Canal Town Book Festival welcomes 50 Ohio authors

Tuscarawas Valley’s largest author fair will be held Saturday, Oct. 5 in the Dover High School gymnasium, 520 N. Walnut St., from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Fifty published authors from throughout Ohio will be available to discuss and sign their books, and four author-led panels will be presented, along with activities for children, raffle prizes and food trucks during the Canal Town Book Festival.

At the author’s tables, the public can view and discuss books, which can then be purchased and brought back to the table for signing. Festival chair Malory Thompson said, “This is a perfect opportunity to get your Christmas and birthday gift books, especially since a huge variety of genres will be available. It is a treat for fans to meet authors in person.”

Attendees will be given a raffle ticket for every $5 they spend on books. The prizes are provided by local businesses, sponsors and the committee.

There are four author-led panels throughout the day. Jen Devon, AM McPherson and Ashley Willow will present Path to Publishing: Self or Traditional Publishing from 10:15-11:15 a.m. The panel will discuss all the intricacies and facts about the options of both kinds of publishing.

A Zoom presentation titled Whodunit: The Craft of Writing Mystery by Linda Castillo, Wendy Sand Eckel and Michael Prelee is scheduled from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The award-winning authors will discuss the importance of setting, how to plot and write suspects, and the process of writing a series with the same protagonist.

From 12:45-1:45 p.m., Pattricia Miller, Deborah Edmiston and Jason R. Ladu will present Plotting or Pantsing: Designing Your Book. They will share their writing process, strategies, tips and resources to help the writer develop characters and keep details straight throughout the story.

Britton Brinkley, Nancy Christie and Chrissy Hartmann’s workshop titled Reaching the Masses: Marketing Your Book will be from 2-3 p.m. and instruct the writers in ways to sell their books.

A number of activities for children have been planned. Dover High School cheerleaders will do face painting, photos may be taken at the fairy tale backdrop, stories will be read by children’s authors and library staff, and there will be a coloring station.

Refreshments will be available from Black Sheep Salads, Sweet Rain BBQ and Retro Espresso.

This year’s book fair is sponsored by Friends of the Library, The Bibliophile, Dola Jean’s and the Dover Public Library. Attendees are asked to enter the Sixth Street side of the high school, where parking will be available. The entrance is wheelchair-accessible. Call the library at 330-343-6123.