Latest news with #AMillionLivesBookFestival
New York Post
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
‘Romantasy' ball blasted as epic scam over false promises, sparse turnout: ‘Fyre Festival of BookTok'
A fantasy romance novel convention quickly went from Velaris to very messy. Romantasy fans — the extremely popular book genre among millennials and Gen Z women that blends fantasy fiction with smutty romance tropes — were baffled when they arrived at the A Million Lives Book Festival in Baltimore on May 2 and 3. What was promoted as an immersive gathering of hundreds of book lovers, dozens of authors and publishers, and themed entertainment quickly devolved into what is being dubbed the 'Fyre Festival of BookTok.' 3 A Million Lives Book Festival sold only around 30 tickets. TikTok/@stephdevourerofbooks Advertisement Organized by Archer Management, A Million Lives promised author panels, romantasy cosplay meet-ups, a costume contest, a content creation room, a vendor hall stocked with new releases and bookish items, and a glistening ball taken right off the pages of Sarah J. Maas. Author and attendee Stephanie Combs mockingly shared a video of her and her friends strutting through the hotel lobby wearing floor-length ball gowns. 'When you're going to a bookish fantasy-themed ball,' she wrote in a TikTok post before showing a sparsely populated convention hall with no decorations. 'And this is what you get.' Advertisement Tables at the event were shockingly empty, with some lazily thrown fake rose petals and books on them. Guests dressed for a ball of epic proportions were sadly disappointed as they idled in the room, which didn't even have the lights dimmed. 'When you gotta laugh so you don't cry,' Stephanie joked. 'A million lives or a million lies? I was an attending author…at least we looked fantastic.' Perci Jay, an author attending the event, showed off the 'absolute chaos' of the ball, which only attendees who bought the most expensive ticket had access to. The affair cost $250 and had no food, with water and drinks for purchase at a cash bar. The only music at the ball was from a small speaker a security guard had on him. Advertisement 'So yes, friends, that means the plan for this ball was for us to stand in the giant empty room, with no food, a cash bar and stand there in silence,' she said on TikTok. Authors looking to sell their books were told that around 600 tickets were sold for the event. 3 The event's music was relegated to a small speaker in the corner. TikTok/@percijay_fantasyauthor Advertisement In reality, only about 30 guests attended. Romance author Kait Disney-Leugers blasted the festival as the 'worst event' she ever attended, adding that she did not make any money at A Million Lives, a huge blow saying authors usually pay for their own tables 'I barely made enough to cover my fucking parking for two days,' Disney-Leugers said in a TikTok, adding that 'It felt like Fyre Fest of book festivals,' referring to the disastrous 2017 music festival whose ritzy advertising ended up being a multi-million dollar scam. 'Advertised as something really awesome, but the actual execution of it was horrible. We were told there were more than 610 tickets sold, I did not see those people.' 3 The event did not deliver on it's promises of a glamorous ball. An author told The Cut that the conference's promise that authors' hotel rooms were comped was not met. Grace Willows, who organized the event, reached out to the author allegedly asking her to pay for her own room at a different hotel. Willows, an author, apologized for the event — which is being compared to the woeful Willy Wonka Glasgow and the scam 'Bridgerton' ball that had stripping fairies instead of Regency waltzes across the ballroom. Advertisement 'I am wanting to issue a formal apology. I do understand that the ball tonight was not set up to standard,' she said in a TikTok video on Sunday. 'There were a lot of issues with getting set up, and it was not handled well. I'd like to apologize. If you would like a refund, please contact me and I will issue a refund immediately.' Archer Management released a statement the next day saying that all attendees will be refunded by May 31.
USA Today
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
'Fyre Fest of book festivals'? Baltimore's 'A Million Books Festival' draws criticism
'Fyre Fest of book festivals'? Baltimore's 'A Million Books Festival' draws criticism Show Caption Hide Caption Social media slams Million Lives Book Festival Attendees and authors of a Million Lives Book Festival in Baltimore took to social media after they witnessed the lackluster event. A Million Lives Book Festival? More like "A Million Lies," according to some attendees. A romantasy book festival recently held in Baltimore has left some attendees feeling like they experienced the book version of infamous Fyre Festival. Romantasy is a fiction subgenre combining fantasy and romance. The event, held at the Baltimore Convention Center May 2 and May 3, was advertised as the "perfect event to make more bookish friends." Archer Management promised prospective attendees and authors a magical evening complete with a vendor hall, panels, a content creation room, a cosplay competition and a ball. But according to various testimonials posted to TikTok over the weekend, the "A Million Lives Book Festival" was anything but. Disgruntled attendees, many of them authors, said they felt cheated by event organizers, who failed to deliver on most, if not all fronts. Numerous authors, including writer Perci Jay, have spoken up about the things they saw at "A Million Lives Book Festival" on social media, pointing to a lack of clear communication, materials like chairs or water and access to certain billed amenities over the course of the festival. "It felt like Fyre Fest of book festivals. It was advertised as something really awesome and the actual execution of it was horrible," fantasy romance author Kate Disney-Leugers said in a TikTok detailing her experience. "This is my cautionary tale to you, in that, do not ever do this event, go to this event because you'll be ripped off." Here's what we know. Lavender Romance Ball was also an 'absolute mess,' author says Aside from the low turnout and lack of profit, attendees, including authors, said they were especially disappointed by the ball. "I know all of you have seen the ball at this point, but everyone was so shocked about the lack of anything at this ball that no one talked about what actually happened at the ball," Jay said. The venue where the Lavender Romance Ball was slated to take place was bare, with very little decor or sound system. Banquet-esque tables, sparsely decorated with foam rose petals and books, and chairs could also be seen in the conference room. Guests were welcome to feast on a selection of desserts set up at a table but were expected to pay additional amount if they wanted a drink. (Guests who attended the ball paid $250 for a ticket that included access to the event.) "When the ball is discount ballin," one attendee wrote in the caption of a TikTok posted May 4. A convention center security guard dubbed "Speaker Steve" came through for the group, who were milling around in silence by playing music from a speaker he brought from home. Another unsung hero in the situation, according to Jay, was dark fantasy romance author Kalista Neith, who allegedly confronted event organizer Grace Archeron about what an "absolute mess" the ball was and asked her to issue refunds immediately. Archeron's apology video, posted May 4, was filmed about 30 minutes into the ball at the Neith's request, not out of the "goodness of her heart," according to Jay. The latest 'Fyre Festival'? A Denver book expo that drove Rebecca Yarros away Event organizer extends apology, offers refunds Archeron issued a formal apology, not about "A Million Lives Book Festival" as a whole but rather about the Lavender Romance Ball because it was "not set up to standards." "There were a lot of issues with getting set up and it was not set up well," Archeron says in the video. "I want to apologize. If you would like a refund, please contact me and I will issue a refund immediately." Archeron provided an update to attendees who requested a refund on May 6, writing in an Instagram post that they "are currently processing funds as fast as we can." "All refunds will be processed by May 31st," the post reads. "We thank and appreciate you for your patience!" Archer Management did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's request for comment.
NBC News
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- NBC News
Fantasy ball or Fyre Fest? Attendees describe chaos at Baltimore book event
Dozens of authors and book lovers poured into Baltimore this weekend dressed in glittering gowns, ready for a romance-fantasy book convention that promised a formal 'fantasy ball.' Instead, attendees of the A Million Lives Book Festival said they found themselves standing awkwardly under bright overhead lights in a sparsely decorated space that looked more like a concrete warehouse than a ballroom. Videos of the first-time event quickly gained traction on social media as attendees expressed disappointment at being met with barren rooms, shoddy programming and drastically fewer attendees than promised. 'If the bar for events was on the floor, A Million Lives Festival sent the bar straight to hell,' said Perci Jay, a romantic fantasy author who attended. 'We had no signage directing us around the convention center, no decorations, no badges — nothing to signal that our event was even happening. I was shocked and bewildered constantly because every 30 minutes, something else went horribly wrong.' The gathering last Friday and Saturday at the Baltimore Convention Center became the latest event to go viral online for its disastrous planning, joining the ranks of the widely mocked Fyre Fest, the Willy Wonka-themed 'Chocolate Experience' in Glasgow and the "Bridgerton"-inspired ball in Detroit. Grace Willows, the organizer of the event, issued an apology on her event planning company's social media pages this week. 'I do understand that the ball tonight was not set up to standards,' Willows said on TikTok. 'There were a lot of issues with getting set up and it was not set up well. I want to apologize.' Archer Management, the event planning company behind the festival, said in an Instagram post on Monday that all refunds should be processed by May 31. Willows did not respond to a request for comment. But some attendees, including Jay, say that a refund wouldn't be enough to cover for the financial hit they took just getting to the event. After spending more than $2,000 on flights, event fees and food for the weekend, Jay said she flew from Texas to Baltimore (which required 'tremendous effort,' as she's pregnant with twins) only to realize she and her friends had been 'completely misled' about the event they had been anticipating for a year and a half. The festival had been advertised online as 'the perfect event to make more bookish friends,' teasing a vendor hall, speaker panels, a content creation room and a cosplay competition. Tickets ranged from $50 to $250. Upon arrival, however, several attendees who spoke to NBC News said the only decorations in the room were pink flower petals lined along the tables. In lieu of the planned DJ, one small portable speaker played music from someone's phone. The promised 'content creation room' was just an empty room. Badges and swag bags were mysteriously lost. And due to an absence of chairs and tables, some panel speakers and audience members found themselves sitting on the floor. Several attendees said they were told by Willows that 500-600 tickets had been sold. The exact total number of attendees is unclear. But those who spoke to NBC News estimated less than 100 people showed up, leaving many authors — who had to order books in bulk and pay fees for tables to sell them at — eating their losses and scrambling to ship their unsold books back home. When reached for comment, a spokesperson for the Baltimore Convention Center directed NBC News to a social media exchange between an attendee and the venue's director of sales, Krystine Bussiere, in response to accusations that the convention center was responsible for losing event supplies such as swag bags and snacks. 'I can tell you that we didn't receive information from the event organizer about missing boxes from the event,' Bussiere wrote in an email. 'I checked in multiple times with show management and heard nothing but positive comments about how things were going on-site.' In the aftermath, attendees banded together online to share their experience and petition for answers. Some people created a page online to solicit public support for the financial recovery of authors who 'were left with financial debt due to flights, hotels, shipping their merchandise, and table fees only to be mislead by the turnout of the event.' Author Stephanie Combs, who decided to attend the festival after seeing social media posts advertising it more than a year ago, said she bought eight boxes of books to sell and left with six still full. Instead of the packed convention that she expected, Combs estimated that only about 50 attendees dotted the 'ginormous dungeon' of a room. 'I feel like I vacillated between tears and laughter the rest of the night, because it just felt so unbelievable to me that someone would set this up and think that it was an acceptable ball,' Combs said. 'There's no music, there's no decorations other than a few scattered rose petals. And you just have a bunch of people in a room, you know, eating a couple pieces of chocolate.' Carmen Seantel, a narrator who moderated a panel, said she had to hold the talk in a room with 'no chairs, no tables, nothing.' She said the eight panelists and 15 to 25 audience members ended up sitting on the floor for the hourlong panel without any microphones or air conditioning. 'I took time off work, took time away from scheduled family events to attend this fest- it's not a festival, to attend this FIASCO. As bad as that might seem, it is NOTHING compared to the thousands of dollars authors lost,' Seantel wrote in an email. 'I want to highlight that this event financially crippled 100+ independent authors. I know some authors planned family events, book releases, and other things around THIS. But for what?'
CBS News
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Authors say they were misled by Baltimore book festival as event organizers promise refunds
This past weekend, a book festival in downtown Baltimore promised to be the perfect event for book lovers, but instead, it's being described as one of the worst events people have seen. Accounts describing the A Million Lives Book Festival have gone viral on social media, especially on TikTok. Authors and vendors WJZ spoke to say they feel misled by event organizers, and they say the event didn't feel put together at all. The event, put on by Archer Management, was held on May 2 and May 3. Authors feel lied to Stephanie Combs's weekend at the Baltimore Convention Center was supposed to be a big one. The Maryland-based romantic fantasy author has been independently publishing books since 2023. The A Million Lives Book Festival was going to be her first one attending as an author. "That is one of my dreams, bucket goal lists," Combs said. "I wanna be invited as an author to an event like this. Where I get to meet readers and get to connect with other authors." Leading up to the festival, Combs said communication from organizers was sparse. She and other authors say there weren't clear directions on how to enter and bring their products into the center. There was even some confusion about whether authors and vendors would have their own tables. However, Combs said she remained optimistic because she was informed that between 500 to 600 tickets were sold for the event. On the first day, Combs estimates, around 20 to 30 people showed up. On the second day, close to 100 showed up. Panels for the festival also didn't have chairs or tables in their rooms, forcing people to sit on the floor. The festival closed out with the Lavender Romance Ball, which some paid $250 to attend. The event looked more like a high school cafeteria. "As an author, I felt bad for inviting my readers to this event because they were promised this amazing, wonderful, fantasy-themed ball, and I felt like they didn't really get what they paid for," Combs said. Archer Management posted a statement on social media Monday apologizing for how the festival went. "We are currently processing refunds as fast as we can. All refunds will be processed by May 31," the statement reads. Archer Management hasn't responded to requests for comment. Vendors take financial hit Author Perci Jay flew in from Texas to attend. Her videos about A Million Lives have garnered more than five million views on TikTok. She said authors, especially new ones, can take on a big financial burden because of these events. "Some of us went into debt to come to this event. Some of us took on expenses -- mitigating the risk of what we were promised -- and had to spend hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, shipping unsold product back home," Jay said. Jay said she spent time at the festival encouraging new authors to keep going to these events. Combs said this hasn't deterred her completely, but she's going to be cautious with brand-new events like this one. "I know there's gonna be things that go wrong, it happens at every event, and I can be completely forgiving of that," Combs said. "It felt like in this case there were just a lot of excuses." It's unclear if Archer Management will help cover any other costs that authors and vendors had related to the festival.
Newsweek
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Newsweek
People Lose Thousands of Dollars at Failed A Million Lives Book Festival
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Authors and visitors say they are out thousands of dollars after paying to attend and have sales tables at the A Million Lives book Festival in Baltimore over the weekend. The book fair, put on by an author and event planner listed on social as Archer Events aka @archerfantasyevents, links to a website called Archer Management, focused on fantasy and romance novel readers and writers. In dozens of social media and TikTok posts, authors expressed their dismay at not recouping the cost of attending and said they were duped into attending a low-quality book fair with poor attendance. Newsweek has reached out to the organizer for comment as well as authors and attendees of the event. The organizer, Grace Marceau, posted a statement on TikTok Monday that read "AML: Refunds. I wholeheartedly apologize for how the event turned out this weekend. We are currently processing refunds as fast as we can. All refunds will be processed by May 31. We thank and appreciate you for your patience." She also posted a video Sunday apologizing to those who attended, saying, "Hi everybody. I am wanting to issue a formal apology. I do understand tonight that the ball was not set up to standards. There were a lot of issues getting set up and it was not set up well. I want to apologize. If you would like a refund, please contact me and I will issue a refund immediately. Thank you." Why It Matters The rise of BookTok has given more freedom to independent authors, allowing them to advertise their work, but it has also made them a target for those seeking to gain at their expense. A Million Lives Book Festival Baltimore, MD - Saturday, May 3, 2025. A Million Lives Book Festival Baltimore, MD - Saturday, May 3, 2025. Samantha Heil The failed festival has been compared to Dashcon and FyreFest, both infamous flops that saw people spend thousands expecting high quality and receiving bare bones. Indie authors and booksellers face extreme up-costs in order to participate in such festivals, paying out of their own pocket in hopes of gaining recognition and sales. Authors who attended this event said they weren't even able to pay for the cost of parking following the disastrous weekend. What To Know Tickets to A Million Lives Book Festival hosted at the Baltimore Convention center were listed ranging from $40 to $200 on ticket website Eventbrite. Festival-goers dressed in their best as the event was billed as black tie. The sparkle and glam of full-length gowns and movie star makeup stand in stark contrast to the nearly empty event space. Videos on TikToks show a mostly empty, undecorated room with bare concrete floors in a convention center, dotted by maybe a dozen people and folding tables lined with a single row of fake rose petals punctuated by books. The large ballroom only magnified the small number of attendees. The weekend book fair was advertised by Archer Management as an "incredible gathering of literary minds" on the website. "Discover a world of books, meet your favorite authors, and grow your bookish community. Whether you're a bookworm, a book dragon, or simply looking for a fun event, this festival is perfect for everyone," the description said. "Explore a vendor hall with authors from a wide range of genres, from fantasy and romance to mystery and dark romance. Engage in with other book lovers, attend insightful panels, and participate in our content creation room." The bottom of the page read: No refunds! Many attendees and authors have taken to social media to recount their experiences and illustrate their financial losses. Author Samantha Heil cowrites with best friend under the pen name E.S. Rosalynn. She spoke to Newsweek about the experience and said the writing was on the wall before they even arrived. "Friday, going into the event, kind of knew it was going to be a mess. No one knew where they were supposed to be or where they were supposed to go," Heil told Newsweek. She said that on Friday, there were maybe 40 attendees, and there were about 100 authors. Saturday only improved to about 125 people coming to the event, which Heil said is a tiny amount compared to how many tickets the organizer told people she sold. A Million Lives Book Festival Baltimore, MD - Saturday, May 3, 2025. A Million Lives Book Festival Baltimore, MD - Saturday, May 3, 2025. Samantha Heil Other authors who spoke with Heil said they were all given different estimates of how many tickets were sold, with Marceau telling people anywhere from 600 to 1400 tickets had been purchased. "The worst part came afterwards," Heil explained. "The amount of lies coming out were wild. Huge tall tales about why this happened." Heil explained that many authors confronted Marceau, and she apologized to them. However, Heil said the organizer has not yet issued any refunds and gave many people different stories as to why the event failed, including a COVID outbreak and the hotel losing swag bags that Heil says never existed in the first place. Saturday night, the influencers and authors were set to have an actual the food consisted of some cookies on a table. "No DJ, no decorations, nothing," Heil said. Overall, Heil said she was out about $1,000 but said other authors are out a few thousand each, the money for registering and sponsoring sent directly to Marceau's PayPal. Author Perci Jay posted a three-part video on TikTok about her experience at the Baltimore-based event. "It was even worse than what you're seeing," she said in the video. Perci Jay she paid $150 in February of 2024 to have an authors table and then an additional $250 to sponsor the event at the highest ties because it was advertised to include several perks, including a free hotel stay at the Hilton next to the event space, as well as an author takeover day on Facebook, posts on archer management, a featured decal, merch, and other benefits. The author says two weeks before the event, organizer Grace sent out an email saying their Hilton rep wasn't responding, so the group would be moved across the street to the Days Inn. "The bar was on the floor, but it went to hell real fast," Perci Jay joked on her TikTok posts. She says there were over 150 authors listed to attend, but there was nearly no advertising. She continued as planned because she knew a lot of other authors who were going and was still thinking there would be a lot of attendees and potential readers. However, she said when she was the tickets were being advertised by Archer Fantasy on social media for 40 percent off, she knew things were about to get worse. "That's when I knew that, like, ain't nobody was coming." The social media pages attached to Archer Fantasy's account show Marceau began posting in 2023 and has hosted at least one other event called Night in Terrasen, although a search of that event did not show any videos of the actual event or review of it. Marceau has been posting advertisement for A Million Lives since at least February of 2024, and posted authors who would be in attendance to those social media platforms. What People Are Saying: Author duo E.S. Rosalynn posted on Facebook: "There have been a lot of posts detailing the absolute devastation many of the authors and vendors experienced at this weekend's A Million Lives Book Festival. As indie authors, we put our own time and money into these ventures in the hopes that we'll be able to connect with new readers. These events take a lot of time, energy, and money to be able to attend. We unfortunately didn't even make enough in two days to cover one day of parking in downtown Baltimore. We are out somewhere in the ballpark of $1000 between hotel, parking, inventory, food, travel, etc." Author Perci Jay said on a video on TikTok: "I planned my pregnancy around this like a clown. I scheduled my uncle in laws funeral around this event. I even paid extra to sponsor this event." What Happens Next Although the organizer said she would issue refunds, many authors have posted online that have not been refunded and are still out thousands of dollars. Many of these booksellers have been tagged on social media and are asking for people to purchase their writing to help recoup their costs. Marceau has posted about another event scheduled for October, which is titled The Elegant Nocturnal Social.
