Vendor Application & Guide
For questions about this program, contact program lead Andy Verboom at communications@writers.ns.ca
Vendor applications are closed for Booktoberfest 2025
Which was held Saturday, October 11 (11am – 3pm)
Vendor applications will be accepted starting in June, 2026
For Booktoberfest 2026, to be held Saturday, October 3 (11am – 3pm)
Applications will remain open until all vendor spaces have been filled and a short waitlist has formed.
There is no cost or WFNS membership requirement to apply or participate as a Booktoberfest vendor.
Vendor eligibility for Booktoberfest 2025:
- Eligible authors are those who currently live in Nova Scotia and have published (or will publish) a book or chapbook of creative writing between October 1, 2024, and the date of Booktoberfest 2025 (October 11, 2025).
- Eligible publishers (i.e., presses, publishing houses, & literary magazines) are those partially or entirely based in Nova Scotia that have published (or will publish) one or more books, chapbooks, or issues of creative writing between October 1, 2024, and the date of Booktoberfest 2025 (October 11, 2025).
Vendor selection:
- Applicants will be offered table space, in the order in which applications are received, if they meet the eligibility requirements and table space remains.
- Because Booktoberfest’s focus is creative writing, eligibility cannot be satisfied by stationary or by reference materials, such as reference books, calendars, notebooks, or journals.
Table space:
- Author-vendor space (limited to 48 vendors) will be 3 linear feet + one chair. Any collaborating authors will need to share the available chair or to register separately and request adjacent seating through a follow-up email.
- Publisher-vendor space (limited to between 7 and 14 vendors) will be 4 linear feet + one chair. Publisher-vendors accompanied by one or more of their authors will be given 8 linear feet + three chairs. Any teams of press reps or authors accompanying presses will need to share the assigned table space and chair(s).
Author-vendor opportunities:
Expressions-of-interest (EoIs) for these opportunities are accepted only via the author-vendor application form. We do not accept EoIs from applying publishers or from authors uninterested in vending, nor do we accept later EoIs by email or phone call. Please apply once and apply well.
- Creative writing workshops: During Booktoberfest, several attending authors will lead free-to-attend creative writing workshops in another room at the venue. Applying authors may express their interest via the vendor application form. Selected author-vendors will be compensated $125 to prepare and lead a 45-minute workshop, which should focus on lecture-style presentation, light discussion, and takeaway exercises. Selections will be made by WFNS’s staff.
- Author readings and panels: During Booktoberfest, several attending authors will participate in free-to-attend readings and author panels in another room at the venue. Applying authors may express their interest via the vendor application form. Selected author-vendors will be compensated $150 for a shared reading / panel participation or $300 for a solo reading. Selections will be made by WFNS’s staff and Programs Committee.
Vendor Application Form
Where to be
Booktoberfest 2026 will be held at Halifax Central Library (5540 Spring Garden Rd, Halifax).
On weekends, nearby street parking is free. From Queen Street, you can find (1) open-air paid parking directly south of the library and (2) the entrance to underground paid parking within the library, parking for which will be a maximum of $12. An elevator leads from the underground lot to the library’s main floor.
The greenroom adjoining Paul O’Regan Hall will be for vendor use only. You may store food and personal items here (left at your own risk) and use its fridge and lavatories.
When to be there
Booktoberfest 2026 will be held on Saturday, October 3 (11am – 3pm), 2026.
Vendors should arrive between 30 to 60 minutes before opening to begin table set up.
Vendors will need to complete table teardown within an hour of closing.
WFNS staff and volunteers will be available to help you find, set up, and tear down your table as well as bring books and other materials from a nearby vehicle into Paul O’Regan Hall. (If planning to park farther away, please consider unloading at Halifax Central Library’s Queen Street entrance.)
What’s provided
- Promotional images:
- See the main Booktoberfest page and the Google folder linked above for regularly updated, social media-ready images
- Table space:
- For author vendors, 3 linear feet and 1 chair
- For publisher vendors, 4 linear feet and 1 chair
- For publisher vendors accompanied by one or more authors, 8 linear feet and 3 chairs
- Basic tabletop signage, name tag(s), and Booktoberfest programme, including details of upcoming WFNS program deadlines
- Assistance from WFNS staff and volunteers in finding, setting up, and tearing down your assigned table space
- Bottled water and snacks (available in the vendors-only greenroom)
What to bring
- Copies of your titles(s) published in the eligibility time frame (Oct 2025 to Oct 2026)
- Copies of any other titles and literary items for sale or giveaway (e.g., anthologies you’ve contributed to, chapbooks, broadsides, bookmarks, press swag, other writerly and readerly goods)
- Non-literary crafts and artworks are also welcome, but please keep literary items the focus of your table
- Tablecloth or other decorative covering that fits (or can be folded to fit) your assigned table space
- Tabletop book displays and additional tabletop signage that fits your assigned table space
- A smartphone or other device (if accepting payment by card or e-transfer) and a change float (if accepting payment in cash)
- Two or more pens (for book-signing)
- Lunch (which may be consumed at your table or in the vendors-only greenroom)
Statement of Inclusion
The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia strives to offer inclusive physical and virtual spaces where all feel welcome. To this end, we require that all participants of WFNS events (1) refrain from speaking or behaving in racist, xenophobic, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, or other discriminatory ways and (2) provide reasonable advanced warning before describing violent or traumatic subject matter, which always has the potential to distress others.
If any event participant violates this statement of inclusion, WFNS staff and volunteers have the right to ask that participant to leave. WFNS’s full Code of Conduct is available from WFNS staff upon request.
Satellite event registration is closed for Booktoberfest 2025
For literary events held anywhere in Nova Scotia on October 9, 10, 11, or 12, 2025
What are “satellite events”? As Booktoberfest grows and we invest more and better in our promotion each year, we’d like to share the benefits of increased public awareness and interest. Our invitation for satellite events is an occasion for independent literary event organizers (authors, presses, etc.) to cluster their efforts into a de-centralized, multi-day, multi-site ‘festival.’ It’s an offer of promotional partnership that, we hope, will lift all boats.
Eligibility:
- Eligible events are those that are public, free-to-attend, and literary in focus and are being held anywhere in Nova Scotia on October 9, 10, 11, or 12, 2025.
- There is no cost (nor any WFNS membership requirement) to register a Booktoberfest satellite event.
- There is no requirement to incorporate Booktoberfest or WFNS branding or messaging into satellite event names, event promotional material, or event content.
Promotion:
- Booktoberfest 2025 satellite events will receive priority promotion on the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia website, in our member newsletter, and on our social media channels—above and beyond our usual promotion of community and author events in Nova Scotia.
- Halifax-area satellite events occurring after Booktoberfest (Saturday, October 11, 11am – 3pm) will also be promoted in the printed Booktoberfest programme.
Although WFNS cannot provide logistical or hosting support for satellite events (we’ll be at capacity with Booktoberfest), we do offer event space in Halifax at the Cultural Federations of Nova Scotia (1113 Marginal Rd) for any event that includes a current General Member of WFNS. That General Member can email director@writers.ns.ca to secure a booking.
Satellite Event Registration Form
Satellite events organized by or including WFNS General Members may also be submitted to our Literary Events Calendar. The Calendar submission form can be accessed by members only.