GREAT NEWS!!

Gulf Coast Writers Association (GCWA) is pleased to announce we will, once again, be participating in the upcoming Southwest Florida Reading Festival.  The festival will take place outdoors on the Fort Myers Regional Library campus, located in downtown Fort Myers, on Saturday, March 4, 2023 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The festival has a first-rate reputation with a diverse line-up of nationally acclaimed, bestselling authors, and consistently receives rave reviews from authors and attendees.  You can learn more about this year’s activities, authors, and other information at https://readfest.org.

GCWA is sponsoring a booth and offering our author members one of the following opportunities to sell your books at this well-attended event:

1. In Person [Half Day or Full Day]: Attend in person (with your books) either in the morning (10:00 am – 1:00 pm) OR afternoon (1:00 pm – 4:00 pm), for $20.00; or for the full day (10:00 am – 4:00 pm) for $35.00.

2. Book Sales Only – GCWA will display and sell up to 20 of your books if you cannot attend in person. You will need to bring your books to the GCWA general meeting on February 18, 2023 or drop them off at the festival no later than 9:00 am the morning of the festival.  Other arrangements can be made by contacting Christie Zarria at specialprojects@gulfwriters.org.  The cost for this service is $35.00, regardless of the number of books sold.

Based on our experience last year, display space will fill up quickly, so please contact Christie at specialprojects@gulfwriters.org to REGISTER SOON!  This is strictly on a first come, first serve basis for the benefit of GCWA members.  If you are not a member, but would like to participate, please consider joining GCWA.  PLEASE NOTE: The Reading Festival is NOT accepting individual author applications, so you must sign up with GCWA if you would like to participate.

A few guidelines:

• The booth is 10’ x 10’ and comes with one 8’ table and 2 chairs.  We will provide another 6’ or 8’ table, a couple of smaller card tables, and some extra chairs in order to have more flexibility with our setup (#lessonslearnedlastyear).  GCWA strongly suggests bringing your own chair just in case.
• As you can imagine, space is very limited, so we ask that you please limit participation to just yourself or one other person.
• Again, because of space, please do not bring anything other than books and a chair for yourself; we simply don’t have space for elaborate displays, posters, etc.  Small easels and a small signage are ok.
• This is an outdoor event, so please check the weather and dress accordingly.  There are restrooms and food and drink concessions within a reasonable walking distance, but you may also bring a small cooler with food/drink.  Please wear comfortable shoes.
• Please refer to the Reading Festival Guidelines for other details or contact Christie with questions.
• If you’d like to volunteer to help setup or man the booth, please contact Christie.

Hope to see you there!