IIn the days preceding the A Million Lives book festival, things already seemed bad. Grace Marsnel, the organizer of the event, sent a message to an author dealing with the DJ to the hospital and that the company had no replacement. She owed to the “Six figures” hotel because the room block had not sold, according to the messages.
“Oh my God is horrible!” Author Sarah Zane replied. The excuses seemed unusual, but as a veteran of book events, Zane expected to face a certain poor management.
“I started to worry,” said Zane in an interview with The Guardian, “but I did not expect things that are so visibly wrong.”
On a Discord channel for the event, Marsnel has repeatedly assured everyone about the event. In January, she said that ticket sales were already “in the four hundred and that I saw to sell”. At the end of April, she sent a message to the fact that ticket sales were in the “High 500S low 600s”.
Attendance estimates help authors decide on the number of copies of their books to be brought to an event. The two -day festival at the Baltimore Convention Center cost writers $ 50 to $ 150 for the table, which is added to the cost of gas, flights, hotel rooms and books. Many spent more than $ 1,000 to attend, they said, an investment that these independent authors believed to be worth selling their books.
“I make a whole life on events, it’s my blood of life,” said Kalista Neith, a popular author of black romance.
Neith had agreed to participate as a star – which means that her hotel was covered and that she would receive a payment of $ 1,000. His participation also gave other authors confidence in the event. In total, around 100 authors have registered.
“The second I saw that Kalista Neith and Perci Jay had signed this, I said to myself:” Ok, it’s going to be a good event “,” said Zane.
But last week, Marsnel told Neith that Hilton did not send his calls back, so she was going to move it to a day inn. Neith did not bother him. After the registration, the reception informed him that the credit card of Marsnel to cover the part had been refused. When Neith called Marsnel, she said that her identity had been stolen.
At that time, Neith had doubts, but she had already spoken to her festival disciples and had left the hotel to install her table. While she and other authors arrived at the Center Convention, there was no signaling to direct them to the event. Marsnel was not there, and there were no staff or volunteers of events. The original map of the stands was not up to the shooting code, informed them, so everything had to be rearranged that morning. There was no coating for stands or badges that are typical of any conference. When Marsnel finally arrived, Zane asked him why they had no badges or bracelets.
The badges had arrived “broken”, informed Marsnel Zane. Later, she told the participants that she had memorized everyone’s face and knew who was supposed to be there, according to interviews.
When the festival finally started on Friday, no one crossed the door. A conference had more authors on the panel (nine) than those present (eight). A tattoo artist did not receive an electrical outlet and had to take a battery to work. And an announced “content room” was just a bare room with a gray carpet.
Some participants, such as Susan Alexander, a first author and mother of two children who led Indiana, said that she was hesitating to be critical. When Marsnel asked him for comments that day on the event, Alexander dismantled.
“It can be really frightening as an author for the first time to have your concerns express. You don’t want to be Blackballalé by other events, “she said.
Other authors declared in interviews that they had tried to convince themselves that Friday was just slow and that things would improve. Instead, things only dislodge more.
On Saturday, the content room was closed for a “mechanical failure,” said Marsnel to the participants. In a panel on LGBTQ +diversity, the moderator left to take a telephone call in the middle and then never returned. The participants then recognized the moderator as the husband of Marsnel of a photo of the couple in a new one.
It is not clear if Marsnel has officially created a commercial entity for its company Archer Fantasy Events or Archer Management – The names that its accounts use. The Guardian found no secretary of state who listed Marsnel as an officer or entities under these corporate names. Marsnel did not respond to several calls for comments.
Despite the fiasco, Alyssa McCoy, who has a company selling drinks and clothing on the theme of the book, he was ready to attend the Saturday evening ball to celebrate his birthday this weekend. She and her friends were prepared together in one of their hotel rooms while looking at Twilight. “I was always going to the ball, I loved my dress,” she said.
But when they arrived in the same brilliantly lit conference room as the event, there was no decoration or music. A small cash bar and a plate of macaroons were the only signs of a party. While sitting on chairs, the security guard returned home to recover his portable Bluetooth speaker. They named it “DJ Steve” and have turned into turn the music of their phones.
Neith was furious for his fans who had paid up to $ 200 for the ball when he arrived and saw nothing.
“I take a loss because it was a garbage event is one thing, but not to deliver anything for my readers is a completely different thing,” she said. “All I have is the confidence of my readers.”
Neith told Marsnel that the event was unacceptable and asked him to make a promising reimbursement and mark it.
“Hello everyone, I want to apologize official,” said Marsnel in a video on Saturday when Neith was standing nearby.
Neith said that she was “always incredulous how serious it was and that she was not only canceled”.
Marsnel said that she would publish reimbursements by the end of the month and maintains that she sold 603 tickets, according to emails. In interviews, the authors estimated that 80 to 100 people showed up all weekend.
