Valerie Coleman – Organizing a Successful Book Fair

Victor R. Volkman and Tyler R. Tichelaar spoke with best-selling author, award winning publisher, and entrepreneur Valerie Coleman about secrets of making a great book festival event. In 2010, Coleman joined forces with LaTonya Branham and Charlotte Brown to launch the Dayton Book Expo. The first event drew over fifty authors from across the nation and almost five hundred book lovers. We ranged over a wide variety of aspects of exhibition planning and execution including:

What was the catalyst for creating the Dayton Book Expo (DBE)?
Where did the authors come from
What elements are essential for a successful book fair?
How did you recruit the volunteers?
What unique things did you do for the DBE authors?
What things did you do for the DBE book lovers?
how far in advance do you have to plan an expo?
what should the well-prepared author bring with them
How did you divvy the work load?
How did you market the event?
When is the next DBE?
Are you doing anything differently for the 2011 event?
How can authors, book lovers and sponsors learn more about this event?

Valerie Coleman

Valerie Coleman is on a mission to be a voice for self-published authors. She has coached thousands of aspiring authors through the publishing process and conducts workshops that provide step-by-step instructions on prepping, printing and pricing literary works. She founded the Pen to Paper Literary Symposium in 2004. This annual conference draws participants from Washington to Florida. Past presenters include national best-selling authors Dan Poynter, Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, Vickie Stringer, Parry “EbonySatin” Brown and Kendra Norman-Bellamy. In 2005, Coleman co-founded Write On! Workshop which is geared towards the novice writer