2016 North Texas Teen Book Festival: information + a giveaway!

There's less than two weeks left until my library's biggest event of the year: the 2016 North Texas Teen Book Festival. Months of hard work will culminate into 15 hours worth of festival time (over 2 days) that include 69 panels/conversations/keynotes/educational sessions featuring 75 authors, 4 YA BookTubers, 3 YA reviewers/writers, and 2 YA podcasters. This post will contain information about the festival (setup, panels, components, etc) and at the very bottom is a giveaway so keep reading to get to that part!
 

Who's coming?

Well, in addition to librarians, teachers, teens, tweens, and readers from North Texas, Other Parts of Texas, and even Other States That Aren't Texas, there are those 75 authors. 

Download a copy of the list here (PDF)

And, as I said above, there are 4 BookTubers featured in a special panel to help attendees learn the art of being a YouTuber. 

Sarah Enni of First Draft and Sara Roberts of Adventures in YA will be leading a YA podcast panel (featuring a couple guest authors), and Katie of Mundie Moms, Mandy Curtis of A Nerdy World & Forever YA, and freelance freelance writer Rachel Paxton will be discussing reviews and other ways to "write about writing" in a non-author writing panel. 

 

What are the panels about?/What's the schedule?

This year, the festival is two days long instead of just one. Friday, April 22 is dedicated to providing professional development opportunities to educators of tweens and teens, and Saturday, April 23 is the main festival that's open to the public.

Friday Schedule:

12 PM: Author luncheon hosted by Forever YA featuring Sarah Dessen, E. Lockhart, and Ruta Sepetys. Tickets are available for purchase here (link available until Saturday, April 16). Meet & greet/signing with the authors to follow lunch. This is open to anyone who buys a ticket.

The following professional developments are part of Books Books Books: A Symposium for Educators, and will feature guest authors in discussion with professors of library science from Sam Houston State University. These sessions are open to educators of tweens and teens.
1 PM: Diversity is More than a Hashtag
2 PM: Is Any Book Ever Safe? Selection vs Censorship
3 PM: Label Making vs Label Breaking

More information about the sessions can be found here (PDF).

Saturday Schedule:

8 AM: Convention center opens. Book sales, swag sales, and the passing out of Speed Dating begins
8:15 AM: Middle Grade Keynote
9 AM: Panels
10 AM: Panels, Speed Date with a Book round 1
11 AM: Panels, Speed Date with a Book round 2
12 PM: Panels
1 PM: Panels, Speed Date with a Book round 3
2 PM: Panels, Speed Date with a Book round 4
3 PM: Young Adult Keynote
3:30 PM: Signing starts
5 PM: Convention center closes, festival ends

As for what the panels are about, there are 66 panels on Saturday featuring 2-6 authors or other presenters.

8:15 AM

MG Keynote

9 AM

Where's My Super Suit?

School Days, School Daze

Clean Slate

3 Witches, 2 Zombies, and a Werewolf

*"Just a Small Town Girl"

Tickle Your Funny Bone

Fiercely Fantastic

Quarantine

New Kid on the Block

Alternate History

A Class of Their Own

10 AM

Tick Tock

The Pawn

*Boarding Pass

A Tyranny of Petticoats

"867-5309/Jenny"

Zootopia

The Research Lab

Paranormal Tendencies

Where the Action Is

Oh, the Horror!

Lean on Me

You've Got a Friend in Me

11 AM

Lone Star All-Stars

The Book Boyfriends

The Maze Writer: A Conversation

Time Turners

"We're Young and We're Reckless"

Angels & Demons

I'll Be There for You

Final Edit

Do You Believe in Magic

Podcast Discussion Panel

12 PM

Dystopia Dynasty

My Lady Jane

All the Feels

A Little Bit of Magic

"Now That I'm Without Your Kisses"

Double, Double Toil and Trouble

Southern State of Mind

1 PM

Pass the Popcorn

TAYSHAS Spotlight

*Daring Reads

Middle Grade Mania

"Cause This is Thriller, Thriller Night"

All the World's a Stage

One Story at a Time

When Alex Meets Alex: A Conversation

Feel the Heat

Getting Graphic

The Here and Now

BookTube Discussion Panel

2 PM

*Hi-Fi Sci-Fi

Flights of Fantasy

Books That Rock!

Reimagination Station

"But Now We're Stressed Out"

Touch of Paranormal

Reading the Rainbow

Superhero Origins

Is This the Real Life?

History Repeats Itself

Tragic Circumstances

Writing About Writing Discussion Panel

3 PM

YA Keynote

For full panel information, including recommended target audience (MG or YA), descriptions, and authors, click here (PDF). But if you look hard, you'll see four panels have been starred. That's because I'm moderating them! That's right! You can visit me during "Just a Small Town Girl" at 9, Boarding Pass at 10, Daring Reads at 1, and Hi-Fi Sci-Fi at 2!

My attempt to organize all the books I want/need to read before the festival.

Some are for the panels I'm moderating, others are just for fun.

 

What else is there to do aside from the panels?

In addition to the panels, the festival will include speed date with a book (a program that allows teen attendees to take home a free book written by a festival author), swag and book sales, and a massive book signing. You can find an overview of all these components here (PDF). You can find a list of swag shop items here (PDF)—includes fast passes for the signing line!!!—and food available for purchase here (PDF). Unfortunately there is not a list of books that will be available for purchase, but books will be sold by Half Price Books, and you can count on each author's most recent work being available.

 

Basically, the festival is going to be a giant meeting of YA and MG fans, and it's going to be tons of fun. For advice about attending NTTBF 16, check out the Irving Library's recent advice post. If you have any questions, festival staff (yeah, this includes me) is always available via social media or email.

 

  



 

Giveaway opportunity:

If you are attending NTTBF, you can enter to win a fast pass for the signing line! All you have to do is take a picture, post a video, a poem (book spine poetry or just text), a blog post (like this one), or some other imaginative creation and post it on Twitter or Facebook. Tag the festival's account and use #NTTBF16, and you'll be entered to win! For full details, see here.

 

Upcoming Events:

The Irving Public Library hosts many author events for both tweens and teens! Here's a look at the upcoming event schedule:

April 22-23: NTTBF
April 24: Soman Chainani @ Valley Ranch Irving Library
May 5: Amy Tintera & Julie Murphy @ South Irving Library
May 7: Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff @ Southlake B&N (not a library event, but I'm moderating)
May 15: Meg Cabot princess party @ South Irving Library
May 16: Jenny Martin Marked launch party @ South Irving Library
TBA May event
June: Matthew Quick @ South Irving Library
TBA summer reading panel in July
 

Actual Giveaway !



Congratulations on making it through this epic post! Your reward is the opportunity to win a box of books! This giveaway is open to the US because of the astronomical cost of shipping a massive box of books. Must be 13+ to enter. Ends at midnight on Thursday, April 21. Prize includes ALL the books in the picture below PLUS any book by any one of the authors listed above, not including preorders (so you can choose The Winner's Kiss, The Glass Sword, The Mirror King, etc). Also, all of these books will be signed. Good luck!

 

shiny prizes!

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Please note this giveaway is hosted by me, Mary, NOT the North Texas Teen Book Festival.

 

NTTBFest author lineup - EDITED!

WHO: Irving Public Library

WHAT: North Texas Teen Book Festival

WHERE: Irving, Texas

WHEN: March 7, 2015

WHY: to INSPIRE lifelong readers 

to CULTIVATE a love of reading

to CELEBRATE teen literature

to CONNECT our reading community

As you guys may know (because I won't shut up about it), the Irving Public Library (aka my place of employment) is hosting the North Texas Teen Book Festival in March. I have been excited about this festival for a VERY long time, much longer than I've been working at the library. I'm thrilled for this opportunity to connect readers with authors, and I hope you are too, especially because last week, we announced the author lineup for the festival. What originally started out as a 25 author festival quickly blossomed, and now that the details are finalized, the festival will actually be featuring FIFTY FIFTY-ONE ya and mg authors! Check out the full lineup right here, along with the adorable clues the festival's social media team created for readers to decode! Those of you who prefer an actual list can check that out after the break, or you can go to the festival's website where you can get an alphabetical list (which can be filtered by genre), author bios, bibliographies, and social media links.

ETA: April Genevieve Tucholke was added to the lineup after the reveals, which brings the author total to 51!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

North Texas Teen Book Festival info + giveaway

 YOU'RE INVITED

WHO: Irving Public Library

WHAT: North Texas Teen Book Festival

WHERE: Irving, Texas

WHEN: March 7, 2015

WHY: to INSPIRE lifelong readers 

to CULTIVATE a love of reading

to CELEBRATE teen literature

to CONNECT our reading community

What is the Irving Public Library?

As you guys know, I attend a LOT of events, but did you know that most of my events in the Dallas area are hosted by the Irving Public Library? I discovered the IPL at TLA last year when I met a fellow Dallas blogger who invited me to attend local author Heather Reid's launch party for Pretty Dark Nothing. I LOVED it. It was at the IPL that I met librarians (led by the amazing teen librarian Kristin Trevino), authors (see bottom of this post), bloggers, readers, and, most importantly, good friends. In addition to hosting amazing author panels, the Irving library goes above and beyond to make sure their guests have a great time. There are parties and writing camps. I've never felt more part of something special than when I'm hanging out at the Irving library. I have never met a more dedicated crew of librarians than the ones I've met at Irving.

So.....what?

So here's the thing. IPL is taking the next step by hosting the North Texas Teen Book Festival, but as a public library system, they need some help. That's where this big, beautiful book community we belong to comes in. The IPL is currently holding a Kickstarter campaign to raise $10,000 to go to covering festival costs. We've got 2 weeks left and about $4000 to raise. The thing with Kickstarter is that if your campaign isn't 100% funded by the due date, you don't get any of the funds raised. I've donated, and so have many of our local book  community. However, we really can't do it on our own. That's why I'm asking you, my readers, if you can help the IPL reach their goal.

How can I help?

Please, please: if you can, please consider donating to the NTTBF. You can help us spread the love of ya and reach members of our community we never have been able to before. Donate what you can, if you can. Kickstarter even allows $1 donations! ONE DOLLAR! That's cheaper than some novellas!

If I donate, what's in it for me?

The other thing with Kickstarter (and this is the cool part) is that donors get awesome exclusive rewards! Some of the special backer prizes for the NTTBF are things like parking and line passes, invites to the pre- and after-party, etc. Buuuut IPL also knows that many of their backers may be from other locations who may not be able to attend in-person. That's why you can also receive t-shirts, tote bags, posters or signed books from authors of your choice (shipping available to US addresses only).

I'm considering donating, but I need more info....like who's attending and what my money is going to.

You can check out more information about the library, the festival, and the campaign at the Kickstarter page HERE. If you're curious about who the authors are who are attending, the two confirmed and public authors are John Corey Whaley (Where Things Come Back, Noggin) and Julie Murphy (Side Effects May Vary, Dumplin). I have heard some of the not-quite-public-yet names for other attendees, and TRUST. ME: you guys are going to flip out when you hear these names! If you would like to read a list of authors who have visited the IPL in the past and read some of my recaps of those IPL events (panels, interviews, pictures!), see the bottom of this post.

I can't donate, but what can I do to help?

Not everybody has the ability to donate money to causes like these, but there is something we all have: a voice! Also, usually a Twitter account. Or Facebook. Or Tumblr. Or...you get the idea. If you can't donate your money, please donate a few minutes of your time to tell a friend or a feed and spread news of NTTBF and the Kickstarter by posting on one (or more....) of your social media sites. Tag @irvinglibrary and @NTTBFest or use #NTTBF. Share the link to the campaign page.

Here's where I make things interesting.

If you pledge to the campaign, you can certainly get some cool rewards from the library. However, I'm going to raise the stakes a little bit. I'm adding in my own motivation. I'm giving away a box of my own books to raise awareness and hopefully inspire you to donate whatever you can to this great cause.

Important legal/ethical stuff

1. I AM NOT associated with the Irving Public Library. They did not ask me to do this giveaway. It is of my own volition, and I am providing the prize for this giveaway on my own. 2. It would be 100% unethical for me to require you donate to the Kickstarter in order to win so I'm not requiring a donation. However, donations of ANY AMOUNT will give you bonus entries. You know how I said you can donate $1 to the campaign? That $1 will get you additional entries! 3. Again, if you can't donate, THAT'S OKAY. Just spread the word! 3. Please don't try to cheat and get bonus entries if you aren't going to donate. I DO NOT have access to Kickstarter's personal donation info, but I can check to see if you have donated (Kickstarter donors are listed publicly).

Giveaway details

This giveaway is open to the US and Canada. The box will contain several mystery books, and I'll reveal a book every time the Kickstarter pledges increases $500. At the time I wrote this, the Kickstarter was around $6000. I'll reveal at $6500, $7000, etc. I'll keep going, even if the Kickstarter surpasses the $10,000 goal! Sharing is caring, y'all, so let's share our love of books, share news of this great cause, and I'll share some books with you!

Please check the Site/Giveaway Policies tab at the top of the page for a full list of my giveaway policies. Any entries not in accordance with my policies will be disqualified. Please note the Share This Post option is available TWICE daily. In order to receive all the entries for that option, you must post in two different places, and yes, I will be moderating the entries.

If you live in the US or Canada: DO NOT enter the INT giveaway. If I have to delete your entries from the INT rafflecopter more than once, I will disqualify you from this giveaway as well. Thank you for your cooperation.

Edit 1: The first book in the box has been revealed! Keep going to discover the remaining books in the box!

Maybe if I use @AmieKaufman & @MeaganSpooner in my #NTTBF box, they'll finally come to TX! Book 1, for your pleasure: pic.twitter.com/XPUe69GlVq
— Mary H (@knoxdiver) July 1, 2014

Giveaway bonus: Fellow Dallas bloggers Amanda of Of Spectacles and Books and Emily of Oh Magic Hour have ALSO set up #NTTBF giveaways on their blogs! The best thing is that our Rafflecopter entries are all very similar! What's up for grabs on their blogs? Another mystery box of ya books, signed books by Claire Legrand and Veronica Rossi, and a signed copy of Side Effects May Vary donated by the very lovely and awesome Julie Murphy herself!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

INT FRIENDS 
(that means anyone outside of the US/Canada)

I realize it's a long shot that you guys will be able to attend or receive rewards from donating BUT I would be grateful if you would help spread the word. That's why I'm giving you your own giveaway for a book ($17 or less) from the Book Depository.  

US & Canadian friends: do not enter this giveaway. It is not for you, and your entries will be deleted. If I have to delete your entries from the INT-only rafflecopter more than once, I will remove your entries for the other giveaway as well. Thank you for your cooperation.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Who are some of the authors I've met through IPL events?

(all links go to my recap of each event, and trust me, you want to see these pictures!) Heather L. Reid. Rae Carson, Nova Ren Suma, Aimeé Carter, Tessa Gratton, Tahereh Mafi & Ransom Riggs at the Beneath the Surface panel (bonus: Katie McGarry & Julie Kagawa were in attendance that night!). Debra Driza, Shannon Messenger, Amy Tintera & Kasie West at the Sweat YA tour. Mary Gray for The Dollhouse Asylum launch. Julie Murphy. Kiera Cass, Kelley Armstrong, Danielle Paige & Kimberly Derting on the Dark Days tour. 

Authors whose events I haven't recapped yet include:

Anna Godbersen, Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl, Jeramey Kraatz, Claire Legrand, Polly Holyoke, and Karen Harrington. At the Valley Ranch branch of the IPL, I've met Sophie Jordan, Jessica Brody, Victoria Scott, and Tamara Ireland Stone, Tara Hudson, Sonia Gensler, Jennifer Archer, Kendare Blake, and Rosemary Clement-Moore. 

Authors have held events there before I 

moved to Dallas or events I missed:

Stephanie Perkins, Michelle Hodkin (who showed ONE WEEK after I moved to Dallas, but I didn't know about the IPL yet!!! *is sad*), Anna Banks, Emmy Laybourne, Leigh Bardugo, Jackson Pearce, Beth Revis, and Marie Lu.

P.S.

You guys know I'm going to go to this festival, right? Can you just imagine how much giveaway fodder it's going to give me?! Just imagine my haul of signed books, just waiting to be passed on to you guys.... Want to donate to the cause yet? ;)