calming" duties.

In short, we are tired and there is too much uncertainty, too much work, and too much stress. We are in good company though. A very large book fest, Book Bonanza, which was organized by the well known author Colleen Hoover and was attended by some BIG name authors, tapped out after seven years (2024 was their last year) for some of the same reasons we are. They had a large team, and a lot more money to work with, but still found it too difficult to do the way they wanted to. Knowing that made us feel less alone in our decision. I also was told that HEA Reader Event is having its last year, too. Venues are expensive. It's a lot of work. And you don't want to be the person who ruins somebody's fun day. So we are going to have a fun, celebratory, amazing last Write Women Book Fest and be glad we got to have this experience with you. 

One last thing. We aren't completely shutting the door. We will be getting back to our roots and back to Marietta to help them organize a very small (20 authors), free-to-attend, PG Parks funded book fair in 2026. Our goal has always been to amplify the voices of women and marginalized authors in an accessible way, and this is a way we can serve that mission in a more sustainable, less labor-intensive, and less risky way. OH! I almost forgot! Because Cardyn talked to Bowie South Library about Sunday 7/20, they offered for us to host other events if we like. We don't know if we will, but it's nice to know we can.

As I said, we will be doing a big marketing push to make sure every booklover we can find can come find you at TWWBF2025 and maybe make you their favorite "auto-buy" author. If there is a person with $29 for a ticket, that loves books and lives in the DMV we are going to find them!

We are so thankful for all of your kind words over the years. Let's not be sad! Let's celebrate!

LOVE!
Heather & Cardyn


B&N SHEET BELOW

You should be able to save the below graphic and look at it closer. The writing is tiny.
Please note, do not despair if you are not eligible. You've learned something! They've put notes in there telling you why they can't order your book. Mostly books that didn't make it are non-returnable.

You've learned that B&N can't carry your book the way it is published, which means you can work on fixing that. Also of note, B&N has had a number of small author events. They've always been nice and cooperative with us. If you don't know what to do next you could either consult a publishing pro about what you're doing wrong, or you can reach out to B&N through their website.