SATURDAY, APRIL 20, 2013

The Houston Indie Book Festival is hosted by Gulf Coast and the Menil Community Arts Festival through a collaboration with The Menil Collection the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses at Menil Park (view map).

The 2013 festival will be on Saturday, April 20 from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The event  is completely free and open to the public and remains the only one of its kind in the Houston and Austin areas, featuring a variety of nationally-distributed literary journals and small-press books alongside local booksellers, book and magazine publishers, small presses, literary organizations, and writers.

Past Festivals »

2013 Exhibitor Schedule

All exhibitor-sponsored events will be held in the tent on the east side of the Menil building.
For the reading schedule, please go here.

  • 7 Steps to Bring Your Book into a Publisher’s Hands
  • 11:00 a.m.
In this 45-minute presentation, Lucie Smoker, author of Distortion and Retribution, will go over her steps for understanding audience, developing a pitch, perfecting submission strategy and more, as well as participate in a brief Q&A with the audience.
  • Children’s Storytime: The Deep Blue Forest
  • 12:15 p.m.
Geraldo Olivo, author of The Deep Blue Forest and The Adventures of Papa Roo and Little Roo, will perform a 15-minute puppet show, followed by a 10-minute interactive dance session with the audience.
    • Small Press, Big Rewards: Publishing Beyond the Mainstream
    • 1:30 p.m.
Representatives from Grey Gecko Press, Host Publications, JoSara Media, and Write Bloody Publishing present a panel on small presses: how they differ from traditional publishing houses, the advantages of working with one, and their own methods for the publishing process. A brief Q&A with the audience will follow.
  • Glass Mountain presents: A Reading with Aaron Reynolds
  • 3:00 p.m.
Join us for a half-hour reading featuring University of Houston Creative Writing Professor Aaron Reynolds and editors from the nationally-distributed undergraduate journal, Glass Mountain.
  • Bat City Review presents: Claire Sylvester Smith & Jeff Bruemmer
  • 3:30 p.m.
Poet Claire Sylvester Smith and fiction writer Jeff Bruemmer will take the stage in this half-hour reading showcasing the work of Bat City Review‘s talented editorial staff.
  • Publishing in Literary Magazines: From Slush Pile to Superstar
  • 4:30 p.m.
CLMP Membership Director Steph Opitz will moderate this 60-minute panel on getting one’s work published in literary journals. Panelists include Creative Writing PhD candidates and current/former Gulf Coast editorial staff Janine Joseph, Adam Peterson, Edward Porter, and Joe Scapellato.

Mission & History

The Houston Indie Book Festival is sponsored and organized through a collaboration among Gulf Coast, The Menil Community Arts Festival, and the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses. Now in its sixth official year, the Festival remains the only event of its kind in the Houston and Austin areas, featuring a variety of nationally-distributed literary journals and small-press books alongside local booksellers, book and magazine publishers, small presses, literary organizations, and writers. Magazines and books are for sale throughout the day, though the event is free and open to the public.

Since 2008, the Houston Indie Book Festival has steadily expanded from a small gathering of local booksellers and artists to a full-scale regional event featuring dozens of local exhibitors and attracting hundreds of visitors throughout the day. The event has grown to include a day-long reading series, children’s events, musical acts, and, for the first time ever in 2012, informational panel discussions organized by HIBF exhibitors and local readers, writers, and publishers.

For the past two years, the event has been held on the Menil Lawn to accommodate the growing number of exhibitors and visitors; the 2011 festival received an estimated 2,500 visitors throughout the day.

More information »

Sponsors

The 2013 Houston Indie Book Festival is made possible by Gulf Coast and The Menil Community Arts Festival. Additional sponsorship is provided by the Council of Literary Magazines & Presses, Houston Arts Alliance, Houston Endowment, Inprint, KUHF 88.7, Menil Collection, Boheme, Spacetaker, Acme Rentals, National Endowment for the Arts, Poets & Writers, Texas Commission on the Arts, and University of Houston’s English Department.