Once again, the Baltimore Chapter is pleased to host the MWA tent at the Baltimore Book Festival, Friday Sept. 25 through Sunday, Sept. 27 from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on all three days. MWA members are invited to sell their books at the tent or volunteer to help staff the tent.

The open-air Baltimore Book Festival is one of the highlights of Maryland's literary events calendar. Tens of thousands of people travel to Mount Vernon Place (on the 600 block of North Charles Street near downtown Baltimore) over the course of the event, which features author signings and readings by famous and emerging writers in every genre, live performances, music, food and drink, and children's activities. Literary organizations, publishers, booksellers, distributors, and the media exhibit there. For writers of all kinds, it's an incredibly valuable opportunity to network with people who can help advance your career. For more details about BBF, visit their website.

One of the perks of MWA membership is that members can sell their books for free at our tent. While BBF is free to attend, it is not free to exhibit; authors wanting to a space in the authors' tent or wanting to purchase a tent of their own have to pay quite a lot of money for the privilege. But MWA members have a ready-made space for free -- at BBF and any event where we exhibit! Not bad for $35/year, huh?

If you're an MWA member and would like to participate in the Baltimore Book Festival, there are three ways you can do so:

If you'd like to sell your books in person, you can sign up for a four-hour slot (12:00 - 4:00 and 4:00 - 8:00) on any of the three days.

• Slots are offered on a first-come, first-served basis. E-mail Paul Lagasse and let him know your date and time preference. Please note that because of space limitations, we can only accommodate three authors per four-hour slot. So act fast to reserve your preferred slot!
• Authors are currently limited to one slot for the entire festival, in order to ensure that we can accommodate as many member authors as possible. If we end up having any unfilled slots, we'll let you know before the festival and offer you first refusal on them.
• Authors must provide their own books and be physically present at the exhibit space when their book(s) is/are on display, with reasonable exceptions for bathroom and food breaks, etc. at the discretion of the MWA coordinator.
• Authors may choose to be responsible for their own sales, including applicable charge and remittance of state sales tax, or they may designate the MWA to handle sales at a 20% commission. All authors who handle their own sales must meet be able to demonstrate that they meet all applicable state sales tax requirements.
• The MWA coordinator will inform authors in advance about the need to bring folding chairs and refreshments, limitations on storage space, and other logistical issues.

If you can't make it but would like us to sell your books for you, you can sign up for one or more days (depending on space availability).

• Display slots are offered on a first-come, first-served basis.
• We'll need at least five (5) copies of the author's book, to be delivered by the author in advance of the event. Author has the discretion of providing signed or unsigned copies and designating the sale price.
• Authors intending to sell more than one title will be informed in advance whether sufficient space is available for the sale of multiple titles.
• MWA will handle sales at the event and will subsequently remit the profits to the author minus a 20% commission. Members may also choose to donate books so that all sales benefit the state organization or chapter as designated by the author. In such cases, MWA will provide authors with an acknowledgment letter that can be used for tax deduction purposes.
• Authors will need to arrange to deliver books prior to the event and pick up unsold books following the event. E-mail Paul Lagasse to work out the details.

If you'd like to help staff the tent, we could sure use your help setting up on Friday morning, tearing down on Sunday evening, folding and displaying brochures, answering questions about MWA, and generally hanging out with festival-goers talking about the writing life. It's a lot of fun and the time really flies by. E-mail Paul Lagasse and let me know what time you'd like to be there.

Please note that participating authors are asked to represent the Maryland Writers' Association as well as themselves. Professional courtesy requires that authors do not compete with other authors or MWA representatives for the attention of visitors. MWA event coordinators have the discretion to deal with interruptions, "hard sells," and other unprofessional or disrespectful behavior as they deem in the best interests of MWA and fellow authors. Full participation guidelines are outlined here.

Also please note that we're waiting for the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts (BOPA) to send us the details on our tent location, parking, etc. We'll share that information with participating members as we receive it. Not to fear, you'll know everything you'll need to know well in advance! We haven't lost anyone yet.