Guide to the 2021 Virtual Gaithersburg Book Festival
Another year, another Gaithersburg Book Festival (GBF). But for the second year in a row, the festival will operate virtually.
Gaithersburg Mayor Jud Ashman, the founder of the popular event, spoke to MyMCM about what to expect at this year’s Virtual Gaithersburg Book Festival:
The Virtual Gaithersburg Book Festival begins Saturday, May 1 and there will be activities for four consecutive weeks. All author discussions (listed below) will premiere on the GBF’s YouTube page. Most programs are prerecorded, but authors will participate in the YouTube Premiere chat discussions.
The first two weeks of programming will be geared toward adults and the final two weeks of programming are aimed at children and young adults.
WNDB Launches Black Creatives Fund By Jim Milliot | Feb 17, 2021
As part of its increased efforts to bring more change to book publishing, We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) is partnering with Penguin Random House on a series of programs designed to get more books by Black writers published. Operating under the Black Creatives Fund banner, the initiative consists of three parts: a “Revisions Workshop,” a mentoring program, and market symposia conducted in partnership with the Brown Bookshelf.
Dhonielle Clayton, an author and COO of WNDB, is overseeing the entire initiative. She said that after surveying Black authors, it became apparent that the area in which they struggle the most in the writing process is making revisions. “Authors repeatedly hear that their books are ‘not ready for market,’” Clayton told