What Is With All These Book Retreats?

A recent trend I’ve noticed is the sudden abundance of “author” or “reader retreats”—events designed to put authors and readers in close contact. Many of these are cropping up in the romance space, where readers might be fanatical about an author’s work. Authors, certainly, are always looking for new ways to reach readers.

But why are there suddenly so many book retreats?

The Book Convention Has a History

The idea of a book convention isn’t entirely unprecedented, although traditionally they’ve been less focused on readers. I’m thinking about things like the London Book Fair. There are events in Frankfurt, London, and all over the globe.

These events have, historically, had a more industry focus. Authors go there to rub elbows with publishers and editors. Editors and publishers are interested in connecting with agents and doing rights deals.

In short, these events aren’t really spaces where the casual fan goes to learn all about the hottest releases or connect with other readers.

In this sense, the plethora of events I see cropping up now are closer to the anime convention model. I’ve been attending anime conventions on and off for over two decades now. The event descriptions I see are much closer to what I’d expect on the agenda of an anime con. In short, these events are for fans.

Are There Really That Many Romance Fans?

One question is how many romance readers are so fanatical, they’re willing to travel to maybe meet some authors or discover new books?

I suppose it makes some degree of sense. We could liken one of these events to a giant book club. Online book clubs might organize in-person meet-ups at such an event, where group members could come to hang out together.

And we mustn’t forget that romance readers are usually very fanatical. They’re also often women who may be looking for ways to connect socially. We can think of the Red Hat Society, which has meetings all over the world. Members travel to meet up with each other, socialize, and strengthen bonds.

So, yes, there are probably plenty of romance fans and book lovers who would jump at the chance to go. Reasons for attending could be varied. Maybe you’ve been isolated and you want to meet other romance readers. Maybe an online book club is organizing an in-person meet-up, so you want to go. Or it might be that you want to discover new books and new authors. Maybe you just want to meet some of your favs.

Or maybe you want to do all of the above. Maybe you have a friend who wants to go, so you get roped into it. On the day of, it might just happen that you’re in the neighborhood and want to check it out.

I’m still leery that there are that many romance readers who are willing to travel the country to attend all the events that seem to be cropping up recently.

And that leads me to another question. Is it really the fans that are driving this sudden boom in events?

Book Retreats Are Marketing Opportunities for Authors

A step back suggests that there’s something else driving the sudden boom in book retreats. First, we have the authors themselves and, second, there might be some sort of monied interest.

I know a lot of anime and sci-fi/fantasy conventions are actually corporate-run events. FanExpo, for example, is a huge event in Toronto. The company behind it runs the three shows in Toronto annually, and shows in Vancouver and across the US. Attending it, you can tell it is not a fan-run op. There is a huge difference between how it’s run and how something like Anime North is run.

The biggest difference is how much the focus of FanExpo events is money. You pay to get in the door, and then you pay for photo ops and autographs. There is “free” programming, but a lot of the draw is also simply going to the dealers’ room and artists’ alley and buying stuff.

Corporate vs. Fan-Run Events

And that’s where I see a similarity to a lot of the reader/author retreats cropping up recently. Yes, there are some “free” events or programming that people can attend, but the biggest draw seems to be the idea that you can meet your fav authors. Some of these events are even starting to put in premium meet-and-greet sessions.

And what’s really unnerving about this is that the authors are paying to be there as well.

So this isn’t even FanExpo, where the company books celebrity guests, who get paid for their appearance. The signings and photo ops are money-making opportunities for the convention. Instead, these retreat events seem to be getting paid by the authors and the readers for the privilege of being there and meeting up.

So, in a sense, these things are just giant dealers’ rooms or artists’ alleys. Authors pay to set up their booth so they can hawk their wares. Readers pay door admission so they can come in and shop.

That’s not totally unheard of, to be honest, but it does make me wonder …

Who Is Behind These Book Retreats?

While I’d like to think all of these events are cropping up as grassroots movements, I’m not entirely sure. The focus on bringing authors and readers together via monetary means—and the pricing on some of the premium event tickets—makes me wonder just how “grassroots” some of these events are.

Corporate events are fine, but we should be transparent about it. What I’m finding is a lot of these events are trying to peddle themselves as something by the fans, for the fans. At best, I feel like the majority of them are by the authors, largely as a sales and marketing opportunity. Which is fine. It’s tough out there, and meeting readers in person is an excellent opportunity for hand-selling.

But the sheer number of these events cropping up, and some of the information some of them are putting out raise my hackles. Remember that I am An Old—I’ve been around fandom, conventions, and the internet for a long time at this point.

I am just waiting for one of these events to implode, for readers and authors to pay money for one of these things, only for it to collapse and the organizers to ghost everyone. It’s happened before—we can think of TumblrCon or Fyre Festival. I’m remembering older tales, like the time someone trying to organize a Twilight-centric convention. It collapsed a week before it was supposed to happen, and the organizers absconded with people’s money.

Follow the Money

And that’s what makes me nervous about the sheer number of these new book retreats cropping up now. Is this corporate money pushing into reader spaces and trying to offer us something that is designed just to pump us for money? Or is it legitimately a bunch of readers and authors trying to create spaces for readers and authors to connect? Even if it’s the latter, do we have some scam artists in the mix?

In some cases, an event goes bust because it has a bunch of well-meaning yet inexperienced people behind it. Putting on an event at scale costs a lot of money, and under- or overestimating your crowd can have dire consequences. Inexperienced organizers may overpromise and underdeliver—which largely seemed to be the case with that Twilight convention that went bust.

Drawing on First-Hand Experience

Personally, I’ve been to one convention that went under as it was happening. It was a first-year convention, and the organizers had overestimated how much interest there would be. When ticket sales didn’t match their projections, the venue started booting them out of spaces they’d booked. We were unable to get our money back for the lost day when the con shut down early. The organizers simply ghosted everyone, despite promising refunds.

Was this malicious? I don’t think it was. I think it was a case of inexperience and optimism. And, having been there, in the thick of it, and having heard all these other horror stories over the years, I’m anticipating that at least one of these book retreats is going to go bust and people are going to be very mad about it.

More than that, though, I’m waiting for the con artists. There have been well-documented cases where an event is basically being run by a bunch of scam artists who are there to take the money and run. Sometimes they put on a convention that’s a shadow of what was promised by the organizers. Sometimes, everyone involved disappears just days before the event is supposed to go live.

How to Pick Your Book Retreats

My personal rule is never to attend a first-year convention. Of course, a first-year event must have attendees or it will only ever be a first-year event—that will be its only year. So I’m not trying to discourage people from investing their time and money in a new event. I’m saying temper your expectations and definitely view it as a risky proposition. Weigh out risk and reward carefully.

Events that have been around for multiple years are safer bets. The organizers have had a chance to get some experience under their belts, and subsequent years are often less rocky than Year 1—unless there’s a huge bump in attendance, which causes “growing pains.” If the organizers are smart, they’ll cap attendance and aim for a particular growth margin that allows them to keep up with a larger crowd without overtaxing their resources. Modest growth every year means smoother sailing for everyone.

By the Fans, for the Fans Is Often Better

I’d also say look for events that are both grassroots and less focused on the monetary aspects of the event. If the whole point of a particular book retreat is “come see authors, buy their stuff!”, you’re basically attending a warehouse sale or a market. And if you’re fine with that, then by all means! If there are other events on the schedule, though, that is a good indication that at least one person in the chain of command is thinking about fans and what they want to see and do to have a good time.

At this point, there is a mix of events out there. There are some that have been running for several years. Some are brand new. Some are run by corporations, while others are being hosted by a group of authors or even by the fans for the fans.

Look for the Warning Signs

I’d be wary of any convention that starts putting out information about their planned event years in advance. I’d also be wary of new events that promise too much—do they have big-name authors headlining their event? Are they booked into the biggest, most prestigious space possible? Have they planned a three- or four-day event, jam-packed with multiple event schedules? If so, then I’d take a step back—this might be a scam or the work of overly ambitious organizers, but the signs are there that it could collapse in on itself.

And always keep your ear to the ground. Some people are serial con artists—they might try organizing one event in one city, then move on to another. Some might disappear, then reappear under another name. It helps to pay attention to what people are saying.

And, if something smells off, don’t hold your nose and push through. That’s something I learned the hard way—and many others have learned it as well. Heed the lesson, and support events that are more grassroots, for the fans by the fans, and we’ll soon have a robust network of excellent book retreats that everyone can enjoy.