Tasting Notes Dinner
​Thursday, October 4, 7:00-9:00 pm, Great Hall
Placement Fee: $1,000, which includes one table (10 meal tickets)
Drayage: $1.00 per book
Quantity: 200 comp books or galleys
 leWho says flights are just for drinks? At the Tasting Notes Dinner, 6 keynote authors are given 10 minutes each to discuss their forthcoming book in a format reminiscent of a tasting flight.

This is a ticketed event. Socializing with booksellers is one of the highlights of the authors' experience. Your author placement fee includes a table of 10 reserved seats. After giving a ticket to your author, you will have 9 seats left for staff and booksellers to join your author during the meal. (Please invite booksellers well before the event so they don't purchase their own ticket.) These tickets will be waiting at the registration desk with your author's badge.

Starting at 7:00 pm, the event emcee will address the crowd. The first two courses will be served and eaten for a half hour. Starting at 7:30 pm, a bookseller will introduce each author briefly, keep the program running on time, and provide a wrap-up signal for each author. Authors are allotted a strict maximum of 10 minutes to speak. After the authors are done, we’ll break into a signing around 8:40 for book personalization. The emcee will announce that the signing is beginning, which means authors should take their seats at the signing tables, where their books will be waiting.

We’ll have a raised podium and a microphone at the front of the room for speakers’ use. If your author has any special needs or additional AV equipment, please let Carrie know by September 7.

BEFORE THE EVENT
​​Authors sign their books before the event; the time after dinner is for further personalization. The book room (AJ Earling) will be staffed starting at 7 am on Thurs, Oct 4. Please ask your author to finish signing before 5 pm, allowing staff enough time to set up books before the event begins.

TIPS FOR AUTHORS
  • Keynote addresses bring your book to life and make it easier for booksellers to stock and sell your work in their stores. Stories of the writing process, indie bookstore visits, and just plain great storytelling work well to endear the author to the crowd.
  • Please check in with the book room staff in the book room (called "boardroom," see map) no later than 6:30 pm so we know you've arrived.
  • Bring busin​ess cards or promotional postcards with your book jacket, personal contact information, social media, etc.
  • Know your market. These are indie booksellers and you will endear yourself to them by supporting the indie market. If you don't already, it's necessary to include indie buy buttons on your website, and put indies first whenever you can. Here's how. 

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PUBLISHERS
Shipping/Delivering Books
Quantity: We request 200 comp books/galleys for this event.

Ship books/galleys to the address below and label the outside of every box with the info requested. DO NOT SHIP EVENT BOOKS WITH YOUR BOOTH MATERIAL.

LABEL AS FOLLOWS:

Tasting Notes Dinner / AUTHOR NAME
BOOK TITLE / PUBLISHER
Heartland Fall Forum 2018
Tristan Publishing
2355 Louisiana Avenue North
Golden Valley, MN 55427

First date freight received: 8/27/2018
Freight deadline: 9/27/2018
  • All shipping and drayage is the responsibility of the publisher. The drayage fee is $1.00 per book, a discount over traditional drayage companies.
  • Save your tracking number in case we need it.

Hand-Delivering Books
​If you are a local publisher, you can deliver books directly to the show.
  1. Let Carrie know you are delivering books directly to The Depot
  2. Park in the main parking lot and transport them to the book room (called AJ Earling), or come in and let staff know you'd like to borrow a set of wheels.
Tasting Notes dinner from 2016
View more event photos on Facebook.