I’ve been asked many times how I’ve
managed to organize the annual Book ‘Em North Carolina Writer’s
Conference and Book Fair. The event takes place on the last Saturday of each
February in sunny Lumberton ,
North Carolina
Laying the Groundwork: I began lining up community support several years ago for Book
‘Em North Carolina , an event to raise funds for
literacy programs in Robeson
County
Lining
Up the Authors: We begin accepting author registrations
in March—a full year before the big event. Press releases are sent to major
author groups over the summer and a team concentrates on getting the
headliners—authors at the top of their game whose participation helps us
attract high quality authors as well as more attendees. Our last event
headlined two New York Times best-selling authors: Carla Neggers and Michael Palmer. Our upcoming event will
headline New York Times best-selling
author Mary
Alice Monroe as
well as acclaimed Hollywood producer Chuck Williams, who will speak about
turning books into movies. I developed our website, posting every author’s
picture, bio and links as they registered. Over time, I added dozens of informational
pages.
Sponsorships: We solicit businesses for sponsorships of $250 to $2,000 apiece,
instrumental for promoting and marketing the event.
Publicity: We begin periodic press releases each spring, which are picked
up by mainstream and Internet media. We obtain media sponsors and worked
steadily with newspapers, television and radio stations. The big promotional
push begins each January 2.
Logistics: The conference and book fair features more than 75 authors
selling and signing their books, which means we must have tables and adequate
space not only for the authors but for traffic flow. We’ve divided two
buildings into fiction, non-fiction, young adult and a special Children’s
Corner, meticulously measuring hallways and classrooms. Five sets of talks go
on simultaneously – panel discussions and solo talks for every genre – plus
readings for small children. Each talk requires a moderator; each hallway and
conference room requires a Team Captain and host of volunteers. There’s an
Author’s Lounge, volunteer greeters, music in the cafeteria, events in the
Children’s Corner and centralized cash registers, each requiring a team of
volunteers.
Afterward: When the event is over, our work is not:
we clean up the space used, reconcile all the funds received, pay authors and
publishers their portion of the book sales, award the non-profits funding for
literacy efforts, and donate remaining books to literacy groups.
Then we start the whole process over.
Book ‘Em North
Carolina is held on the last Saturday of each February in 
Guest post by p.m.terrell, the
award-winning, internationally acclaimed author of more than 16 books,
including Vicki's
Key, a 2012 International Book Awards finalist, and River Passage,
2010 Best Fiction & Drama winner. She is the co-founder of The Book 'Em
Foundation whose slogan is "Buy a Book and Stop a Crook" and the
co-chair of Book 'Em North Carolina
LINKS:
Twitter: @pmterrell
Facebook: Patricia M. Terrell
p.m. will be giving a $25 Amazon Gift Card to one randomly drawn commenter and so I encourage you to follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here: http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2012/07/virtual-book-tour-secrets-of-dangerous.html.
