Trade Shows, Conferences and Festivals

The following trade shows, conferences, and festivals offer opportunities for publishers to market their books. Plan ahead. Many of these events are planned a year in advance. Contact the event organizers to: register for a booth; involve your authors in presentations, readings, or book signings; or provide promotional materials (books, bookmarks, catalogs) for distribution to event attendees. If you know of other book-related events in the Midwest, let us know via our contact page and we’ll add them to this list.

• Heartland Fall Forum. Hosted by the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association and the Midwest Independent Booksellers Association. Usually held in October (location changes).
• Iowa City Book Festival. Sponsored by the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature. Iowa City is one of just six Cities of Literature in the world. Usually held in October in Iowa City, IA.
• Midwest Fiction Writers Harvest Workshop. Sponsored by the Midwest Fiction Writers. Usually held in September in the Twin Cities.
• South Dakota Festival of Books. Sponsored by South Dakota Humanities Council. Usually held in September in Deadwood, SD.
• Southeast Wisconsin Festival of Books. Sponsored by the Milwaukee Journal. Usually held in September on the University of Wisconsin-Waukesha campus.
• Twin Cities Book Festival. Sponsored by Rain Taxi Review of Books. Usually held in October in the Twin Cities.
• Wisconsin Book Festival. Sponsored by Madison Community Foundation and the Madison Public Library Foundation. Usually held in October in Madison, WI.