Speak/Present

Update: the Featured Author application for 2025 is now live!

Join us at the Gaithersburg Book Festival on May 17, 2025, for a day-long, outdoor celebration of books and reading. Our Festival tents are filled with eager audiences for author talks and signings, free writing workshops, and singer-songwriter performances. We are proud to have welcomed hundreds of talented authors and performers to our stages. Now in its 16th year, the Festival has established itself as one of the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area’s premier literary events.

How Can An Author Be Featured at the Gaithersburg Book Festival? Our Author Recruitment Committee invites selected authors to participate as Featured Presenters in solo and panel discussions. Writers or their representatives interested in being a Featured Presenter at the Gaithersburg Book Festival are encouraged to submit an application for consideration.

To apply, the following materials are required to arrive by November 1, 2024:

• Completed Application
• Two galleys or finished copies of the book you wish to promote

Applications and required materials should be mailed to: Gaithersburg Book Festival Presenter, 506 S. Frederick Ave., Gaithersburg, MD 20877.  Applicants will be notified of participation decisions by the end of February, 2025.

Tips for Applicants:

• Priorities: Preference is given to books released in either hardback or paperback in the year since the previous festival (May of each year). Books must be available for sale as of the day of the festival to be considered.
• Book Submissions: Applications must include two bound galleys or finished copies of the book you wish to promote. We receive a large number of submissions and, given the difficulty of finding readers to vet PDFs, we strongly prefer hard copy galleys. However, if PDF galleys are the only option, they may be sent to the email address on the application. If your galley or finished copy will not be printed by the submission deadline, please make a note on the application as to when it will become available.
• Festival Structure: Festival programs can be either solo, conversational, or panel-based. Introducers, Interviewers and Moderators will be provided as necessary. We have found presentations often have extra depth when speakers are familiar to one another, and are happy to consider applicant suggestions for interviewers or author pairings.
• Advertising and Promotion: Authors will be encouraged to supplement Festival advertising with promotion on their own social media accounts. The City of Gaithersburg will advertise the Festival in the following ways: On the City website, the Gaithersburg Book Festival website, both the City and Book Festival Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts, the City of Gaithersburg Cable TV station (Comcast & RCN Channel 13, and Verizon FiOS channel 25 within the City limits), on the radio, in print ads in newspapers and magazines, press releases to local and regional media outlets, over 100,000 postcards & bookmarks distributed to schools, libraries, City facilities, retail stores, shopping malls, and events.
• Special Notes: Please be aware that your presentation may be photographed, taped, and/or filmed by the City of Gaithersburg, C-SPAN Book TV, Comcast, or other media. Featured Authors may not make any other promotional appearances during the week leading up to the Gaithersburg Book Festival in the cities of Gaithersburg, Rockville, or Germantown, Maryland, unless previous arrangements have been approved by GBF organizers.