Reasons to attend The Novel Experience... WATCH ME.

And yes, I even wore makeup.

Information on Authors After Dark 2016... Authors... you want this info.

This final year for Authors After Dark is going to be a little different, and full of fun and great times sure to make lasting memories. We are back at our favorite Savannah hotel, the Savannah Riverfront Marriott, and they cannot WAIT for us to return! We will be rocking the hotel for the even August 2-6 2016.

For those that were at the 2013 event, you know the hotel is amazing, so easy to work with and has the BEST in house staff of any hotel. Its sad AAD is ending, but we are happy to be ending our run at such a fabulous hotel.

So a lot of people are asking about author spots, and being involved. Well since it is our last year, we want it to go out with a bang, but make it easy for as many to attend and participate as possible.  So read on for information.

In the interest of being completely transparent, The following information is what we have decided, based on space at the hotel, room block requirements, and of course, location. Everything below has been worked out to be not only the best for the people attending, but the best options for the convention in order to fill our contractual obligations. 

Authors….

While AAD in the past has only had A Master of Ceremonies and a list of Featured authors, this year it well be a little different. 

We are completely scrapping the Master of Ceremonies, as times have been changing and we have largely seen that it’s not one author that largely brings in the masses anymore,  but many who are focusing on the reader, not just their writing. So, We will have instead of a MoC this year, Many more authors, in order to make the readers coming happy. 

We will have Featured authors, and attending authors, as well as Debut authors. EVERYONE will be allowed to sign for the 2016 year, provided they follow the event rules. Everyone will be able to promote, set up banners, and have sponsorship opportunities (for parties, meals and events) and have an AUTHOR badge and ribbon. Due to space, however, Panel participation will be limited. 

Featured Authors have already been asked to attend. We have a large number of authors that are returning to the event for its last year, and every one of them have been to AAD before, as a featured author. These authors have been with us largely from the beginning, and have become reader attendee favorites.  

To attend as an ATTENDING or FEATURED or DEBUT author an author for the convention must agree to the following :

·         Stay at the host hotel a minimum of 4 nights (wed-Sunday)

·         Pay their OWN registration for the event

·         HELP bring readers in by PROMOTING their involvement in the convention to their readers via their FB pages, WEBSITE, blog and Newsletter, allowing for readers to KNOW they will be there and encouraging them to attend.

 

While there is no difference in Attending or Featured author except the fact that Featured authors were given an early invite and have been to the event before, Debut authors will have a small “meet and greet” event they will have to buy into if they would like to participate in it. A Debut author for AAD is an author that’s been published less than 18 months at time of registration, and is looking to grow their readership. There will be more information on this, and the other opportunities for ALL AUTHORS after an author registers.

Promotional opportunities include:

·         Mini event Sponsorships

·         Offsite event sponsorships

·         Blogger/ Book club event participation

·         Meal sponsorships

·         Swag sponsorships

·         Book sponsorships

·         Booksigning

·         Audio book party participation

·         Gift baskets

And many more!

Now here’s the kicker. We have room for 150 authors TOTAL. This will allow for readers to outnumber authors and therefore keep the integrity of the event.  ALL AUTHORS NOT FEATURED are on a first come first serve basis. Once registration opens, Author hopefuls will be able to register and lock in their spots. 

EVERY AUTHOR THAT REGISTERS WILL BE ABLE TO SIGN. No lotteries, no waitlists. EVERYONE* (Provided you stay at the hotel)

Registration will open September 9^th at 10am EST. Author list will be updated on the 15^th and every 15 days thereafter till the author spots are filled. 

Come and join us for the last AAD on American soil. We can’t wait to party with you in Savannah!

AUTHORS AFTER DARK 2015 NEEDS 40 MORE AUTHORS!

AUTHORS!

REGISTRATION IS ALMOST CLOSED! JULY 10th is SWIFTLY COMING UPON US! DO NOT BE LEFT OUT!

Registration is 275$. Includes 4 meals (2 lunches, 2 dinners), Signing space, Promotional opportunities (MANY) Access to ALL readers, Free books, giveaways, 2 AMAZING dress up balls, TONS of networking time and reader connection time with CAREER READERS (Long time readers that constantly look for new authors to read) from AROUND THE WORLD!

THIS IS A 4 DAY EVENT! August 12-16 2015 at the Sheraton Atlanta hotel

Don't wait! get your registration in today!

*All signing authors MUST reserve their OWN room at the host hotel for a MINIMUM of 4 nights, in order to get the signing table space AND get the maximum amount of face time with readers.*

MEET THE READERS YOU WANT TO CONNECT WITH... THE ONES THAT ARE GOING TO KEEP READING YOUR WORK! Readers are having such a hard time cutting through the miasma of books out there now, career readers are finding their new faves and auto-buy's at book events they can connect with authors at!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/authors-after-dark-2015-hotlanta-hijinx-tickets-12676574977

Authors. August. Atlanta! Special 2-day pass

We’re gearing up for a mega-con to close out the summer! Feel the heat of Authors After Dark 2015: Hotlanta Hijinx!

Both two-day and four-day tickets are available... and there’s SO MUCH going on it’s CRAZY! Two huge dress up balls, four meals, TONS of freebie books from Indies and Publishers alike, Giveaways, TONS of SWAG and events... And the booksigning will have 100 Featured Authors, including our Master of Ceremonies, SHERRILYN KENYON!

Plus, non-featured author spots are now available for a secondary signing. Check out the FB Group for more info.

Visit the AAD Website for more the lowdown on participating authors, and special events, and get your tickets at EventBrite.

Hope to see you there!

Louisa Bacio

Featured Author

http://www.Twitter.com/LouisaBacio

https://www.facebook.com/Louisabacioauthor

THE BIG AAD VIRGIN REGISTRATION GIVEAWAY!

Sponsored by the amazing and talented authors: 

Marianna Morea, Milly Taiden, Eliza Gayle, Sasha White, TJ Michaels, JM Gregorie, Tilly Greene, Jenny Trout, Bianca Sommerland, Diana Castilleja, Julie Morgan, Stella Price and Nicky Jayne!

Are you an AAD virgin? Wanna attend this year In Atlanta? Can you get your own room for 4 nights?

Well we want to give you a ticket!

See we thought about it, and wanted to get a few more virgins in for the event, to see how awesome it is , and how fun it is for readers.  So the authors involved decided to get together and EACH pay for one Virgin to attend… so 14 VIRGINS (ooh this sounds like the makings of a horror flick) will get tickets!

Want it?

Ok here’s the details:

Reader has to be an AAD VIRGIN (IE: has never attended before)

Reader must pay their own transportation

Reader MUST get a room for 4 days (WED-Sunday) MINIMUM.

Reader cannot room with anyone that already has a ticket and cannot room with anyone else that has won a free ticket.

Reader cannot exchange the prize for money. It has no cash value.

Readers CAN invite a friend to come and stay with them, as long as they purchase a ticket for themselves.

Entering is EASY! Just fill this out: 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/16ASdj67nDInPtoMuiyoXwry9Qrpu01RICSb5bMqZlOk/viewform

Please note: Only fill this out if you are SURE you can get a room and get to the event. If You are not sure, PLEASE DO NOT ENTER. SERIOUS ENTRIES ONLY.

WINNERS WILL BE CHOSEN ON MAY 26th!

TNEE Recap, or the "Let me set records straight" post. Facts and Truth Ahoy.

Ahoy everyone.

I’m home, and trying to get things in order here, it was a hellish flight back and Now I’m here with a cold and possibly the beginnings of con crud. Not fun. But, I wanted to make a statement here, and on the Event page about an incident and drama that happened at the con.

If anyone has any questions about my policies and such for my events, especially TNEE, please refer to this page on the TNEE website: 

http://www.novelexperienceevent.org/pages/policies.html

Because Imma drop some knowledge on you all, and while some might not want to see it and believe it, It is the truth. Remember, at least 2 sides to EVERY story…

So many know I didn’t allow an author that showed up on Saturday morning in to sign, and many are criticizing me for it. While that’s their prerogative, they obviously do not have all the facts. So lets lay them out.

And in the interest of full disclosure, I will tell you that dealing with me, and trying to get one over on me when I KNOW you are WRONG gets me extremely pissed off, and I have the tendency to yell. Why? Because people need to follow the CLEARLY LAID OUT RULES, and if they don’t, if they feel they are special, well…

So lets start this shall we?

It is CLEARLY stated on the FB author group in A FILE, as well as on the TICKET PAGE, in the TICKET buying page AND in a WAIVER at the end of the ticket before the author pays, as well as PLAIN AS DAY on the EVENTS POLICIES page that there are specific times everyone needs to be in to register.  You know what, lets post BOTH policies right here:

2. All Authors must be in by Thursday evening at 10 pm and registered. This will ensure that there is ample time for set up Friday. in the event that a flight is delayed or cancelled please let a staff member know.

3. Signing table setup is Friday, from 9 am to 5 pm. Authors MUST be set up and ready for Saturday's signing on Friday by 5pm.

Now, if you look at Policy 1 it states:

1. Failure to comply with any of the following rules will result in a complete forfeit of a spot in the signing and event, and there will be no refunds for any reason.

This has been plain as day and clear as crystal for over 8 months. That someone would try to flout that, and attempt to think it would work? Yeah no. So let’s go into excuses.

This year, we had several people that had delayed flights, or extenuating circumstances. ALL OF THEM contacted either MYSELF or the staff. All of them were handled appropriately by the staff, as we know things get in the way.

I was given several excuses by the author that didn’t get to sign including that she was “looking for a parking space” and “Driving around for a while because Valet wouldn’t let her park” around “4pm” on FRIDAY. She also claimed that when she got in at 6 no one was in the room (which is a lie, as My staff were all there till almost 715 wrangling people and putting people’s books in the office to lock up). Apparently the 17 emails I had sent out via the ticket page never reached her, and she couldn’t navigate the Author group that clearly stated that ALL AUTHORS must be registered and IN THEIR SEATS on Friday by 245pm. And while some authors decided NOT to do the VIP preview, THEY WERE REGISTERED already by that point.  So the information has been out there A MONTH before this event even happened, and Every other author there had gotten the memo and followed the rules.

Then, I was treated to having to explain to a gentleman she thought that me talking with would make me give her her way. I was told by said gentleman that he was still on the phone with the author at 245pm on Friday. To which I stated, it was moot as she was 100% in the wrong.

See, I have rules for the event, and it’s very much a live by the sword, die by the sword thing with me. I do not negotiate with terrorists, and I certainly do NOT give in for someone that cannot follow very well displayed and simple rules. I’m a BIG fan of fair, and it’s not fair to let someone in when they can’t bother to follow the rules. So I stick by my guns. NO ONE will intimidate me because I will NOT be bullied into anything. And anyone that thinks to try is a god damn moron. Yes, I said it.

So let’s talk about rules… because I also understand that there’s some other authors that jumped on this band wagon to start a shit show at an event they should have been FOCUSING ON READERS AT instead of stirring a pot and creating drama.

I was accused of being unprofessional, of cursing at people and saying “Fuck” a lot. Yes. 100% true. That’s WHO I am. And I’m going to be candid here, IM NOT HERE TO KISS YOUR ASS, or BE YOUR FRIEND. I run an event you agreed to be at and agreed to follow the rules of. In corporate America people don’t like other people they work with all the time, hell 80% of the work force HATES their boss. But they DO their jobs because they are professionals. It’s no less than what I ask at my events. As a PROFESSIONAL AUTHOR you have one job: Sell yourself to the readers. As a professional AUTHOR I have the same job. As I don’t get PAID to put events on, (IE, I don’t make a dime for the 50+ hours a week I put into getting the event together, Taking time away from my CAREER and my family to make a fair and affordable event for people) and I largely end up paying out of pocket for the event at the end of the day NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO DICTATE TO ME HOW I ACT. That’s why I have staff. You don’t want to deal with me and my “foul mouth”? Do your job, follow the rules and if you have issues, deal with my staff.

It’s when people think they can get over on my STAFF and my con family that the fangs come out. So, now that that’s all explained… Let’s talk about AUTHOR PROFESSIONALISM and PROFESSIONAL COURTESY.

It’s PROFESSIONAL COURTESY to ASK another event if you are ABLE to promote YOURS when you are at the event. A simple “Hey I have cards for my con, can I put them at registration or maybe pass them out?” would have been all that was needed for THAT little Fiasco to have never have happened. And just so everyone jumping on the injustice of my staff collecting them is aware, it was Bloggers, Readers AND Authors that thought it was in poor taste. In fact, several came to me and ask if the person passing them out had gotten permission, because they saw it as “Tacky” (their words not mine).

It’s not PROFESSIONAL to start shit at ANY event, latching onto an author YOU feel was dealt a bum hand (All because they didn’t follow the rules) and start sabotaging the event by posting pictures showing a “Dead” event that were CLEARLY taken from YOUR TABLE. The Staff and the other authors you disrespected KNOW it was you because YOUR BOOKS WERE SHOWING in the picture. If that’s not the goddamn MEANING of the statement “you’re not professional” I don’t know what is. Causing drama for no reason when the event and the con director and staff have been nothing but nice to you is not only unprofessional, but stupid as well. All that proves to everyone is the bottom line of an event (in this case “READERS BEING HAPPY”) is lost on you. That the authors posting to sabotage an event would do that tells me they aren’t professionals, and they don’t give a rats tinkered ass about the damage they caused the AUTHORS in attendance.

Lastly, it’s EXTREMELY unprofessional to NOT honor your word when making appointments. We had an author completely ditch on one of our tattoo artists at an 11pm appointment. The artist not only wasted his time waiting, but also wasted the opportunity to rebook. And the person in question never contacted him or the tattoo assistant past the “Ok we will see you at 11pm” text they got when they tried to move the appointment up. This cost our tattoo artist, who we at AAD and TNEE consider family, MONEY. This could have all been avoided if they just honored their appointment. I had to ban said person from ever getting a tattoo from the guys ever again. Costing my artists money when they come from NY for these events is NOT cool, especially when you confirmed. You NEVER harm my con family when they are there to give YOU opportunities.

So I also know what’s being said about me online. And while that’s a person’s prerogative to have their opinions, I firmly believe opinions should be based on FACTS, not here say spouted by authors that I was “mean” to (IE: I told them NO several times) or that didn’t like how I handled things (Because it didn’t benefit them directly.)

What I find absolutely appalling is that a person that is old enough to be my grandmother is out there spouting lies and bullshit about ME and MY EVENTS when she’s never EVER spoken to me. You know, people throw around the word “Bully” a lot, but really that’s all this is. I have been around for 8 years doing events, and it’s NOW she decides to start a smear campaign on a person and an event that is focused on being affordable, and fair, while the person running it makes no money, only a FUCK TON of grief from people for trying to remain fair. Attacking me personally when they have never met me or spoken to me is completely insane. Why am I and my events suddenly a threat to you? There are plenty of authors out there, and MY events give the ones that don’t have other options and other opportunities the ability to get in front of readers, readers that are looking for them. FACT.

 I don’t think people really get that there’s ROOM in this industry for most events, and enough authors to fill them if the price and opportunity is right. Because I don’t get paid and I’m NOT LOOKING TO MAKE MONEY OFF ANYONE I can offer the cheaper prices and freebies for readers, and authors can utilize what we offer. Or not. But there’s is NO REASON to go around trying to fuck other people’s stuff up because you are having issues. What I do with my events is offer alternatives that authors and readers seem to like. If that’s what’s bothering you, maybe you should take a look at what YOU are doing and restructure, because all of this catty bullshit is making you look like a heel.

I honestly thought we had all moved past the high school bullshit, but as a lovely author told me this weekend “When you put two women in a room there’s always going to be drama.” Well multiply that by infinity and that’s the industry these days.

Look, I care about the readers LOOKING TO READ ME. ALL Authors should be that focused. Don’t sweat the bad reviews; brush it off because you obviously don’t write for that person. Don’t start drama because READERS see that and readers remember. Don’t talk smack because readers see that and readers remember.  I think authors forget that events are not about THEM. The staff and the promoters don’t do this to lick your ass. They do it so the READERS are happy and they keep buying books… without readers WE WOULD ALL BE OUT OF A JOB. I think a lot of authors forget that.

It’s for those reasons that I don’t give a fig about an authors personal BS. You paid to be at an event, be there, sell yourself to readers. Gain new readers, cement relationships with old ones, sell books. But keep yourself out of the drama. I don’t care about you or your petty bullshit. What I DO care about is hearing from readers that YOU were awesome, and better in person than they could ever have hoped for, and that YOU have gained a reader for life. SERIOUSLY. That’s really all I care about. And anyone that tells me or SAYS that I’m unprofessional for not giving a shit about the author needs to REALLY think about that. It boils down to this: the AUTHORS don’t pay my bills. They aren’t paying for ME to attend events, and they aren’t PUSHING MY BOOKS. READERS do that. And those are the people I care about.

And for you out there saying “Well you went off on a reader at TNEE”…

No. I went off on a person that was supposed to be another author’s assistant. That didn’t DO HER JOB. That stirred the pot,  that got all agro and expecting me to… fuck I don’t know what they expected. They weren’t MY reader, and said to the author THEY were working with (that they didn’t do shit with because they were always with the drama makers) that she didn’t read her “Shit” and she didn’t care… Which upset the author a lot because she took a chance on bringing this person in the help her. And notice, said “reader” came at me with the grievances aired above, but the authors didn’t. Funny right?

So yes, I will go off on someone that has an agenda. I always will. Because I don’t deal with bullshit.

Love it, or hate it, it’s me. You don’t like it, don’t attend my events. If you know you can act like an adult, realize that this is a goddamn business and the focus of your business should ALWAYS be the reader? I want you at my events; because the readers know what side their bread is buttered on… I can’t promise I will always handle everything with no curse words or calling people out for being assholes and not following the rules, but you will know that Readers remember the authors that care about THEM, and that show it.

So I’m sure this is going to get TONS of comments, but let me be the first to tell you--- EVERYTHING HERE IS THE GODDAMN TRUTH. YOU CAN’T ARGUE THE TRUTH SO DON’T TRY. ADMIT WHEN YOU ARE WRONG. It goes a LONG WAY.

And as always I’m open to rational discussion, and debate, but facts are facts people… and attacking ME personally is just going to get yourself banned from anything I do. Because it’s not ever about ME, fuck I LOST SALES this weekend because I couldn’t be at my table because I was dealing with everything else. You bring ME into it, it’s a banned guarantee.

And to those of you that understand that this isn’t MY way of thinking, it is a rational way of thinking… well thank you and your input is always welcome.