About Booktoberfest

Join us for a celebration of authors, books, art, beer and brats on September 8, 2018 from 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Booktoberfest, presented by Thomson-Shore, will host industry experts, authors and artists from across the country, offering advice and insight for fellow authors, as well as fun and educational activities for the whole family. Enjoy a day of books, food, and fun, while discovering and learning about the ever-changing world of publishing and bookmaking. 

Guest Speakers:

"Nappy-Headed Negro Syndrome" and "Letters from Mrs. Grundy" author Oneita Jackson will be here to talk about her acclaimed books and will be holding a book signing. Oneita is one of our newest Publishing Services @ TS indie authors.

Oneita Jackson is a satirist who has an English degree from Howard University. She was a Detroit Free Press copy editor for 11 years. She also served as public editor, wrote music reviews, edited on the Features, Nation/World, and Web desks, and received awards for her headline-writing. She was a member of the Accuracy and Credibility Committee and the Editorial Endorsement Board for the 2008 City of Detroit mayoral and City Council elections. 

She received the newspaper’s 2008 Columnist of the Year award for writing O Street. She quit the column in May 2010 and returned to the News Copy Desk until August 2012. 

After leaving the Free Press, she started driving a yellow cab. She was featured in HOUR Detroit, “Under the Radar: Michigan,” and Al Jazeera English for her unique approach to hacking. Mercedes-Benz International profiled her on its She's Mercedes platform. As a professional fixer, Oneita worked with teams from Paris, France; Madrid, Spain; Copenhagen, Denmark, and Montreal, Quebec. She also worked with a team from Martha Stewart.

The Dayton, Ohio, native spent her summers in New York City, and has lived in Washington, D.C., and Albany, N.Y. She’s worked in service most of her life. Lately, she has worked in restaurants in Detroit, where she lives, and is an etiquette and customer service consultant.

She still has a passion for newspapers and truth, and guest-lectures to journalism classes.

Chard Harp is another one of our new Publishing Services @ TS indie authors and will be speaking about his latest published book, "Happiness", which addresses topics of suicide, substance abuse, and mental health. He will also be signing copies of his book.

Chad has been writing professionally for almost thirty years. His first published work appeared in The Washington Post. Eventually Chad’s scholarly and popular work appeared in newspapers and magazines across the country, including The Arizona Republic, Cape Cod Life, The Minneapolis Star Tribune, The Montgomery Advertiser, Pennsylvania Heritage, Probate & Property, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Tampa Tribune and The Tampa Times, The Washington Post, and The Washington Times. He is also listed in various Who’s Who publications. 

Chad is a 1987 graduate of Norristown Area High School.  He earned his Bachelor of Arts cum laude in 1991 (Major in History, Minor in Philosophy) from The George Washington University and in 1996 he earned his Juris Doctor from The Pennsylvania State University - Dickinson School of Law. Chad tours the country speaking about suicide, substance abuse, and mental health and is available to speak with young adults in high schools and colleges.

As an author, educator, and consultant, Debbie Gonzales, from SCBWI's Michigan Chapter, will be giving tips to authors and illustrators on how to promote your book and how to identify influencers. Debbie will be one of our expert panel judges in the Pitch Your Book contest. SCBWI Michigan will also be signing books at their table.

Debbie Gonzales is a career educator, curriculum consultant, former school administrator and adjunct professor, and once served as a SCBWI RA for the Austin Chapter. Deb currently devotes her time to writing middle grade novels, crafting teacher guides and various other freelance projects. She's the author of six “transitional” readers for New Zealand publisher, Giltedge, and the forthcoming non-fiction picture book Girls with Guts: The Road to Breaking Barriers and Bashing Records (Charlesbridge, 2019). A transplanted Texan, Debbie now calls beautiful Ann Arbor, Michigan home where she lives with her husband John and spunky pup, Missy. Deb earned her MFA in writing for children and young adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts.

VP of Lindenmeyr Book Publishing Papers, Janet McCarthy Grimm, will be discussing all things paper.

Janet McCarthy Grimm began her career in the trade production department of Houghton Mifflin Publishing Company in Boston. She also worked at Courier Corporation in Lowell, MA as a buyer for the Directories and Forms Division. Janet joined Lindenmeyr Book in their New York office as a sales representative in 1984, became Marketing Manager in 1987 and was promoted to her current position as Vice President in 1989. Janet is a past president of the Bookbinders’ Guild of New York and has served the graphic arts industry through the Book Manufacturers’ Institute, Women In Production and The Paper Club of New York. She now serves on the Board of Directors for the Book Industry Guild of NY and for Poets &Writers. She is also a member of the Book Industry Study Group and the Book Industry Environmental Council. Janet loves to talk about papermaking and will do so to anyone who is willing to listen!!!

For history, submarine and navy buffs, Pat Anderson, Author of The Nautilus Trilogy and one of Publishing Services @ TS indie authors, will be talking about her important historical book trilogy for the 60th Anniversary of "Operation Sunshine" and holding a book signing.

We welcome Mario Bueno, author of "Reformed: Memoir of a Juvenile Killer"  back to Booktoberfest. Mario launched his book in January of this year and will be providing an update on what has progressed with him and his book since his last Booktoberfest appearance. He will also be signing copies of his book.

Mario Bueno is a published scholar, transformational speaker and Reform Expert and the Co-founder and Co-director of LUCK, INC., a non-profit founded by Transformed, Returned Citizens who specialize in the training and mentorship of the most at-risk populations. Mario is a former Legislative Aide for State Representative Harvey Santana, and current Deputy Manager for Detroit’s 6th District. He's also the co-host of Main Street. Mario has mentored hundreds of children since his release from prison in 2014.

SVP of Production & Design at Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Andy Hughes, will also be back to give an update of what has been happening in the publishing industry over the past year. Andy will be one of our expert panel judges in the Pitch Your Book contest.

Andy Hughes has been an employee at Random House since 1978 and started his career as a production assistant. Prior to that, he worked for two years at the New York Sales office for The Haddon Craftsmen. In 1988 he was named Vice President and Director of Manufacturing for Random House Audiobooks, a position he held for 15 years, while also working at Knopf. In 1994, Andy was promoted to Knopf VP, responsibel for production and design for Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, Anchor and Everyman’s Library.

Guest Artists & Workshops:

David Zinn will be back again this year whipping up his famous street art creations and will hold live demonstrations, a chalk art workshop for kids, and will be signing his book, Underfoot Menagerie.

David Zinn has been creating original artwork in and around Ann Arbor since 1987, serving all manner of commercial clients from small shops to major municipalities while simultaneously sneaking “pointless” art into the world at large. His professional commissions have included theatrical posters, business logos, educational cartoons, landfill murals, environmental superheroes, corporate allegories and hand-painted dump trucks. His less practical creations have involved bar coasters, restaurant placemats, cake icing, and snow.

Harry Edwards will be bringing back his original drawings for the community "Color-In" installation. Guests young and old can try their hand at coloring the life-size coloring pages.

Harry Edwards has no formal training in Art or Design. His talent is an ability to find hidden beauty everywhere, (even on a blank page), and to surrender to its revelation. A lifelong doodler and cloud painter, Harry discovers his images, rather than devising them. Once the images are revealed, they are intentionally resolved into M.C. Escher-esque visual puzzles. These light-hearted, cartoonish drawings are inspired by the genius of Dali, Duchamp and Picasso, among others. And they dance with the collaborative and improvisational spirits of musical painters like Wes Montgomery and Jerry Garcia.

Harry lives and works in Lancaster, PA, where he enjoys the local art, music and food culture with good friends and family.

Learn the art of papermaking with master paper maker, Karen Koykka O'Neal. Karen will host a papermaking station and teach you how to make your own beautiful sheet of art.

Karen grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. She moved to Ann Arbor to study at the University of Michigan, and graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering. She discovered Indian baskets, viewing them at many museums throughout the American West, and began weaving herself. These creations were more “fiber creations” than what might be thought of as utilitarian baskets. She decided she wanted to incorporate paper into these basket forms. She took a papermaking class at the University of Michigan, where she learned that paper could be made from any plant material. Transforming plants into paper seems like alchemy. Paper can become a support for art work, or a work of art itself. It can become trash. A world opened up full of handmade books, artists’ books, collage and different ways of binding pages together. 

Paper is all around us, an essential carrier of ideas, history and communication. The journey has been endlessly fascinating!

• We'll have activities for little booklovers in our Kids Corner.
  • Aspiring young authors can write and illustrate their one-page story in the Story Station.  Thomson-Shore will then gather the finished stories together to print, bind, and deliver as keepsakes to every young author who participates.
  • Kids will also enjoy folding Thomson-Shore Cootie Catchers, blowing bubbles in the bubble pool, coloring books & more!
• Story Time with Rita Bantom at 11am & 2pm in the Usborne Books & More booth!
• Grab the whole family and take a guided tour of Thomson-Shore's manufacturing facility to see where the bookmaking magic happens!

Sponsors:

Check out the Thomson-Shore Facebook page for pictures of last years inaugural event! See you on September 8th!

Use hash tag #BooksBeerBrats and follow us on twitter!