2025 Vendor Application & Guide
For questions about this program, contact program lead Andy Verboom at communications@writers.ns.ca
Vendor applications are open for Booktoberfest 2025
To be held Saturday, October 11 (11am – 3pm)
Applications will close once all tables are filled and a short waitlist has formed.
UPDATE (July 9):
Space remains for 2 to 4 publisher-vendors.
Author-vendor space is full; author applications received after this date will be placed on a waitlist.
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 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/issues between October 1, 2024, and the date of Booktoberfest 2025 (October 11, 2025).
Vendor selection:
- Applicants will be offered table space by WFNS staff if they meet the eligibility requirements.
- Table space will be assigned in the order in which applications are received.
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. 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 will be held in Paul O’Regan Hall at Halifax Central Library (5540 Spring Garden Rd, Halifax).
On Saturdays, 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 $5. 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 will be open to the public from 11am to 3pm on Saturday, October 11.
Vendors should arrive between 10pm and 10:30am to begin table set up.
Vendors will need to complete table teardown by 4pm.
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 for regularly updated, social media-ready images (left-click to expand; right-click to download)
- 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), Booktoberfest programme, and pamphlet detailing 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 2024 to Oct 2025)
- 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)
- 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 open for Booktoberfest 2025
For literary events held anywhere in Nova Scotia on October 9, 10, 11, or 12, 2025
Event registration will close on September 11, 2025.
There is no cost or WFNS membership requirement to register a Booktoberfest satellite event. In addition, organizers of satellite events are not required to incorporate any Booktoberfest or WFNS branding or messaging into their event name, event content, or event promotional. As we invest more and better in our promotion of Booktoberfest each year, we’d simply like to share the benefit.
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.
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.
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.
- Halifax-area satellite events occurring after Booktoberfest (Saturday, October 11, 11am – 3pm) will also be promoted in the printed Booktoberfest programme.
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.
