BLACK AUTHORS FESTIVAL @SAGHARBOR 2027 LITERARY SALON - VIP SIGNATURE AUTHOR $1,250

VIP LITERARY SALON SIGNATURE AUTHOR

An Elevated Literary Platform. An Intimate Conversation. A VIP Festival Experience.

The VIP Literary Salon Signature Author experience is designed for authors seeking an elevated presence within the Black Authors Festival @SagHarbor.

This is not a vendor table opportunity.

It is a curated literary platform that places the author and their work within an intimate, professionally produced conversation before an engaged literary audience.

The experience takes place during the Festival's VIP Session, providing selected authors with an opportunity to participate in a distinguished literary environment alongside the Festival's honorees and invited guests.

Only a limited number of Signature Authors will be selected.

THE VIP SIGNATURE AUTHOR EXPERIENCE

1. Curated Literary Salon Appearance

Each Signature Author will receive a professionally produced appearance within the Black Authors Festival @SagHarbor Literary Salon.

The author will participate in a moderated literary conversation exploring the book, the ideas behind the work, the author's creative journey, and the broader literary or cultural questions raised by the book.

Stage Time: 20 Minutes Per Author

2. Distinguished Author Introduction

Each Signature Author will receive a professionally prepared introduction highlighting:

• Author name and featured book

• Literary accomplishments

• Professional background

• Relevant awards and recognition

• Notable credentials

• Significance of the author's work

The objective is to introduce each author as a distinguished literary voice, rather than simply announce a book.

3. Featured Book Conversation

Each author will have the opportunity to discuss:

• The book and the story behind it

• Why the book was written

• The central ideas, themes, or questions explored in the work

• What the author wants readers to understand

• The significance of the subject matter

• What the author hopes the work contributes to the literary conversation

4. Audience Engagement

The Salon will provide a structured opportunity for meaningful interaction between authors and readers:

Author Conversation → Moderated Discussion → Audience Q&A → Book Signing

5. Signature Author Website Feature

Each Signature Author will receive an expanded feature on the Black Authors Festival website, which may include:

• Professional photograph

• Author name

• Featured book

• Expanded biography

• Book description

• Author website

• Social-media links

• Additional approved professional information

6. Signature Promotional Spotlight

Signature Authors will receive enhanced inclusion in the Festival's promotional campaign through applicable Festival-controlled channels, which may include:

• Black Authors Festival website

• Social media

• Dedicated author spotlight

• Literary Salon promotional graphics

• Email marketing

• Festival event materials

• Post Festival newsletter

The Festival will determine the timing, format, placement, and frequency of promotional content.

7. Professional Event Photography

Signature Authors will receive a dedicated collection of professional event photographs, subject to the Festival's photography schedule and production parameters.

Photographs may include:

• Author portrait

• Stage appearance

• Audience engagement

• Author autograph moments

• Festival environment

8. VIP BLACK AUTHORS FESTIVAL EXPERIENCE

As a VIP Literary Salon Signature Author, you will receive VIP inclusion in the Black Authors Festival experience alongside the Festival's distinguished honorees.

This distinctive benefit provides the selected author with an opportunity to participate within the Festival's VIP environment and connect with accomplished authors, literary leaders, journalists, educators, entrepreneurs, cultural visionaries, honorees, and invited guests.

Signature Author VIP Privileges Include:

• VIP inclusion in the Black Authors Festival

• Access to designated VIP programming and experiences

• Opportunity to be in the company of the Festival's distinguished honorees

• VIP networking opportunities

• One VIP credential issued specifically to the selected Signature Author

• One meal for the Signature Author

• Water

Important Access Distinction

VIP inclusion is extended solely to the selected Signature Author.

There is no need for the Signature Author to bring an assistant. The Black Authors Festival Ambassador Team will provide assistance to Signature Authors throughout the designated Festival experience.

Accordingly, the Signature Author's VIP privileges are not transferable to a guest, assistant, family member, representative, or other accompanying individual.

The $1,250 participation fee provides VIP inclusion to one selected Signature Author only. It does not purchase or confer VIP access for another individual.

9. Author Autograph Opportunity

Each Signature Author will receive designated time and space to autograph and sell their books.

The author retains 100% of their book-sale proceeds.

The Black Authors Festival does not process, collect, safeguard, reconcile, refund, or otherwise manage individual author book sales or other author transactions.

10. Literary Networking

Signature Authors will have opportunities to connect with:

• Readers

• Fellow authors

• Literary professionals

• Educators

• Journalists

• Cultural leaders

• Entrepreneurs

• Festival honorees

• Honorees

The Festival provides the environment for these connections but does not guarantee any particular professional, commercial, business, media, or literary outcome.

11. OFFICIAL FESTIVAL RECOGNITION

Each selected participant will be formally recognized as a:

2027 Black Authors Festival @SagHarbor VIP Literary Salon Signature Author

WHAT THE $1,250 PARTICIPATION FEE INCLUDES

The $1,250 Signature Author participation fee includes:

• Curated Literary Salon participation

• 20-minute stage appearance

• Professional author introduction

• Moderated literary conversation

• Audience Q&A

• Expanded Festival website feature

• Enhanced promotional spotlight

• Professional event photography

• Author Signing opportunity

• VIP inclusion in the Black Authors Festival alongside distinguished honorees

• Designated VIP programming and experiences

• One VIP credential for the selected Signature Author

• Assistance from the Black Authors Festival Ambassador Team

• One meal for the author

• Water

• Official designation as a 2027 Black Authors Festival @ Sag Harbor VIP Literary Salon Signature Author

AUTHOR RESPONSIBILITIES

Book Inventory

Each selected Signature Author must bring a minimum of: 50 copies of their featured book

The author is responsible for transporting, storing, managing, and selling their inventory.

Author Promotional Materials

Authors may bring appropriately scaled promotional materials, including:

• Books

• Bookmarks

• Business cards

• Author postcards

• QR codes linking to their website or book

• Retractable promotional banners

• Payment processing equipment

The Festival will provide: One table and one chair.

The Literary Salon is a curated literary experience, not a conventional vendor marketplace. Author displays must therefore remain professional, appropriately scaled, and consistent with the character of the Black Authors Festival.

INDEPENDENT BOOK SALES

Authors must be prepared to process their own transactions through their preferred payment methods, including:

• Cash

• Zelle

• Cash App

• Square

• Credit/debit card processing

• Other independent payment platforms

The Black Authors Festival assumes no responsibility for processing, collecting, safeguarding, reconciling, refunding, or otherwise managing author book sales or any other individual author transaction.

REQUIRED AUTHOR SUBMISSIONS

Selected authors must provide all requested materials by the Festival's stated deadline, including:

• 75 word biography

• 150 word biography

• Two professional headshots

• High-resolution book cover in JPEG or PNG format

• Book description

• Author website

• Social media handles

• Three author talking points

• Any additional materials reasonably requested by the Festival

Required Talking Points

Each author must provide concise responses to:

1. What is your book about?

2. Why did you write it?

3. Why will this conversation matter to this audience?

These materials will assist the Festival's moderator and production team in developing a cohesive and substantive Salon conversation.

NO ASSISTANT REQUIRED

Signature Authors are not required to bring an assistant.

The Black Authors Festival Ambassador Team will provide assistance to Signature Authors throughout the designated Festival experience.

Because the Signature Author experience includes one individual VIP credential, VIP access is not transferable to another person.

IMPORTANT PARTICIPATION NOTICE

The Signature Author participation fee provides an elevated literary platform and VIP Festival experience. It does not guarantee:

• A specific number of attendees

• A specific volume of book sales

• Media coverage

• Literary representation

• A publishing contract

• Additional speaking engagements

• Reviews or interviews

• Commercial opportunities

• Business opportunities

• Any particular financial or professional outcome

Participation provides an opportunity to present one's literary work within a curated Festival environment. Authors remain responsible for their own professional, literary, and commercial outcomes.

NO REFUNDS • NO TRANSFERS

MANDATORY ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The $200 application fee is mandatory, non-refundable, and non-transferable. Payment of the application fee is required to process an application and does not guarantee acceptance.

By submitting an application and payment, the applicant acknowledges and agrees that:

• Only one Literary Salon category may be selected and applied for.

• Acceptance is determined solely through the Festival's selection process.

• If accepted, the author is committing to the category for which they applied and were selected.

• The accepted participation category may not subsequently be transferred, upgraded, downgraded, exchanged, or substituted.

• If an accepted author is unable or unwilling to fulfill the obligations of the selected category, the author will not be entitled to a refund of the application fee or participation fees already paid.

• The applicant is responsible for reviewing all application and participation requirements before submitting payment.

• The applicant has been provided an opportunity to obtain clarification from the Festival before submitting payment.

• Author acknowledges that if accepted the balance $1,050.00 must be paid within 30 days. After 30 days, the author forfeits his/her placement.

Questions regarding the application or participation requirements please refer to the Facts and FAQS page on this website.

The Black Authors Festival reserves the unrestricted right, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, to modify, revise, suspend, replace, or cancel any Festival rules, regulations, terms, conditions, fees, requirements, honorees, speakers, presenters, sponsors, partners, venues, dates, times, schedules, programming, activities, benefits, lineups, or other Festival-related information or arrangements at any time, with or without prior notice. Such changes may be made at the Festival's sole discretion and for any reason deemed necessary or appropriate. The Festival shall not be responsible for maintaining any previously announced Festival component where circumstances require or warrant a change.

RESERVATION OF RIGHTS - FESTIVAL MODIFICATIONS

The Black Authors Festival reserves the unrestricted right, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, to modify, revise, suspend, replace, or cancel any Festival rules, regulations, terms, conditions, fees, requirements, honorees, speakers, presenters, sponsors, partners, venues, dates, times, schedules, programming, activities, benefits, lineups, or other Festival related information or arrangements at any time, with or without prior notice. Such changes may be made at the Festival's sole discretion and for any reason deemed necessary or appropriate. The Festival shall not be responsible for maintaining any previously announced Festival component where circumstances require or warrant a change.