How to Be a Featured Author at the Texas Book Festival

Since I’m a Chair for the Texas Book Festival, I get asked by writers how they can be invited to appear at the festival. The fact is that although the staff does a great job of finding wonderful authors, they can’t know about everyone, even though they’ve been out talking to publishers for months. So, if you haven’t been contacted by now, it’s up to you to let them know about your book.

And you can do that. Or you can have your publicist do it for you.

Just go online to the Festival site and you’ll find out how.

Here are some things to keep in mind:

You have to have had a book published in the 18 months prior to the start of the Festival, which in 2008 is November 1st.

Your book can’t have been self-published.

You or your publicist will have to send in copies of your book, a press kit, an author bio and more.

And if you want to be considered to speak or be on a panel, act now. It’s best if you submit all your material before June 1st. Authors are already being lined up and preference is given to those who act early.

And, just to let you know, I have absolutely nothing to do with who gets chosen. That’s done by a committee. I don’t even choose who appears at the Austin Museum of Art, the event that I chair.

The Texas Book Festival is a huge event – and that means many authors participate. If you want to be one of them, go online and find out how.