Book Fest to take over Thomasville this weekend

THOMASVILLE — Book lovers will unite this weekend as Danisha Carter hosts Thomasville Bookfest at Southern Regional Technical College on Saturday.

Inspired by a book festival she attended in Jacksonville, Carter wanted to host a literary event that she and her book club, Lovely Readers Book Club, could attend together, connecting authors and readers.

“I noticed there’s not a lot of literary events around here, as far as book fairs and book festivals,” Carter said. “I’ve hosted vendor events before, so I thought, why don’t I host a book festival here in Thomasville?”

The goal of the festival is to connect authors with readers in their specific target market, while also inspiring readers to try new genres from emerging authors.

Each author will be categorized into their genre. Genres include motivational/religious, children’s/teens, poetry, mystery/thriller, and fantasy/romance.

“I’m excited about the event, because it caters to every type of reader,” Carter said. “It’s for kids all the way up to adults.”

Attendees are invited to join the authors for a panel session and reading throughout the day.

During each panel, Carter will conduct a Q&A with the authors, asking them questions about themselves, what inspired the book, and how they became writers. The audience will also have the opportunity to ask authors specific questions about their books or their work as authors.

Currently, 43 authors are expected to be in attendance, with one author traveling from Ohio.

“Most of the authors are from South Georgia, Thomasville, Valdosta, Moultrie, and Cordele, but we have a few coming from Florida and one from Atlanta,” Carter said.

For attendees who want a more personal experience with an author, a Night with the Authors will be held on Friday, October 10, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at SRTC.

This exclusive event will feature bestselling author Manswell Peterson leading an engaging workshop on the importance of beta readers, professional editing, marketing, branding, correct book cover, formatting ebooks/books, and publishing.

Peterson is a Georgia-based writer known for taking the paranormal genre by storm. He has been writing professionally since 2008, authoring more than 50 books and developing screenplays for dozens of movies and television shows.

The feedback for both this event and the Book Fest has been phenomenal, according to Carter.

As of Monday, 124 have registered to attend the Festival, while 30 have registered for the Night with the Authors Event.

While the Night with the Authors Event does require registration on Eventbrite, the Book Fest is entirely free. Carter said there will be giveaways throughout the day for attendees, along with activity stations to make signature bookmarks and a food truck and mocktail bar, selling delicious snacks and drinks.

“I wanted to have an activity for people to do, especially for children, so they can get hands-on,” Carter said.

The Book Fest will begin at 10 a.m. and last through 4 p.m. Carter said people can drop in and out, based on the time of the panel they are interested in attending.

The panel for motivational/religious books will be held from 11-11:30, followed by a panel on children’s/teens books from 12-12:30. A poetry session will begin at 1 p.m., before the mystery/thriller panel from 2-2:30, concluding with the fantasy/romance panel from 3-3:30 p.m.

During the 30-minute breaks, attendees can purchase books by the presenting authors.

“There are several authors who this will be their first event, so they are really excited,” Carter said.

Carter thanks her presenting sponsor, The Bookshelf, and Book Lover Sponsor, AJ Moonspin, for helping make this dream a reality, and looks forward to seeing everyone on Saturday morning.