Currently in the United States and around the world, protests are happening in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. We stand in support of this movement and the systemic changes that need to be made in our society. Every year, a core part of BookNet Fest programming is uplifting the marginalized voices in our community and the publishing world for change, and we were looking forward to another year of the community coming together in this way. Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic is still not contained in the United States.
We have been watching the rapidly changing news around Covid-19 all spring. Although it was our hope that it would be safe to have the event in Orlando in August as planned, we feel it would be irresponsible for us to expose our attendees when current statistics aren’t showing that infections are slowing down. Although many places around the country are opening up, we are in a position where any potential spikes in cases would leave us very little time to plan, and where many of you as attendees still cannot or do not feel comfortable traveling (especially those from out of the country, as a number of our confirmed speakers are).
And so, our in-person event is being “rescheduled” to 2021 and our 2020 event is moving online. We hope to use this opportunity to connect with even more readers, authors, creators and reviewers, and to continue to build our community until it is safe to see you all in person again.
Stay tuned for more news about BookNet Fest Online and about BookNet Fest 2021!
