Only four more months until 2015 NBBF starts and we're so excited! We are very busy working to make the 2015 National Black Book Festival the best ever! We've recently confirmed two additional featured authors: Long-time model, Beverly Johnson, who will release her memoir titled, The Face That Changed It All, in late summer titled; and New York Times bestselling author of historical novels, Lalita Tademy, who made her initial breakthrough when her book, Cane River, became an Oprah book pick in 2001. Having these two high-profile authors at this year's Festival for the first time is an exciting development for readers in the Southwest region.

If you're an author and plan to register for 2015 NBBF (Oct. 22-24) with a vendor table, late registration rates are now in effect. A 50% deposit is required to secure your table, with the remaining 50% balance due within 30 days. Also, keep in mind that author tables are presently 89% sold. Breakfast on Friday and Saturday, plus name/website listing on the NBBF website, are included for participating authors as part of their table registration fee. To register, visit the NBBF web site.
http://www.nationalblackbookfestival.com/exhibitors.htm

Here are other developments that are now confirmed for 2015 NBBF:

• Boost Your Book Contest:  We have an exciting writing contest planned for the participating authors that will be hosted by Brown Girls Publishing, the company launched by best-selling authors ReShonda Tate Billingsley and Victoria Christopher Murray. This contest will be exclusive to only NBBF participating authors with the grand prize being a one-hour, one-on-one session with ReShonda and Victoria, plus a $100 cash prize.
• The Book Club Meet and Greet for 2015, which was a big hit for the authors and book clubs that participated, will take place on Saturday, Oct. 24 at Noon and is open only to participating authors and registered book clubs. Details will be emailed to participating authors in August.
• We've added a POWER LUNCH on Friday (Oct. 23) for the purpose of providing published and aspiring authors information about book industry trends and developments. This will be a ticketed event and is not included with author table registration, but authors and their guests receive a discount. Malika Adero, former VP and Senior Editor at Simon & Schuster, will be the guest speaker for the Power Lunch. Malaika has spent more than 30 years in the book publishing industry, and will provide valuable insights into trends in the industry and what authors need to do to succeed with their book projects. Here's a recent Publishers Weekly article about her. Ticket(s) for the Power Lunch may be ordered online here.
• We want NBBF to trend via social media, so be sure to use #nbbf2015 for all of your tweets and Facebook posts before, during and after the 2015 Festival.

Book clubs that plan to attend 2015 NBBF should register by sending an email to bookclub@nationalblackbookfestival.com. Book club registration is FREE and your club's name is listed on the NBBF website so authors will know that your club members will be attending. If your book clubs members would like to register with the NBBF Full Festival Package, which includes tickets to all of the special eating events on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, you may do so online here.

If your club would like to participate in the Book Club Meet and Greet, registration for that is separate and you will receive an email in early September to obtain your registration information. The Meet and Greet includes a maximum of 10 book clubs.

There are several seminars/workshops that will be hosted at 2015 NBBF and all seminars are FREE to the public. We will feature one seminar in each edition of NBBF News leading up to this year's Festival.

Seminar Title: Memoir Writing: Reclaiming Our History, Telling Our Stories
Workshop Presenter: Janis F. Kearney, Author and Publisher
Friday, October 23 @ 3 p.m.