The Texas Book Festival typically presents between 175-180 authors, some from Texas and some from the United States and abroad. The Festival's Author Selection Committee routinely selects authors who are published in the year the Festival takes place, but books published 18 months prior to the start of the Festival are eligible.

All authors who are invited to participate will be featured in a panel or solo session; the Festival does not feature authors for booksignings only.

Since last year’s Festival drew more than 40,000 visitors to Austin, anyone participating in the Festival must be comfortable with crowds and mingling with the public and media.

Please read all of the following information before submitting a book to the Festival:

How to be considered

To be considered for this year’s Festival, please send or have your publicist send us the following (we do not accept self-published books - see below):

One or two copies of a finished book/galley/ARC/manuscript
A press kit with clippings and reviews
Author bio with list of previously published titles
Information about your ability to fund your own travel to Austin if your publisher is not utilizing publicity budget money to send you to the Festival

When should you submit a book?

We accept submissions of books throughout the year, but preference is given to books submitted prior to June 1 in the same year as the Festival. To be considered, a book must be published within 18 months prior to the start of the Festival.

Who decides which authors to invite?

An Author Selection Committee comprised of publishing and book professionals considers the submissions and chooses who will be invited. The bulk of invitations go out between the beginning of March and the end of July.

What types of books do we consider?

• Fiction -- including all genres such as thrillers and Westerns
• Narrative nonfiction -- history, biography, memoir, and essays
• Cookbooks and food-related titles
• Poetry
• Children’s literature
• Art and architecture titles

What types of books do we not consider?

The Texas Book Festival focuses on the promotion of literature and Texas literary culture; books on the topics of self-improvement, how-to, or books strictly of academic or religious interest will not be considered.

Should a self-published/printed author submit?

We do not accept self-published books. The Author Selection Committee selects from more than 1,000 titles submitted each year and has found that many self-published titles, as well as those from vanity or subsidy presses, require additional professional editing and polishing that would enable them to be selected for the Festival.

Self-published authors are encouraged to participate in the Festival as exhibitors. Still have questions?

Feel free to phone us at (512) 472-3808 or email us at bookfest@texasbookfestival.org.