Romance readers REALLY give big!

I want to thank EVERYONE bidding on the AAD packages at Operation Auction! We have one package that ended last night, for the 2012 event, and it raised over $1ooo! Whoever the winner is, I promise you it will be worth it, and you will not be disappointed!

Now, I wanna say that the romance community is fucking amazing. the fact that we all pulled together to help one of our own is something amazing, and the fact that we are all giving big, whether its through prizes or bidding shows me so much and makes me glad to be part of such an amazing community. Even with all the issues in publishing, with the uncertainty of booksellers weighing on both publishers and authors, this auction went above and beyond!

So what did the winner of this particular one win?

Registration for the winner which includes 5 meals, and a suite for them and up to 4 friends to share at AAD 2012 in New Orleans at the Royal Sonesta Hotel on Bourbon St. And whats more? The winner gets a special signing for themselves and 5 of their friends with up to 10 authors attending AAD 2012!

Now guess what? there are STILL two more packages to win from AAD! two amazing day passes One that you can hangout with the Pie Antichrist herself, Jess Haines! Both of these are special packages as we do NOT give day passes for the event this year, so its your only way in just for the day!

Ooh and on a personal Note, thank you to whoever bid on Audra and My Eververse Package. I didnt expect to have such a great showing for the bidding, seeing as we arent extremely popular authors and all, but Apparently someone wanted it, and for that I am grateful. It also lets me know that to give and for people to want, you dont have to be a NYTBS, just someone willing to give.

So please go and bid at Operation Auction for all the amazing goodies authors and industry have offered, and show your support!

Operation Auction Day 2: DAY PASS for 2011!

Thats right!

AAD 2011 is doing 2 day passes for AAD 2011 (philly) for Friday August 12th! pass includes entry to all events, including the Mythos Ball (come in costume, you might win the costume prize) and the Mythos Dinner (tons of awesome books giving away, prizes and of course actually EDIBLE food!)

Wanna bid? I bet you do! GO HERE and bid early, bid often, and help us raise money for a great cause! And plus, you WANT to do AAD 2011... its the gateway drug to NOLA!

Opperation Auction has Started!

That's right... and our first AWESOME auction up for bids is the Package for AAD 2012! What it is? Well glad you asked...

This listing is for Registration to the 2012 convention in New Orleans, August 8-12th and hotel room. Registration includes your meals (5) and entry to the con, and all the con functions (excludes cash bar alcohol and off site food and drink), and a special bag of books from the attending authors and special signing for you and 5 of your friends including but not limited to authors: Joey W Hill, Alexandra Ivy, Judi Fennell, Larissa Ione, Stephanie Tyler (together as Sydney Croft), Jess Haines, Allison Pang and Jeanine Frost August 8th.

Whats cooler? Well this is good for ANY TYPE OF ATTENDEE! Thats right, If your an author thinking you REALLY wanna come (especially small press) and dont know if your publisher will be attending, guarentee your spot (and the ability to sign!) by Winning this auction! Readers, if you really wanna attend but just dont think you'll have the $$$ to do it... Please try and bid as well, because this is for a AMAZINGLY awesome cause!

OOH and our personal auction, The I DO IT DEMONSTYLE auction (5 signed print books, and a ton of DEMONSTYLE swag) is up too... Please help us make sure we dont have too poor showing... (Ill be happy if it fetches at least 60$ LOL) And guess what? TONS of other amazing AAD authors have donated time, and swag to this auction you really cant go wrong!

Tomorrow the DAY PASS #1 for AAD 2011 goes up, and Tuesday the DAY PASS with Jess Haines goes up... so bid early, bid often, and above all, Have FUN!

Stella

The Bookie Awards have Presenters!

Hey All!

So I now have our amazing presenters for AAD ready to announce! Extremely excited that we have such amazing people as part of our first year!

So the presenters are...

Kel, Marci and Froggy, Black Cats Book Club
Larissa B from Larissa's Life
Minxy from the Loose Knickers and Window Lickers Blog
Jojo from Jojo's Book Corner
Wicked Lil Pixie and Spaz from the Wicked Lil Pixie Blog
Mandy from Smexy Books
Ali from Simply Ali
Joy from Joyfully Reviewed
Leanna Renee Hieber
TJ Michales
Jen Armintrout
Jess Haines
Melissa Schroeder

Excited? I know we are here at AAD headquarters! more on the bookies as we plan... but WOW this is going to be one fun event!

Author Mailing List for 2012!

Ahoy All!

So we got a bit of flack for AAD filling up so quickly this year, and I decided to save myself aggravation and save you, the author anger at missing key emails and updates, we would set up a mailing list for you, to keep you abreast of the developments, and give you the heads up for registrations and such. Please note: THIS MAILING LIST IS FOR AUTHORS ONLY!

Please click HERE and enter your info... and we will be good to go!

Party: STEAMPUNK VICTORIAN CARNIVAL

After a few different incarnations (especially because bands are INSANE PEOPLE and expect a lot from small cons) the Steampunk Victorian Carnival now has a schedule, of sorts.We are still working out the fine tuning, and adding some awesome events to the night... so Lemme give you guys info.


our man attraction is the OLD CITY SIDESHOW, an awesome burlesque vaudeville show in the vein of the old school sideshows of the south. Lots of awesome there, We are seriously excited to have such a cool main act this year. and whats a bonus? we will have a steampunk burlesque show too!

And Music? Yes we got that... Provided by DJ Kiltboy!

All our awesome steampunk authors will be on hand to sign books, talk to you and maybe even do some readings!

we will have Curiosities Parlor where attendees can peruse Victorian curiosities include Daguerreotypes, tintypes, Victorian hair jewelry, Mourning cards, and other things sure to incite your imagination and show you just how weird the Victorian era was! Psychics will be on hand, and we might even have a medium to play with, along with amazing photo ops and vendors!

Also, we will be setting up a steampunk fashion show as well!

Your hosts for the evening?

Meljean Brook, Theresa Meyers, Elizabeth Darvill, Bianca D'Arc, Nick Valentino, Dagmar Avery, Jennifer Armintrout, Natalie Gray, Sahara Kelly, Leanna Renee Hieber, Robert Roman, PJ Schnyder

And Oh yeah... you'll be able to win some awesome steampunk style goodies, books and baskets!

Party: MYTHOS MASQUERADE

Ok so I figured I would give you guys a bit of the info for AAD's Mythos Masquerade this year.



Who are your Mythos Court:

Larissa Ione, Laura Baumbach, Cat Johnson, Bridget Midway, Melissa Schroder, Tilly Greene, Lara Adrian, Kristen Painter, Sylvia Day, Samantha Sommersby, Michele Bardsley, Kayleigh Jamison, Erin Kellison, Jean Murray, Stephanie Julian, Stephanie Burke, Kris Cook, Melissa Ecker

Hangout with the beautiful and godly throng for a night of wonderful dancing, magic and wonder. Dance the night away with gods, goddesses, sprites, satyrs, demigods and the Fae, as one of their own.

Costume contest: We will have a panel of 7 judges (and no, I'm not telling you who they are, no bribing!) and they will be judging costumes on originality, creativity, and execution. And the prizes?

Grand Prize: a 100$ GC to Spafinder.com (can be used toward any spa service offered by the spa's that belong to Spafinder.com)

Runner Up:special book basket of the attending Mythos court

Cool right? I thought so.

There will be tons of goodies going on through dinner too! Book goodies, door prizes, and of course, during the Masquerade, the Vendor room will be open to shop, get tattooed and for you to peruse the raffle gift baskets!

Disasters abound... but Authors Help!

This week has been horrible for the world at large. We have been affected at home, and abroad, and its amazing how wonderful people are being about banding together in the face of tragedy and helping their fellow man.

Today, Earthquakes hit Japan, and sent a Tsunami towards Hawaii and the western coast of the USA. Japan has been devastated in places, and people are without homes and basic necessities. Everyone is pitching in and helping, and We at AAD are no different. AAD featured author Jess Haines has a blog post up about her selfless donation for the relief funds, and how you can help. You will wanna read it HERE, and please if you can give anything you can, Money, time, your voice.

Closer to home, one of our own in the romance community, a fantastic blogger by the name of Fatin, has been hit by a senseless act of violence. Her husband was gunned down at the family store in Rocky Mount NC on Tuesday, and she has been left alone with 4 childern to care for. The romance community has banded together to auction off goods and services to help her through this horrible and painful tragedy. You can read more about it HERE and get all the up to the minute info.

AAD is pitching in, offering two fantastic prizes to bid on.. things We know you will want... So shall I tell you about them?

First is for 2011...

Authors After Dark 2011 Day Pass and Hangout with Jess Haines

Love authors? Love reading? Love cons? Well AAD is the con for you! The only fully reader focused convention out there, AAD is a for readers by authors event limited to 300 people for the 2011 convention year.

This listing is for a day pass Friday August 12^th 2011. Day pass includes entry to the cons events for Friday including the Masquerade ball, the Bookie awards, the parties set for the day and the Mythos Dinner. AAD is not giving day passes for 2011 so this is the only way you can attend just for the day.

Wanna sweeten the deal? How about hanging out with Jess Haines for the day, including sitting with her for the Mythos Dinner? Not bad right? Jess Haines is by far one of the most fun authors we have attending AAD 2011, you will not be disappointed.

Second, and this is the one that will bug your eyes out... How would YOU like to get your registration and hotel room PAID for AAD 2012 New Orleans?

Authors After Dark 2012 Package

Love authors? Love reading? Love cons? Well AAD is the con for you! The only fully reader focused convention out there, AAD is a for readers by authors event limited to 400 people for the 2012 convention year.

Registration doesn’t open till later this year, but you could win a guaranteed entry (registration)!

This listing is for Registration to the 2012 convention in New Orleans, August 8-12^th and hotel room. Registration includes your meals (5) and entry to the con, and all the con functions (excludes cash bar alcohol and off site food and drink), and a special bag of books from the attending authors and special signing for you and 5 of your friends including but not limited to authors: Joey W Hill, Alexandra Ivy, Judi Fennell, Larissa Ione, Stephanie Tyler (together as Sydney Croft), Jess Haines, Allison Pang and Jeanine Frost August 8^th.

PLEASE NOTE: Transportation is not included. Room either a double or single, convention’s preference.

Info will be on the blog as soon as we know so you can bid on these awesome items! So get out there and help your fellow man, because we need to band together!

While everyone is asking about 2012, lemme put rumors to rest!

Hello all!

So my poor assistant and I have been getting a lot of questions about 2012, and while its awesome that that is happening, we still are about 5 months out from THIS years event, which makes 2012 a YEAR and 5 months away. Still we are getting valid questions, and I want to address them while they are on everyone's mine, so that this can be referenced at a later date. Please note that while a lot of people are not going to be happy with what I have to say, there are valid reasons why we are setting this coming year like this, and we have figured it IS the most fair way we can make sure everyone has a chance.

So shall I address the concerns?

1. Registration is NOT open yet, and wont be for a few more months. Why so early? Because our hotel has given us the opportunity to reserve early, and see if we can sell out the hotel for the event. Because we WANT this (if we sell out the hotel, we have some great opportunities offered to us by the hotel for packages and overnight events).

2. I am NOT adding ANY small press published authors to any author lists until I know what publishers are sponsoring AAD 2012. Why? Because it is not fair to have a large contingent of authors from a publisher that isnt interested in sponsoring, thereby helping their OWN sales, promotion, and authors, and helping to make the event a success by keeping costs down for the attendees. It is fair to give those that are sponsoring more, because they are giving US more. Moreover, Sponsor publishers will only be allowed up to 5 authors (that are singular to them, IE: ONLY published with them). Yes, I know that most authors are published under several banners, For the purpose of AAD I am only counting one (though they will be allowed to sign what they wish from any of the pubs they are pubbed with). If you want to guarantee you will have a spot for 2012, make sure your publisher is willing to and able to sponsor the event (and they MUST contact us and let us know BEFORE we open registration, so get their interest in soon!)

3. So what happens if your publisher isn't interested? well there is another way in. Agree to sponsor something yourself or as a group. The group cannot be more then 4 people, and sponsorships are going to sit at $1100. Please note: Author/ publisher sponsorships are different from party sponsorships (and they will be cheaper).

4. NO, you cannot butter me or Nat up (or any of my staff for that matter) to get an early spot. Again, big fan of fair (something that's lacking in this industry) and while I know a lot of people are still a bit sour about this year selling out early, the answer to that from me is: I plan early, its the curse of setting a con up completely on your own. Because of this, I do everything early and I don't run on anyone's time table but my own. That said, keep up with the blog and the site, so when registration DOES open, you wont be left behind.

Well I hope this has helped those that have been asking. Now... On to some other info you will want to know:

Our hotel is offering 5 suites at a 299$ per night price. this is a LOT cheaper then the 450$ minimum they normally get for them.. Since there is only 5, they will probably go fast. But they will NOT be available until we open for registration. So keep that in mind.

Finally.. I wanna thank Sourcebooks, and Pocket Books for committing to AAD2012 already. There will be a bunch of authors from both pubs there, and OMG the goodies and books is going to be awesome (just like this year!)

Ok... Im off my soapbox, and Im putting away my bullhorn. Its about time I kicked this pig into high gear and got some work done.

Extremely important information for AAD Philly!

Hey all!

Just some info I have been getting some emails about... thought I would post here, so people would have a one stop shop (and I wont have to send out emails all the time.)

1. AAD starts Thursday morning at 10 am. that means that the welcome event is then, and panels start at 11.

2. AAD is over before noon on sunday (I cannot say when as I dont know how long its going to take to get through all the gift baskets and such)

3. AAD will NOT be doing single day admission. That means, if you wanna hangout with an author, you will pay for the privilege of attending, getting the books and being part of everything.

4. Booksigning is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC and FREE (I dont charge like RT does). You will have to check in your books that you bring from home though, so get there early so you can get all checked in. PLEASE do not bring more then one small rolling cart of books, as there will be LOTS of people there looking to get books signed as well.

5. Anyone only attending the book signing will not be allowed on the convention floor. This is why we are doing the event in Ormandy, which has its own entrance from the street. Book signing starts at 2pm and could go till 5, depending on how many people are present.

6. If you bring in your own alcohol, please keep it in your room. You can come down to the con floor with cups of stuff, BUT do NOT bring bottles about as *I will get in trouble and the con will get fined. If we get fined, I will ban whoever got us fined (because I dont have the $ to pay fines, and neither does the con).

7. Anyone attending the saturday night event only will NOT be allowed on the con floor. This is why we are doing the event in Ormandy, which has its own entrance from the street.

I hope that this helps with any questions you might have! Things are getting wild on this end!