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Joe Ripple, CEO of the Scares That Care 501C3 charity, announced over the weekend the decision to hold a physical convention this year in Williamsburg, from July 30th thru August 1st. What follows is information specifically for attending celebrity authors, vendor room authors, and their fans.

Over the last few months, I contacted each author that was booked for the celebrity room, and inquired about their personal comfort level returning to the convention circuit, should a physical event happen this year.

Those of you who were not comfortable attending in 2021 have been rescheduled for next year.

Those of you who indicated your desire to attend this year will be contacted over the next week to square away your appearance contract.

Fans — once that process is completed, this year’s guest authors will be announced.

In accordance with the continuing pandemic and social distancing, there will be no author programming this year. There will be no readings. No panel discussions. No Q&As. The rooms usually devoted to these will either be occupied by a single vendor. or they will be locked. If you are unhappy about that, the recommendation to do this was mine, so complain to me about it.

In previous years, authors and fans have gathered in those programming rooms after hours to party together. Again, due to the continuing pandemic and social distancing, that will not be allowed this year. If you are unhappy about that, the recommendation to do this was mine, so complain to me about it.

If I find that members of our community gained access to those rooms after hours for their own purposes, I will recommend those individuals be permanently banned from all future events. If you want to socialize two dozen strong or you want to do a surprise reading for your fans, do so in the approved, open areas.

Authors booked for the celebrity room will still have a table in the celebrity room, like always, from which to sign and sell books.

Despite being fully vaccinated (I get my 2nd dose this Thursday) I am still unsure whether I will be attending. If I do not attend, Jonathan Janz will help each celebrity author get checked in, find their table, etc. I trust him like I trust my own hand, and — in the advent that I am not there — I hope that each of you will accord him the same respect you give to myself, Joe, the rest of our Board of Directors, and our volunteers.

If you have a question specifically in regard to celebrity authors or vendor room authors, and I haven’t answered it here, feel free to reach out.