Author Placement Opportunities

The chance to meet authors and learn about their forthcoming book is one of the major draws of Heartland.

​Heartland Summer is offering two main author placement opportunities as well as an interactive Exhibits Gallery and Rep Picks to collect and broadcast your promotional efforts. All events will be promoted heavily in our newsletters and supported by Edelweiss collections and ARC request forms.

Author placement is available to publishers who become an exhibitor or a Heartland sponsor. 

Meet the Authors: $200 per author
  • Each Meet the Author session features 10 authors presenting for 5 minutes each
  • Hosted on CrowdCast and recorded to share and reshare
  • Recordings and featured titles/authors will be included in the Heartland newsletter and on your exhibitor page
  • Event followed up with an ARC request form so you know where to target your mailings
  • Meet the Author digital events will take place throughout June, July, August, and September

Marquee Author Keynote: $1,000
  • ​Evening event featuring one marquee author
  • Gives publishers creative control to pair their author with an interviewer or additional guests
  • Hosted on CrowdCast and recorded to share and reshare
  • Recording and featured author(s) will be featured in the Heartland newsletter, on your exhibitor page, and in associations' social media
  • Event followed up with an ARC request form so you know where to target your mailings
  • Make a big splash with this standalone event

Heartland Book Club: $1,500
October 8, 7:00–8:00 pm CST
The Heartland Book Club is designed to capture the attention of publishers and booksellers alike as our most exciting marquee-level event. HBC is an engaging book club event in which the author engages directly with some of the best readers there are: our two regions of independent booksellers. 

HFF and the publisher will work together to ensure our booksellers have every opportunity to read the book and engage with the content before the event. We will pair the author with a high-energy moderator who will engage the author with some opening questions, then open up the hour-long event to audience conversation. 
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  • July 1: All Heartland Book Club pitches due from publishers
  • July 10: Announce Heartland Book Club selection along with a custom event logo
  • July 17: Heartland sends a publisher-created ARC request form to all MIBA/GLIBA bookstores (along with an e-galley request link) with an invite to read the book and participate in the event; include a bookseller reading guide and talking points to support an inspiring in-person book club conversation
Schedule
View the schedule below in calendar format

​Heartland Summer
  • Week 1: June 25, 7:00–8:00 pm CST, Marquee Author Feature
  • Week 2: July 9, 1:00–2:00 pm CST, Meet the Authors
  • Week 3: July 23, 7:00–8:00 pm CST, Marquee Author Feature
  • Week 4: August 13, 1:00–2:00 pm CST, Meet the Authors
  • Week 5: August 27, 7:00–8:00 pm CST, Marquee Author Feature
  • Week 6: September 10, 1:00–2:00 pm CST, Meet the Authors
  • Week 7: September 24, 7:00–8:00 pm CST, Marquee Author Feature

Heartland Grand Finale
  • Heartland Book Club: October 8, 7:00–8:00 pm CST
  • Heartland Booksellers Award: October 15, 7:00–8:00 pm CST
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Isaac Fitzgerald, 2019 author emcee, shows off his forthcoming book
  • Pitch form. Click the button above to pitch the authors you would like to participate in our summer programming. In addition to our scheduled events, we'd like to remain flexible and creative, so share highly relevant and exciting programming ideas that may not fit perfectly into our promoted scheduled. We're committed to bringing our industry programming reflective of the times. 
  • ​Be strategic and judicious. We have far fewer spots online than we'd normally have in our in-person show. Plan your promo strategy carefully across 1) author spots 2) rep picks and 3) exhibits gallery.
  • Cultural representation: We are committed to promoting a balanced representation of authors from all cultural backgrounds. Please pitch a diverse list to increase your chances of having multiple author placements. ​
  • Galley request form. For all author events, we ask publishers to supply a galley request form. We will host the link on our website immediately, and also push it out directly to booksellers after each author event. List both paper and electronic options for booksellers to choose from, along with the address where to send it and whatever other bookseller information you'd find useful. 
  • Shopping indie. Ensure your authors provide indie e-commerce options on their website and social media. Their buy buttons need to include links to indie bookstore(s) of their choice and/or Bookshop.

​If you’d like to include a personal pitch, send it to Carrie Obry at carrie@midwestbooksellers.org. 
Moveable Feast authors 2019