2014 NBBF is only four months away and promises to be the most outstanding NBBF to date! We are pleased to once again host the 2014 National Black Book Festival at Fallbrook Church in Northwest Houston. Fallbrook is one of the largest African-American churches in Houston and has a spacious, state-of-the-art facility that is perfect for NBBF. The Festival will be held in the church's sports facility with all featured author sessions and seminars held in adjacent classrooms.

If you are an author planning to participate at the 2014 NBBF, registration is still available. Tables are currently 91% sold, so don't procrastinate if you plan to participate. The late registration cost for tables is $350.00. If you are interesting in splitting your fee into two payments, you may do so by calling our office at 1-800-340-5454.

To sign up under the Late Registration Rate, go to the Exhibitors page here

Our host hotel this year will be the Sheraton North Houston. The Sheraton has provided us with excellent room rates as follows: King (single) - $65.00/night; Double bed - $85.00/night; King Junior Suite - $125.00/night. Complimentary shuttle service will be provided to and from the Festival site to the hotel. Reservations can be made online here: http://bit.ly/1e1fgkz

Discounted airfare rates for 2014 NBBF are available through United Airlines. To take advantage of the discount, go to the United Airlines web site at www.united.com  and enter ZSHH151310 in the offer code box. It is best to cut and paste the code number into the box to endure that it is correct.

We've added a new workshop this year that will take place on Friday, Oct. 24th at 6:00 p.m. Here are the details:

Learn the successful techniques for starting and maintaining a book club, including how to develop your initial group of members, how to select books to read, and how to make your book club interesting and exciting.

The Phenomenal Divas Book Club is one of the largest and most active book clubs in the Houston area. The club has more than 25 members and was established in July 2009. Their mission: "To brighten the 'book world' with our own point of view."

Visit the Phenomenal Divas Book Club on Facebook here

We've also added two additional events. Remember: All NBBF seminars, author exhibits and featured author sessions are absolutely FREE to the public.

At the Meet and Greet, NBBF participating authors will have an opportunity to make a 3-minute presentation with each book club and encourage its members to select their book for a future month.  There will be no cost for the book clubs to participate and the Meet and Greet will be part of the participating authors' benefit package. Registration will be required for both clubs and authors, and registration will open on August 1st. There are a limited number of slots available for authors due to the time constraints, and slots are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Refreshments will be served. Only authors who purchase vendor tables can participate.

Book clubs that plan to attend the Festival as a group should register by sending an email to NBBF with the club name and city of origin. Please send the email to the following email address: bookclub@nationalblackbookfestival.com

On Saturday mornings at the Festival, attendees bring their children to interface with the authors of children's books and identify literature to purchase for their children. Each participating children's book author will be provided with a 30-minute session where they can read from their books to the children in attendance, as well as sell their books to the parents. The sessions will be held in one of the meeting rooms adjacent to the exhibit area and will be advertised in the NBBF newspaper and posted in the registration area. The session times can be secured starting August 1st on a first-come, first-serve basis. Only authors who purchase vendor tables can participate.