Lauren Lacey joins Jim and Megan to talk about the success of Black Romance Book Fest, as well as the rise of indie authors and how that that has uplifted marginalized voices.
Lauren Lacey is a Southern storyteller who crafts heartfelt romances filled with the complexities of love and resilience. Her writing, often set in small towns, explores the depths of commitment and second chances. Her goal is to create stories that make readers laugh, cry, and believe in the beauty of happily ever afters.
Lauren joins us to talk about the success of Black Romance Book Fest, as well as the rise of indie authors and how that that has uplifted marginalized voices.
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Kevin Tumlinson [00:00:02]:
You just tuned into the hippest way to start and grow your indie author career. Learn the ins, the outs and all the all arounds of self publishing with the team from D2D and their industry influencing guests. You're listening to self publishing insiders with Draft2Digital.
Jim Azevedo [00:00:27]:
Well, hello everybody and welcome to self publishing Insiders. I'm Jim Acevedo and I lead the marketing team here at Draft Digital. And today I'm super excited. I say that every week, but seriously, like, I'm really excited because. Joining us, we've got Lauren Lacey, who is the organizer behind the super successful Black I'm gonna Black Romance Book Fest. I can't believe I just almost stumbled over the name of the conference for sure.
Lauren Lacey [00:00:53]:
That's the easiest way to say it.
Jim Azevedo [00:00:55]:
All right. And my good friend and colleague Megan Spann's joining us here too.
Megan Spann [00:01:01]:
Hello.
Lauren Lacey [00:01:02]:
Hi, Megan.
Jim Azevedo [00:01:03]:
I'm off blistered because we had some technical difficulties before signing on here, but here we are. We're good. Everyone just relax, take a deep breath. Jim. All right, we are good. So, Lauren, if you don't mind, let me just read through your bio here real quickly so I can kind of get the lay of the land and let people know a little bit more about you. Okay?
Lauren Lacey [00:01:25]:
Yeah, absolutely.
Jim Azevedo [00:01:26]:
All right. So Lauren Lacey is a southern storyteller from Savannah, Georgia, now residing in Atlanta. She crafts heartfelt romances filled with the complexities of love and resilience. Her writing, often set in small towns, explores the depths of commitment and second chances. Lauren has authored seven novels, including the acclaimed Love and Beverly Mills series and her latest sports romance, the World Around Us. Outside of writing, she is a devoted mother of three children and a passionate Georgia Bulldogs fan. Her goal is to create stories that make readers laugh, cry, and believe in the beauty of happily ever afters. So again, welcome, Lauren.
Lauren Lacey [00:02:12]:
Thank you for having me.
Jim Azevedo [00:02:14]:
Hey, so after going through your bio, you're pretty humble with that bio because. Can I read a little bit about your, about your professional background?
Lauren Lacey [00:02:28]:
I'm very, I am very low key is what people say. I, I enjoy, I honestly just enjoy writing. I enjoy marketing. I know I've been in the marketing space for quite some time at some pretty cool companies and I'm currently professionally digital director here at a company out in Atlanta. And I was at PwC for quite some years as well. I started out on social media and because when I was in college, everyone was like, well, what do you want to do? Because I majored in English, they thought I was going to be a teacher. I Don't want to do that. I just wanted to.
Lauren Lacey [00:03:06]:
What are you thinking?
Jim Azevedo [00:03:07]:
Oh my God.
Lauren Lacey [00:03:10]:
I love writing and telling stories, you know, and so I got into social media and from there I got into my, my current, my company. They sent me to learn graphic design and coding and I started building websites and then I got into SEO and then it just kind of just continued in the digital marketing back in the day. It was like so new and exciting. And so, you know, one day my husband, we took a vacation. I was like, I want to be like, you know, the people in the books and they're going on vacations. So we left the kids at home and we decided to go to Disney World. I'm a Disney fan and there's plenty of those watching.
Jim Azevedo [00:03:47]:
Yeah.
Lauren Lacey [00:03:48]:
And so I just sat there and I said, I want to do something that I always wanted to do. And I wanted to write about like, write just like the books that I read. You know, I love reading romance novels and I just started writing and it's just been, it's just been up from there.
Jim Azevedo [00:04:06]:
That's awesome because I was reading about like your bio and like your LinkedIn page. I'm like, oh my gosh, she doesn't even mention it in your bio. But you've got like, you got a BA and a master's in English and literature. You've got over a decade of experience in digital marketing and that, you know, that that industry moves like this. It's constantly changing. You didn't mention that you founded the Urban Business Directory which served like what, like hundreds of, of you know, small.
Lauren Lacey [00:04:35]:
Yes.
Jim Azevedo [00:04:37]:
Focused on.
Lauren Lacey [00:04:37]:
Yeah. Turn it out as just like a small business directory. And we were helping black and bipoc owned businesses just like with their marketing and it just grew to become a pretty large agency. And I'm just blessed.
Jim Azevedo [00:04:52]:
Yeah.
Lauren Lacey [00:04:53]:
In the span of like a year and a half. And I was like, whoa, that's like, this is a lot. And it was really, you know, Forbes reached out and I was a part of their next 1000 class for being, you know, for my business. And at the time and so we were just really fortunate to work with so many amazing businesses and help them grow. And that's just something I've always really been passionate about, is just like helping others and seeing them succeed in the digital space.
Jim Azevedo [00:05:22]:
I like how you just casually mentioned that like Forbes magazine reached out and they're like, hey.
Lauren Lacey [00:05:28]:
I'm like, I'm really like looking.
Jim Azevedo [00:05:33]:
Humble. So I wanted to talk about that stuff because just by reading your background and just Learning more about you. Even before we had a chance to talk, it's like, oh, this person is like the perfect person to launch this conference. So I'm so glad you're here. Let's jump into it. I'm so interested in hearing about your origin story and, you know, what inspired you to create the Black Romance Book Fest in the first place.
Lauren Lacey [00:05:58]:
Yeah, absolutely. You know, I have always been like a creative where I have all these ideas and I've been fortunate to be surrounded by individuals who allow me to really just like, do whatever I think. And so, you know, I have a really great team of like, readers and people that I like form true bonds with on bookstagram and Book Talk. And when I started writing, they were just in my DMs while they were reading my books and they're like, oh my gosh. Like, you know, we just started talking back and forth. But I have really bad social anxiety when it comes to social media. And so I struggled to connect on there. And so I was like, let's do this offline.
Lauren Lacey [00:06:43]:
Like, let's make real life friends because I can talk much better and, you know, really connect with people. And so I formed this really great community of readers offline. And one day we were just talking and, and I was like, you know, it would be really cool if we could have a book event. And I wanted it to be a space where we have indie authors because indie authors and the indie, the self publishing space is so powerful to where now, you know, indie authors, they're hitting number one, bestsellers, they're, they're having mass followings and you know, let's bring them with all of the other, you know, traditional authors. Let's just have like a big fellowship. And so, you know, I didn't know how it would go, but my amazing team, they were like, okay, let's, let's do it then. Me, I am very impulsive. I'm going to take that idea and run.
Lauren Lacey [00:07:33]:
That's what I do with everything. So a few weeks later, and this was April 2024, I said, Hey, I just got an LLC for the book event and we're going to go ahead and watch this page about the URLs about the social media. They were like, yeah, so my social media manager, who's for my author brand, she was like, I guess I'm going to manage this event now. I said, yeah, let's just do a post and see how it works.
Jim Azevedo [00:08:03]:
Your original vision was like just to create this fellowship, this little community of authors. All right?
Lauren Lacey [00:08:09]:
People that's what we said. It would only be 500 people in attendance only. Exactly.
Jim Azevedo [00:08:17]:
And what happened?
Lauren Lacey [00:08:19]:
Yeah, and she did the post, and it was just, like, so organic and just, like, natural about, you know, it attracting the audience, the readers, the authority. And they were excited about this. And it has really just been so overwhelming in the best way. So. Yeah, that's how it began.
Jim Azevedo [00:08:39]:
So funny. So why. Why did you feel at the time that there was, like, a. That. That a dedicated space for a black romance is so important in today's publishing landscape?
Lauren Lacey [00:08:51]:
Absolutely. There's. There's a disparity. A disparity in the reputation, in the representation, but there's an overabundance in the product and quantity, like the amount of writers that we have. Amazing stories, but not necessarily dedicated spaces for them to be seen and celebrated. And so that was something. And we have amazing book events out there that I love attending. But this specific focus, I thought was truly important and truly powerful, especially where I live in Atlanta, where there's just a really big community of black romance writers and black readers, and they're very close.
Lauren Lacey [00:09:28]:
And we're just like, this is the perfect opportunity to really showcase, you know, the power of these love stories.
Jim Azevedo [00:09:36]:
Yeah. When I first came across it, I think I came across it before I heard from Megan. I'm like, megan, have you heard about this conference? She's like, yeah, I just got back from it.
Lauren Lacey [00:09:46]:
So thank you, Megan. Like, I don't think people understand how grateful I am, especially, you know, to supporters like you. Megan took taking a chance on us in our first year and just sticking with us. It means the world.
Jim Azevedo [00:10:00]:
Yeah. I'm interested in. Gosh, what was that question I had? I'll have. How have authors responded? Because. So you originally were thinking, oh, yeah, maybe we'll get to 500. But how many authors did you have attend that first year? And then how many readers did you end up having? I guess, how many attendees did you have? Yeah.
Lauren Lacey [00:10:23]:
So we projected that we only wanted about 500 attendees altogether, and we were going to have about 50 to 60 authors. But me, in my wild ways of, it's gonna work out. It's gonna work out. I stress my team out every day. I was like, okay, well, you know, 70 people are interested. 75. 80. So we ended up having 120 authors at the 2025 event.
Lauren Lacey [00:10:52]:
And we had a long wait list. And I was just like, whoa. Like, we just. Because at first we were getting so many no's and so many rejections from people we didn't think that it would even turn out the way it did. And because there were some events that.
Jim Azevedo [00:11:06]:
Kind of, you know, had some, let's just say, some hiccups.
Lauren Lacey [00:11:10]:
Yeah.
Jim Azevedo [00:11:10]:
And then. Yeah, and then those hiccups got widely spread. So maybe some people were afraid.
Lauren Lacey [00:11:15]:
Yes. And it's totally understandable because if you're gonna, you know, catch a flight, book a hotel, you want to make sure that, you know, you' getting scammed. And so, you know, we were so mindful of this. And so I think that it was helpful that we started off with this small idea, but we also secured a space well beforehand that could accommodate more people if we were to go larger. And so While we projected 500 ticket sales, we ended up expanding. And it was a lot because of peer pressure, but we ended up actually.
Jim Azevedo [00:11:48]:
Coming from you or other people, Everyone.
Lauren Lacey [00:11:51]:
In my mind, they were like, oh, my God, please sell more tickets. Please sell more tickets. Now, my team, they are staunch knowers, but I am a staunch yes, sir. And so I eventually finally said yes. We ended up selling about 14. It was about 13 to 1400 passes altogether. So it was. It was large.
Lauren Lacey [00:12:11]:
So we were actually in the space too, where it was this. We were tight knit, but I think because the spirit was so high and the environment and atmosphere was so positive and loving, that it really just kind of just really set the tone for everything.
Jim Azevedo [00:12:27]:
Yeah. How did the authors do? I imagine, like, was there, like a. Was there a specific day that authors set up their tables and had readers come through?
Lauren Lacey [00:12:36]:
Yeah, so we actually, it was a busy day. And this was another thing. Like, our team, we've been to so many book events, and we said, this is my motto. I would rather people be overwhelmed than underwhelmed. And so, you know, my. My purpose of putting everything simultaneously was because you don't. You're never bored. You always have something to do.
Lauren Lacey [00:12:57]:
So we had book signings at the same time of panels and sessions, and then we had a small break so everyone can get lunch. We were thankfully connected to, like, a mall and people can go to the food court or they could go to the bar and grab something. Something. So we just wanted to make sure that it felt like it was just excitement at all times. And, you know, you had downtime and little spurts, but you were always busy and always focused on something else to do.
Jim Azevedo [00:13:23]:
That's awesome. Now, did I read on your website that the authors sold out of their books?
Lauren Lacey [00:13:27]:
Yes. So many authors sold out. And I think too, like, one of the cool things were that so Many authors said that this was the most that they had ever gotten in pre orders. And when we were. We used. Yeah, we used Viventi, which was an amazing partner and sponsor to us, to capture a lot of those pre orders. And the attendees were buying, they were buying from the authors, they were buying from the vendors. It was just.
Lauren Lacey [00:13:59]:
And to partner with a lot of the locally owned bookstores and black owned bookstores in the city. It was also an amazing experience to build those relationships and they had a great time as well. So honestly, I was just so grateful.
Jim Azevedo [00:14:12]:
Sounds like so much fun. Hey, Megan, I'm going to pass the ball to you. Did you attend as like a reader or did you attend as an author or both?
Megan Spann [00:14:20]:
Last, last year I. Well, last year, this year, the 2025, I attended as a sponsor, which was really nice. I am fortunate enough to be able to go next year as one of the authors. I'm very, very excited about that. I'm at a conference now, so if I drop off or something or you see something in the background, I'm in my hotel room. But it is. It was so nice when I saw one that it was in Georgia. I live in Georgia, about two hours from Atlanta.
Megan Spann [00:14:50]:
And then it was black focused because I go to a lot of conferences. I'm maybe one of five in the room and there's maybe one or two other people in the book signings. And so to have an event with all of these authors that don't typically get the recognition, wide recognition, I would say, because they have a very loyal following, let me just say, very loyal. Everybody was patient. And despite the number of people, my one thing is how organized is the event? It was organized. They ran a tight ship. That was my number one thing. That's what made me come back and say, okay, I think we need to look at this a little bit closer.
Megan Spann [00:15:31]:
The organization was top tier.
Jim Azevedo [00:15:35]:
Awesome. Wow.
Lauren Lacey [00:15:38]:
Thank you. So that means a lot.
Jim Azevedo [00:15:43]:
I mean, what do you think the event says about the growing visibility and demand especially? That's what I'm hearing from both of you. The demand for diverse voices and romance publishing.
Lauren Lacey [00:15:53]:
Oh, wow. I. I'll let Megan go. Go.
Megan Spann [00:15:56]:
Okay. Um, well, at Draft two Digital, I'm the promotions coordinator. I always have my eye out because I see the lack. I am the lack. That's what made me start to my journey as being an author. I love the books I could. I always had to imagine myself. Well, if I write it, I don't have to imagine anything.
Megan Spann [00:16:14]:
I created the world and then I was able to Find other authors. And so I don't think it's so much so that there's a demand now. The demand has always been there, is that people weren't listening. People didn't see the value in having diverse covers and having editors that knew how the different nuances of language that are within a certain community. We're widely ignored. Diverse voices overall are widely ignored. Even the ones that have traditional contracts in publishing their books aren't put out on the front tables. And so it's a constant battle that we're fighting against.
Megan Spann [00:16:55]:
And it's rewarding when you, when you can win.
Jim Azevedo [00:16:59]:
Yeah. The size of this event blew my mind when I first heard about it. And then when I've heard about, you know, how year two is going so far and we'll get to that because I want you to talk about that a little bit too, Lauren. It's amazing. It's like, what, like, where did this come from? Oh my gosh. So I think it's fantastic. I, I have such a huge amount of respect for anybody who can organize, put on an event like this because event planning, seriously, as far away as possible because there's just so many moving pieces. I don't know how you keep your wits about you.
Jim Azevedo [00:17:38]:
So can you tell us or if you're comfortable, like what were some of the biggest challenges you had to overcome and pulling off the first event and then how did you overcome them? Just to make sure, like Megan said, like you guys were a tight knit group of people and everything just was smooth.
Lauren Lacey [00:17:54]:
Yeah, it was, it was really like constantly being on your toes and expecting like every type of risk and contingency. Like put everything in place in case something went wrong and a lot went wrong. Even I throughout the event.
Jim Azevedo [00:18:10]:
But we were just, we were like expected though.
Lauren Lacey [00:18:13]:
Yes, yes. And we were just like, put a smile on your face, you know, if you see the attendees and they're in a long line, offer them something, you know, speak to them, keep the vibes high, be positive. And we originally even had 100 volunteers and only 19 showed up weekend. And so it was, we're just a team. We were a team of four or five at the time. And so, you know, it was, it was, it was us, those 19 volunteers, my family, which my mother in law, she was amazing. She did all the swag bags. It was just, you know, we all worked together and we were very close knit.
Lauren Lacey [00:18:51]:
But you know, making sure that like our team, I really, I know that I can be a very demanding person, but I try not to Put too much on my team because at the end of the day, we all have other careers outside of this. We have families, we have responsibilities. And so, you know, just making sure that they're okay so they can continue going on I think was important. And there was a lot to overcome from, you know, not having our on site shipping guy show up the weekend of the event to my husband going in and doing all the on site shipping. He did every single thing and he shipped everything off via USPS and was checking tracking numbers to make sure everyone got their stuff. So it was really on the back end. It was something crazy. We were like, we did this before.
Jim Azevedo [00:19:37]:
And you're doing it again.
Lauren Lacey [00:19:39]:
Exactly. And you know, we didn't know how it was going to go. We were just praying and really crossing our fingers up until the day of and the day and the ending day and even after the event to see the excitement on social media. I think that is when it really hit us that we did it. Like we pulled it off. We did something that felt really special and sacred in a way to have all of these beautiful people in one place and to create something so magical. And now the question is, how do we sustain this? Because now it feels a little bit unprecedented to where we can't continue to grow big. We just want to sustain and maintain and nurture and make things better year over year.
Lauren Lacey [00:20:24]:
So this year, while we sold 2,000 tickets, I said this is our peak. You know, we, we don't want to just keep getting big and stressing out ourselves and the authors. We really want to fine tune things. We really, we're taking look at what happened in 2025 and how we can make things better. So that's where we're at now and we're excited. We have so much planned. I will say we, we are going big in a lot that we're doing this year and offering. But one of my main goals is I still want to curate an experience that feels culturally relevant, filled with beautiful black literature and just at the top of our game.
Lauren Lacey [00:21:01]:
So we have a lot going on, but at the same time it's still rooted in our love for books.
Jim Azevedo [00:21:06]:
Yeah, what, what are you most proud of? Like, if you can boil it down to one thing, what are you most proud of following year one? I mean it's, it sounds like a labor of love, like everybody really pulled in.
Lauren Lacey [00:21:17]:
Yeah, I think most proud of, I would say the support, the support from the readers and attendees. But honestly, like the support from my family and my team is really amazing to see My children, they're like, oh, this is for the book event. And so to see them excited about books, to see them excited about like, you know, they're now calling their scholastic book fair, like, oh, we have our book event at school. You know, it's just my love being transferred to them is amazing. And then the support from my husband, he's, he's really chill and he's just like looking at numbers. He's like, all right. You know, he's like, I believe in you. And my mother in law, she just gives her all to everything and has helped me through every step of the way.
Jim Azevedo [00:22:12]:
So it's just the support that's, that's fantastic. How, how are you measuring success going into year two? I mean, you've talked about some of those already, but you know, aside from attendance numbers alone, like, how do you, like, how would you measure success for an event like this?
Lauren Lacey [00:22:30]:
Yeah, like, you know, the, the marketing, the marketing person in me, I'm always measuring KPIs. I'm always looking at our goals and, and everything that we're trying to achieve. And so for me, from a real like analytical standpoint, my, I look at success and I always get on team. I'm like, how are our numbers looking online? How are we engaging with people? Are we growing at this type of rate? Like, these things are really important to me because as more, as time passes, more book events are popping up and we've seen that we briefly mentioned like some aren't going well or there are so many that we're stretching readers thin. And so for me, I'm also looking at how much sponsorships are we getting in, how much, you know, we transfer, we transition from an LLC to nonprofit so we can really focus on raising more money and fundraising and everything else. So these things are really important for me from a business standpoint of what success looks like because we can't bleed ourselves dry. I put in a lot of my money for 2025 and our ain't my husband and I's income. And so it's solely, you know, sales and sponsorships and everything else that we're doing on top of doing our scholarship that we have for HBCU students.
Lauren Lacey [00:23:46]:
So it's just a lot. So making sure from the business side that we're making a profit and that we have money coming in. And then from the social side, our social media is our bread and butter in a sense because that's really our following. My social media manager is so awesome. She's, she's very low Key. But like, her creativity is off the charts. And so she always wants to make sure that when she's talking to everyone online that it feels like they're talking to their sister or their friend or their cousin. And so I always look at success from those two ends.
Lauren Lacey [00:24:18]:
From the business standpoint, to make sure that we can last for a couple more years or longer. And then from the social standpoint, to make sure we're staying relevant and thoughtful and mindful of the cultural climate that we're in.
Jim Azevedo [00:24:32]:
What a perfect answer. Because you have to watch the business stuff.
Lauren Lacey [00:24:35]:
Yeah.
Jim Azevedo [00:24:35]:
But then you also have to ensure that you're maintaining that interaction with your community.
Lauren Lacey [00:24:40]:
Yeah, absolutely.
Jim Azevedo [00:24:42]:
Okay, you, you mentioned really quickly, as is your style. I have now learned that, that you've sold over 2,000 tickets. So the, the next year's event isn't until May, but you guys, you sold out. I'm curious to hear, like, when did you open, you know, registration?
Megan Spann [00:25:01]:
It was like the Hunger Games, those tickets, trying to get them. It was a bloodbath.
Jim Azevedo [00:25:07]:
It was kind of, Megan, just to tell it like it is. So.
Lauren Lacey [00:25:09]:
Yes. And one of the things that. Okay, I didn't mention this. One of the things that we definitely are going to work on next year is finding a registration system that, that can manage the demand. Because our first year, there was something happened where our registration system, the banking aspect or payment system thought that it was a spam attack. So they were double charging people, holding their funds. People were trying to use different cards. That was like.
Jim Azevedo [00:25:34]:
Because there was just so much demand right off the bat.
Lauren Lacey [00:25:36]:
Yes. And so this year there was a glitch in the system to where there was a field that wasn't appearing and we had to get online with our ticket registrar and they had to fix the issue. So we sold out. So 2,000 tickets in 15 minutes. But we had 7,000 people online trying to get tickets and.
Jim Azevedo [00:25:56]:
Whoa, 7,000.
Lauren Lacey [00:25:59]:
Yes. And. And you know what? I felt terrible. Like the backlash from, you know, people were ready, they were, they had their cards in hand, cards memorized, ready to get their tickets. And then the thing with the system happened and then boom, they're like, tickets were in our car. I was like, I'm sorry, like, didn't know what to do.
Jim Azevedo [00:26:20]:
I'm a little intimidated. I'm just gonna say for the record.
Lauren Lacey [00:26:25]:
I didn't think it would be like that. Like, we all, I think we all took off work that day. Our team or we blocked off our calendar to make sure that we can, like, be prepared for what would happen. And we didn't know that would happen, but we definitely didn't know. We would have so many people trying to get tickets and. And we only have one ticket brought. Unlike last year where we had a couple. We had like three.
Lauren Lacey [00:26:47]:
But we said we can't. We can't manage all these separate instances of mayhem. And we don't want to stress people out.
Jim Azevedo [00:26:57]:
I mean, 7,000 and I mean, I'm a little blown away here because I was thinking maybe the event sold out in like a couple days, maybe a week, 15 minutes, 7,000 people who couldn't get through.
Lauren Lacey [00:27:12]:
I really felt terrible. I don't know how we can drip this out in the future, but we're going to figure out something.
Jim Azevedo [00:27:20]:
That kind of led me. That's a perfect segue to my next question, which was. Or which is how do you, like, where do you see the conference going in the next five years? If you can all, you know, keep it going and maintain your sanity, as you put it, on an event of this size, you're thinking maybe multiple events or just keep it annual or smaller. I don't know.
Lauren Lacey [00:27:43]:
Yeah, like, you know, we've been going in circles about this of, like, where we see things going and how big, or do we want to pull it back and make it more intimate? Do we want to do this once or twice a year? And I think it all boils down to what did we want to do in the first place before, when we started planning out, we just wanted this space where we can all connect together. And because it's growing at an unprecedented rate that we can't control, we know that we need to slow down. We don't want to have a 10,000 person event. This isn't the Essence Fest. This isn't, you know, some huge, like, Burning man type thing. This is these. The focus on the authors and narrators, they cannot handle and they don't want to, quite, quite frankly, to sign thousands and thousands and thousands of people, like carpal tunnel. Hello.
Lauren Lacey [00:28:34]:
And we were actually getting fussed at. People were saying, well, should have picked a venue that holds thousands and thousands of people. At the end of the day, most readers are introverted. Most authors are introverted. You know, we want to protect them. We want to protect their peace, protect their space. Especially in a world where readers now have so much access to them and they're already online, where we were discussing this back in the day, you wouldn't know how an author looked. They weren't even at these book events or book events weren't Even around for them to show up.
Lauren Lacey [00:29:04]:
So we want to keep that at the top of our minds of protecting all of the participants peace and their physical safety. And I don't think that we're at a stage where we can host an event with thousands and thousands of people and still do that. So I think for the next two to three years, our focus is keeping it at our peak of those 2,000 attendees. I know it's going to be tough, but then, you know, maybe have a few small intimate gatherings, you know, like maybe like a retreat or something. Like, you know, I. I don't know what we're. We're going to do, but we definitely don't want to continue expanding before we have the capacity or the ability to do so.
Jim Azevedo [00:29:43]:
Yeah, that's a really solid point because at some point you're going to lose that. The special atmosphere past a certain point and that intimacy. And it's. It's crucial because you also have to walk that tightrope of, you know, all of us are probably majority of us in this industry where we're just kind of introverted and we need that time to go back to our hotel rooms and hide out for a little while and just kind of re. Energize. The three of us were at the NING conference last, just last week, and I talked to the other guys and all of us are just like, oh, man, I'm still recovering because it just. It takes so much energy, so much social energy out of you.
Lauren Lacey [00:30:20]:
Yeah.
Jim Azevedo [00:30:21]:
Because you're on. You have to be on all the time.
Lauren Lacey [00:30:25]:
Yes.
Jim Azevedo [00:30:26]:
I wanted to bring up a quick comment here from Layla, who says there's clearly a demand for books where readers can see themselves represented in the stories they love.
Lauren Lacey [00:30:35]:
That's so true.
Jim Azevedo [00:30:36]:
Absolutely.
Lauren Lacey [00:30:38]:
Yeah.
Jim Azevedo [00:30:39]:
That's a great comment, Layla. Thank you for that. All right, I'm going through my questions here. Answered that. You answered this one. Let's see. Oh, oh, here's a good one. Have you seen the festival create opportunities for authors or emerging authors, whether through connections, exposures, or even readership that might not have existed otherwise.
Jim Azevedo [00:31:02]:
So tell us about that. Absolutely.
Lauren Lacey [00:31:04]:
So, and this. I just found this out a few weeks ago and I actually just talked to her last night to where an author she had. She sent me a note on Instagram, a video or an audio note, and she was like, hey. She was like, I didn't know if you were aware, but I just want to let you know that I met this agent at BRDF and I'm now signed to her. And. And you Know, she's just like being very like encouraging and letting me know, like, hey, this event was something special and it created opportunities. And so like, it meant so much to me that she had said that and to know that, you know, she was able to make this connection. But that also happened with so many other authors to where, you know, we, we partnered with Black Odyssey Media to where they were allowing scripts to be submitted, manuscripts to be submitted to them for consideration.
Lauren Lacey [00:31:55]:
If you were one of the attending authors, Honey Blossom Press, they did pitch sessions and working with authors. So making sure that this was not just a reader focused event, that there were opportunities and pathways for authors to possibly, you know, meet industry executives or have more opportunity was really important to us. And we're doing that again for 2026, so hearing these things. And we had some authors that came from like the Caribbean or like from overseas. They were so excited because they were like, whoa. People are now like reading more of our stories and they're on stage with other authors and they're talking about their books. So this was very important to us to make sure that it's not just the big well known people that are there getting opportunities or being highlighted, that it's really everyone that has these opportunities available.
Jim Azevedo [00:32:49]:
I love it. And it's not just indie focus. You've got people there from the industry, from the traditional side agents, editors. And you're also teaching authors who are on their way up.
Lauren Lacey [00:32:59]:
Absolutely, absolutely. We had some really great writing workshops for aspiring authors and new, new authors. We had some marketing and PR workshops. So it's really cool to see authors in there, like new aspiring author, inspiring. But then also establish and, you know, everything. You can always grow and improve what you do and what you love. And so it's really cool to have that learning and development aspect incorporated.
Jim Azevedo [00:33:23]:
Yeah, that's really cool. On a personal level, what has organizing this festival sort of meant to you or taught you about the romance community, about the black community, about yourself?
Lauren Lacey [00:33:37]:
Ooh. I would say it's taught me so much that we support those who support us. And I think that for so long that support was lacking and that visibility. And from the onset, although we had those no's, the yeses were so much louder and people got on board, but they didn't just get on board. It really felt like they were a part of brbf. So we really don't. This isn't like a one person show, a four people show, five people show. It really is an entire community of people coming together to make something beautiful happen.
Lauren Lacey [00:34:12]:
And it taught me a lot. It taught me to pace myself because I'm very fast moving and then. But I also am very structured, and I think that helped a lot because in my team, during our team meetings, I'm pulling up spreadsheets, and I'm going from tab to tab. Like, okay, did we focus on this? Do we focus on that? And so just making sure that people can. I can slow myself down so my team can take everything in, and we can all be in alignment at all times. So that was great. And I incorporate that in, really, every day in my professional life, too. And also from a personal standpoint is to give myself a little bit more grace, you know, from planning the event to working.
Lauren Lacey [00:34:54]:
And I can. I'll be like, okay, when I get off work, I'm getting home after Atlanta traffic. Getting home at 6pm I sat down, like, three hours to work on the event. I'm making sure that the kids are taking their baths and. And I'm saying, I love using cuddles and all that other stuff. So really structuring my life so I can fit some time in, so I can breathe. That has been, like, the hardest thing for me.
Jim Azevedo [00:35:17]:
It's hard. It's really hard. I mean, on Friday nights, I'm done. I'm just like, it's over. I can't think.
Lauren Lacey [00:35:30]:
Absolutely. Like, I have to watch a movie. Like, that's like, my me time or, like, time with my husband. And we're like, what's. What can we watch on tv? Like, let's just decompress from the week of worrying about every single thing, and let's just do something that has nothing to do with productivity.
Jim Azevedo [00:35:46]:
Yeah. In my case, my daughter's like, well, can we just watch a movie about, like, unicorns and princesses? I'm like, yeah, fine, whatever. Just. Just as long as I can let my brain just. Yes. Compress for a bit. A quick comment from Devin, who says, I can't wait to make it to the next event. Are there other genres besides romance at the convention? Yeah.
Lauren Lacey [00:36:06]:
So we always, you know, we call it a romance focus. And. But we have so many different genres, right? Like, we have fantasy. We have some amazing. We have Gabby Burton, we have Annalise Sobrano. We have so many amazing fantasy writers. But as long we're like. As long as you have elements of romance, then come on down.
Lauren Lacey [00:36:27]:
Like, we have a lot of amazing women's fiction authors. We also have it back to where you have paranormal focus, you have ya. You have a lot of different things that people Focus on. But then you still have that swoon where they're that spicy or however levels you want to go. So we definitely don't separate that. And at the end of the day, our focus is really amplifying black voices. And. And so we are like, come in.
Lauren Lacey [00:36:57]:
You know, whether you want to come as an author or as an attendee or whatever it may be, we want to make sure that you feel loved and celebrated and seen in every aspect.
Jim Azevedo [00:37:07]:
I love it. Megan, as a former attendee, what are you looking most forward to next year?
Megan Spann [00:37:13]:
I am looking forward to. Well, first being able to be there with my little table and all my little things. As an author, it was, like I said, the energy was very high. It was so much fun. I'm looking forward to what happens, like in the hallways. I think that's where I had the most fun. Just like connecting with people like as you cross path. And what book did you get? What line is this for? That was the.
Megan Spann [00:37:41]:
That was very exciting and I would love to be able to, like Lauren said, have more connections with authors directly. Now I'm putting on my promo hat because I see. I see so much lack in the, in education of what do we do different, differently as it comes to diverse books versus what the industry is trying to push. And there's nobody talking about the differences in tags and the differences in the keywords and whether or not it's going to show up over here, over there. And so being able to also help educate so that we can help uplift more of these books in the publishing industry, I'm just looking forward to everything, honestly. I'm very excited.
Lauren Lacey [00:38:26]:
I love that. I think that's a good, like workshop too. Just saying. Might need to send me an email.
Jim Azevedo [00:38:34]:
Okay. Okay. You heard it here first. Yeah. So many people don't know about that kind of stuff. We'll talk about that offline. That could be a whole other podcast.
Lauren Lacey [00:38:49]:
I know and I do this all, but someone told me about one of my books and they were like, did you know your book was this on. On here? And I was like, it's ranking for what? Like, what is like that is something like. I think that there again, lots of education needed. So. Yeah.
Jim Azevedo [00:39:06]:
Yeah. Did you mention how many authors that you've got signed up for this for May 2026?
Lauren Lacey [00:39:15]:
We have 220 authors. Yes. 220 authors that we were able to accept, but about 600 authors actually applied. I think it was like 589. We didn't even know there were. And you know, I think one of. One of our blueprints is what. One of the reasons why.
Lauren Lacey [00:39:36]:
I think what made BRBF so successful is that we do open signups. And I'm seeing. We're seeing a lot more events do that, but we do open signups and we don't do author fees. When I presented that concept to the team, they were like, what? I said, we're just gonna trust that we'll be. We'll be okay. And so I think that just given the amount of money and time, not just for readers, but authors, it costs a lot of money, you know, buying, making sure they buy their books, hoping that their books get bought and they can make a profit off of it, booking the hotels, all things. And so we know that it doesn't alleviate, you know, the full amount of what they have to put into going to events, but at least they don't have to worry about that. And so that's one of the things about BRBF that I think does stand out from a lot of other events as well.
Jim Azevedo [00:40:28]:
Okay, Lauren, do you have, like, the favorite memory or story from last year's event that, like, really sticks with you?
Lauren Lacey [00:40:37]:
Yes. So I think, like, my grandparents being there, that meant so much to me. My grandfather, he was diagnosed with cancer a couple of years ago, and they told him that he had, like, two to three months to live, and he's been kicking ever since. Like, him, my grandma, she was like, you know, she's a retired nurse, so she's been taking care of him. And she was like, we're not going to go through treatment. I don't recommend anything for anyone. That's just your choice. But, like, my grandma was like, we're just going to have fun.
Lauren Lacey [00:41:09]:
And so they had been traveling. They went to Vegas. My husband and I actually hung out with them in Vegas. They went to New York, Miami, a cruise, everywhere. And so they called me and said, we're coming to your book event. And I was like, you didn't know that about book event around all these people? And he had a blast. And he was hanging out with my kids, he was buying books. And so I think seeing him there, it just brought me so much joy.
Lauren Lacey [00:41:36]:
He got to meet so many different people. So that was my number one favorite moment. And then, like, it was another moment that really hit hard for me was at the end, our team and I, we just did a big group hug and we started crying. We did a big exhale and just started crying. And I think it was because we were holding our breaths. The Entire fourth year just hoping that it turned out the way that we envisioned it. And it did.
Jim Azevedo [00:42:02]:
Wow. That's. What a perfect answer. What do you hope readers and writers take away from attending Black Romance Book Fest?
Lauren Lacey [00:42:14]:
Although there's so much to do and that you're going to be exhausted in a interesting way, we hope that they. They come out of it energized, and that's energized to read more, energized to write more, empowered to continue putting in work, celebrating these stories. I think that's our goal, you know, is to root for these authors, root for the narrators. To have them show up was just amazing. I think that's our goal, is to just really feel something. Like it's not just something you go to. It really makes an impact.
Jim Azevedo [00:42:54]:
That's beautiful. Wow. This is another one of those episodes where I'm like, oh, I hope I have enough questions here to take care of the time. I look at the clock and it's like, you're at time. So, wow. I. I want to go.
Lauren Lacey [00:43:09]:
Yes, we love to have you there. It really is an experience. And even outside the books, we. We do a lot. You know, we have different. Self care is big, and we wanted to incorporate that, especially because the attendees and participants are primarily black women. And, you know, there's just been a high unemployment rate in the past year for black women. There's just been a lot of stress, A lot of what we feel.
Lauren Lacey [00:43:35]:
You know, it's just a lot. And so we wanted to incorporate self care. So we have candle making, we have massages for attendees. We have, you know, fragrance making, and then we have even a concert at night. And so, you know, there's just a lot to do. Like, you can never be bored. And we just want to just keep all the love flowing 24 hours each day.
Jim Azevedo [00:43:57]:
That's super important because everybody thinks that, like, oh, authors are just like. There's these amazing people who just sit behind their desks all day and just crank out these books, but they don't know that. You know, we're sitting back here like nothing's coming, and I'm stressed. I gotta feed the kids and I'm late to work and all this other stuff that's so important. I'm glad you said that.
Lauren Lacey [00:44:19]:
Yeah.
Jim Azevedo [00:44:21]:
Well, we gotta land this plane now, you guys. Is there any little last bit of, I don't know, wisdom or anything you want to drop here, Lauren, to authors or readers about the show, about life, about writing, about reading, about your community that you, you know, you Want to make sure that they understand.
Lauren Lacey [00:44:39]:
Yeah, I would just say, you know, keep reading. Because what seemed to be something so natural and given for us to just read our books are constantly being attacked. Like the things that, that, you know, knowledge and, and fun, like what we're interested in, like people are going against that and they're going against it because they understand that reading is powerful and the that we read, no matter what genre, the more knowledge and the more sense of urgency that you get. So, you know, keep reading, keep writing. I am queen of self defeating thoughts at times. However, pushing through and continuing writing has helped me grow and helped me mature and helped me love myself even more. So I hope that every writer just keeps going at it and every reader keeps reading.
Jim Azevedo [00:45:31]:
Perfect. Well, thank you for being here with us today, Lauren. I'm sad to say it's time to say goodbye. I'm going to just read through a few quick messages here for our viewers out there, y', all, I wanted to say thank you for showing up with us week in and week out. And if this is your first time viewing or listening self publishing insiders, thank you for being here. If you could do us a favor like share, comment, subscribe to this episode, we really appreciate it because it helps us expand our readership out there, our viewership, and it helps us get fantastic guests like Lauren to come and visit us. You can also see who's coming up next and what our next topic would be by bookmarking dddlive.com and finally, for those of you who are investigating self publishing, maybe just for the first time ever, you can sign up for a free account at Draft2Digital. Megan, thank you for joining too.
Jim Azevedo [00:46:27]:
Lauren. We so appreciate your time. If you guys want to hang out backstage for a second, I'm going to play our outro commercial here for D2D Print and I'll see you backstage. Everybody, thanks again for your time this week and we hope to see you here again next week at the same time. See you everybody.
Lauren Lacey [00:46:45]:
Thank you.
Kevin Tumlinson [00:46:46]:
Ebooks are great, but there's just something about having your words in print, something you can hold in your hands, put on a shelf, sign for a reader or. That's why we created D2D Print, a print on demand service that was built for you. We have free, beautiful templates to give your book a pro look. And we can even convert your ebook cover into a full wraparound cover for print. So many options for you and your books. And you can get started right now@draft2digital.com that's it for this week's Self Publishing Insiders with Draft2Digital. Be sure to subscribe to us wherever you listen to podcasts and share the show with your will be author friends and start Build and grow your own self publishing career right now@draft2digital.com.