Latest news with #Romantasy
CBS News
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Vendors from Baltimore's disastrous viral book festival are creating their own event
After taking part in what's been described as the Fyre Festival for books, Maryland book vendors are putting together one of their own. Romantasy in the Valley is scheduled for 2026, but Amber Hodgson and Matt Hodgson are trying to do as much work now to prevent a repeat of the A Million Lives Book Festival, and help the authors and vendors who participated in the event that turned into a flop.. This is on top of other support that's already been in the works for the authors and vendors who took part in AML. Turning a negative into a positive The A Million Lives Book Festival became a viral sensation after authors, vendors, and attendees started posting about it nearly two weeks ago. Archer Management, the festival's organizer, promised authors and vendors hundreds of attendees, but the event instead drew maybe a little more than 100 over two days. Archer has apologized and promised refunds. The Hodgsons had a table for their business, Bookish Signs and More. Their business works with authors to make special editions of books, as well as works with other businesses that create book boxes. They took a financial hit participating in AML, but the loss didn't deter them from wanting to put on another, better festival. "Between our backgrounds and her connections -- the authors and people she knew -- I knew we could make a positive from a negative," Matt Hodgson said. "That was always the goal, to turn this around." So, Romantasy in the Valley was born. There's already a date for it, July 25, 2026, and the Embassy Suites location in Hunt Valley will be the venue. Amber Hodgson wanted to be very transparent in the planning process, posting updates on social media almost daily. Any author and vendor who participated in AML has first dibs to take part in Romantasy. For the Hodgsons, it's all about making it right for them. "We just wanted to redo the event. If we make money, that's great, but [if we don't], that was a risk that we were in a fortunate position to take on. That we wanted to do," Amber Hodgson said. Authors and vendors interested in participating in Romantasy have until June 1 to submit an application. You can find that here. Other support for AML authors and vendors Atlas Creed, a DMV-based author who also had a table at AML, created a one-stop webpage that shows every author and vendor who participated in AML. The webpage was put on a website he had already created as a resource for authors. The webpage has been shared widely since its creation. "It just seemed like the right thing to do to try and help them recoup some of their losses," Creed said. "By using resources that I already have, and I can just extend upon."
Daily Mirror
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Inside the 'Fyre Festival of BookTok' as US book festival is shrouded in chaos
A book festival hosted in Baltimore, US has turned into a social media storm as authors have recounted every awful detail of the event - while many claim they were lied to by the event's organiser Traumatised authors, thousands of lost dollars and a missing DJ: welcome to the " Fyre Festival" of BookTok. Over the past weekend, hundreds of authors flocked to Baltimore to attend what should have been the perfect event for fantasy book-lovers. Instead, it transformed into something closer to a horror fic. The A Million Lives book festival was held over May 2 and 3 and set up by Archer Management for fantasy authors and their readers. 'Romantasy' is viral on TikTok, with almost one million posts falling under the hashtag, and includes novels like the bestselling book series Acotar by Sarah J. Maas. Tickets for vendors cost between $50 to $250 (£37 to £186) and promised to be the "perfect event to make bookish friends". One of its most exciting draws was that it also promised a lavender-themed ball. But over the past few days, authors have been running to social media to detail what some are describing as the 'Fyre Festival of book festivals'. Accounts depict an event hall filled with chaos, with minimal staff or identity checks and, most notably, hardly any attendees – despite false promises made by the organiser. One author, Samantha Heil, told Newsweek that there were around 40 attendees on Friday, compared to about 100 authors. Saturday only improved to about 125 people coming to the event. However, this is in stark contrast to how many tickets the owner of Archer Management promised had been sold. Authors claimed online that Grace Marceau, a writer who runs Archer Management, told them personally that between 600 to 1400 tickets had been sold. But the videos showing a near-empty convention hall tell a wildly different story. The Mirror reached out to Archer Management for comment. Stephanie Combs, author of The Stars Would Curse Us, posted a now-viral TikTok, declaring: 'I survived A Million Lives book festival. Or should we call it: a million lies.' She continued: "That is one of my dreams, bucket goal lists. 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." However, the experience she was met with was a poorly-organised mess. She explained: 'We had no badges, because they apparently shattered in transit. People were just wandering around because there was no one checking badges or wristbands. It was just very unprofessional.' It also put many authors out of pocket, as those who had travelled long distances had had to pay for both transport and accommodation. Some have even claimed to have wasted 'thousands of dollars' on the event. But the most egregious disappointment was the ball. BookTok authors dressed up in their finest romantic gowns for what they had been told was a black tie event – only to be met with an almost empty ballroom, minimal decoration and no snacks or refreshments save for some cookies. There wasn't even any music. According to one report, the DJ was hospitalised pre-event and they couldn't find a replacement. One attendee came onto TikTok to claim that a security guard had felt sorry for them so he 'brought a shower speaker from his home' that they could use. Grace Marceau took to TikTok on May 5 to apologise to the authors affected. She said, 'I do understand that the ball tonight was not set up to standards. There were a lot of issues getting set up, and it was not set up well…If you would like a refund, please contact me and I will issue a refund immediately.' However, the apology was not enough for many commenters on TikTok, who have labelled the entire event 'a scam.' She failed to address the fact that many of the events participants claimed she lied about ticket numbers. Comments also pointed out that, given the thousands of dollars some authors spent on accommodation and transport, that a refund wasn't enough to cover damages.
