Organiser says sorry for fantasy book ball dubbed ‘new Willy Wonka Experience’
Organisers behind a Maryland event dubbed the ‘Frye Fest of BookTok’ by attendees have apologised.
A Million Lives Book Festival, held at the Baltimore Convention Centre over the weekend, was described as ‘the perfect event to make more bookish friends’.
Tickets started from $50 to as high as $250, which granted access to the ‘Lavender Romance Ball’.
‘This event will include a vendor hall, panels, a content creation room, fandom cosplay meet-ups, a cosplay competition and a ball,’ the festival website says.
Not quite, according to some attendees. Footage showed a near-empty grey room, as authors and readers alike donned fancy garments for the ball and walked around empty stands.
Some compared it to the infamous Willy Wonka Experience, a recreation of the classic that left said children in tears and parents phoning the police.
But ‘even the Willy Wonka Experience had decor,’ half-joked TikTok influencer and New York City journalist Chloe.
Others said it was akin to the Frye Festival, which was billed as a luxury music weekend in the Bahamas in 2017. When the ultra-elite ticket-holders arrived, however, they were greeted with no electricity, dirt fields, soggy tents and plastic chairs.
‘The Million Lives festival was such a crapshow, the only good thing was trauma-bonding with my author friends,’ described Jennifer Laubach, an adult fantasy author, on TikTok.
Captioning the video as ‘AML survivor’, she said that while many authors attended the festival, only a few readers did.
Laubach, who said she only had 18 books that day and was one of 120 authors, added that many things went wrong during the event. From author tables not being labelled to last-minute schedule changes, she claimed.
‘I lost nearly three grand on this trip,’ she said, which included travel, hotel costs and book costs. Another author said he lost ‘about two grand’.
The festival was organised by Archer Management, which is run by the author Grace Willows.
‘Please never host another event, this was a complete disaster and you scammed so many people out of money,’ one attendee commented on the festival’s Facebook event page.
‘I can’t believe the police weren’t called.’
Hope Davis, a fantasy author, said she felt ‘deceived’ by the event.
‘I did meet some amazing authors though, so while I took a huge loss at the event, I am going to try my best to stay positive,’ she posted on Threads.
In a follow-up thread, Davis described how authors were told up to 600 tickets had been sold. ‘Only about 50 people showed up,’ she said.
‘Attendees and sponsors were promised “swag bags” and none were delivered.’
‘There were no decorations for the ball or signing. There wasn’t food as promised, nor did I see a cash bar at the ball as promised,’ she added.
Fantasy romance author Kris K Haines posted on TikTok today, saying that authors and vendors received an apologetic email from the organiser.
The organiser promised refunds by the ‘end of May’, Haines said, adding that the email said 603 tickets were sold and 140 people showed up.
On a Facebook group for attendees, which has 515 members, some said they had a ‘great time’.
‘Thank you for a wonderful time, this weekend was amazing and I had a lovely time at the ball,’ said Kate Springer. ‘Can’t wait for next time!’
Another posted: ‘Thanks for the wonderful time!’
In a video, Willows issued a ‘formal apology’ for the festival ‘not being up to standard’.
‘There were a lot of issues getting set up, and it was not set up well,’ she said. ‘I want to apologise.
‘If you would like your refund, please contact me and I will issue you a refund immediately.’
Archer Management has been approached for comment.
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