Over the weekend Baltimore, MD hosted the fledgling A Million Lives Book Festival. An event which failed so spectacularly, several authors are now out thousands of dollars. Archer Events/Archer Management is the group behind the event which was aimed at fantasy and romance novel readers and writers.
“Discover a world of books, meet your favorite authors, and grow your bookish community. Whether you’re a bookworm, a book dragon, or simply looking for a fun event, this festival is perfect for everyone,” the description reads. “Explore a vendor hall with authors from a wide range of genres, from fantasy and romance to mystery and dark romance. Engage in with other book lovers, attend insightful panels, and participate in our content creation room.”
Tickets to A Million Lives Book Festival ranged from $50 to $250 and the website claimed there would be āNo refunds!ā Guests were invited to dress to the nines for the event in the massive ballroom of the Baltimore Convention center.
The Problem
Authors and potential partners were told that the event had sold between 500 and 1400 tickets. But author Samantha Heil, who co-writes with their friend under the pen name E.S. Rosalynn, says there were maybe 40 attendees on Friday. While there were 100 authors in at the festivalā¦
“Friday, going into the event, kind of knew it was going to be a mess. No one knew where they were supposed to be or where they were supposed to go,” Heil told Newsweek.
The second day of the event bumped up to 125 guests, but still nowhere near enough to support 100 authors. Not to mention there is no way at least 375 to 460 people bailed on a $50 to $250 ticket.
Understandably furious, several writers took to TikTok with videos of a barron concrete room furnished with folding tables lined with a single row of fake rose petals and some books. The maybe twelve people seen in this footage underscores how desolate the room feels. Food apparently consisted of some cookies.
BookTok, the literary side of TikTok, went wild with the news and desperately began to try to piece together what happened.
The Fallout
On Sunday May 4th, event organizer Grace Marceau, posted a video apology to TikTok.”Hi everybody,ā she says. āI am wanting to issue a formal apology. I do understand tonight that the ball was not set up to standards. There were a lot of issues getting set up and it was not set up well. I want to apologize. If you would like a refund, please contact me and I will issue a refund immediately. Thank you.”
On Monday May 5th, Archer/Marceau posted a statement on the platform. “AML: Refunds. I wholeheartedly apologize for how the event turned out this weekend,ā the image reads. āWe are currently processing refunds as fast as we can. All refunds will be processed by May 31. We thank and appreciate you for your patience.”
What Happened?
At this time, no one is 100% sure why it failed but in most cases like this a symphony of mistakes must be made. A la other recent failed events like Fyre Fest and Willyās Chocolate Experience.
Four Seasons Books
Four Seasons Books had to issue a statement distancing themselves from A Million Lives Book Festival. While the store claims that they never had any involvement, the event falsely used their name. In the comments the shop became aware that they were called a āpartnerā in an email a mere eight days after meeting the organizer.
In the Threads post Four Seasons Books diplomatically explains why they didnāt get involved. āWhile we were approached by the event organizer to serve as the indie bookstore partner, we ultimately declined after reviewing the eventās logistics,ā the post reads. āOn February 25, 2025 our events manager inquired about the status of ticket sales & anticipated attendees, the organizer stated they had sold āmid 500 tickets,ā expecting between 600ā800 attendees.ā
āI think itās a case of someone who was in over their head but when organizers withhold key informationālike actual ticket sales, logistical breakdowns, or financial shortfallsātheyāre no longer āfiguring it out.ā Theyāre veering into fraud territory,ā they responded when asked if it was a scam. āIt likely falls under misrepresentation or deceptive business practices, and if there was financial harm involved (which many authors are now reporting).ā
Samantha Heil
Heil also weighed in on the chaos. “The worst part came afterwards,” she explained. “The amount of lies coming out were wild. Huge tall tales about why this happened.”
According to Heil, many authors confronted Marceau, and she apologized to them. However, at the time they were interviewed, no refunds had been issued. Even if the tables and tickets are refunded, everyone is still out for other costs like food, travel, and hotel. Overall, Heil says she was out $1,000 but says other authors are out a few thousand each.
The organizer told some the event failed due to a COVID-19 outbreak. There were also swag bags that Marceau claims the hotel lost, but Heil thinks they never even existed.
Perci Jay
Author Perci Jay posted a three-part video on TikTok and says; “It was even worse than what you’re seeing.” The author paid $150 for a table back in February 2024, along with an additional $250 to become a sponsor. That extra fee was supposed to include a free hotel stay at the Hilton next to the event center, a featured decal, merchandise, posts on archer management, an author takeover day on Facebook, and more.
Two weeks before A Million Lives Book Festival, Marceau sent an email saying their Hilton representative wasn’t responding. This meant that the group would have to move to the Days Inn across the street.
“The bar was on the floor, but it went to hell real fast,” Jay said on TikTok. She also points out that there was almost no advertising for the festival. (A claim that some Baltimore locals have backed up.) Which would explain why she saw a post from Archer for 40% off tickets.
“That’s when I knew that, like, ain’t nobody was coming,” says Jay. “I planned my pregnancy around this like a clown. I scheduled my uncle in laws funeral around this event. I even paid extra to sponsor this event.”
Hope E. Davis
Author Hope E. Davis backs up almost all of Heil and Jayās claims but says there may have been as many as 50 attendees. She adds several other shortcomings like āthere were no badges as promised,ā she writes on Threads. āWhen asked we were told they all arrived broken, but there was no replacement so anyone could just come and go as there was no way to verify who was an author/reader or random person off the street.ā
āno official schedule was ever posted of the panels,ā Davis adds āpanel authors were given very little information on the panels and some authors never even received the information for the panels they were on. Panels were too large, with the panel members exceeding those attending the panel in almost all cases.ā
The event didnāt even have a way to make announcements to vendors and attendees. āthere was no music at the ball, no way to make announcements,ā she explains. āThe event organizer would simply shout when it was time for lunch break etc, but the room wasnāt actually closed for lunch making it difficult for authors to feel okay about stepping [a]way from their tables.ā
We hope everyone affected by this receives some form of reimbursement. Weāll keep you posted on updates about the failed A Million Lives Book Festival as the situation develops. You can watch Jay’s first video about the event below:
