Black Girl Book Fair: Everything You Need to Know with Founder Jacque Aye

Creating an event you wish existed

Join Jacue and friends at the Black Girl Book Fair

The Black Girl Book Fair is a one-day virtual book fair for adults. It is being run by author and former interviewee Jacque Aye (author of How to Be a Better Adult, Monster High: New Scaremester, and Monster High: World’s Scare).

The BGBF was inspired by the book fairs of our youth, and features a clickable catalogue of books + merch, giveaways from bookish brands, and a fun live chat with both popular and up-and-coming Black indie authors.

I wanted to know why this fair and why now, so I decided to ask Jacque herself!

Origins of The Black Girl Book Fair

What were your experiences with the book fair as a child, and how did you want to recreate that feeling for adults?

I loved the experience of taking home a catalogue and circling the books I wanted to buy. It was so…exhilarating, ha. I used to read like I breathe air, so book fairs were definitely a highlight of my school experience, even if I couldn’t buy as many as I liked.

Why did you decide to do it now? Was there an aha moment or some sort of inspiration that sparked the idea?

I just randomly had the idea a few months ago and thought it’d be a fun project to work on. I wanted to highlight authors I thought were cool while flexing my creativity, and it turned out just as I imagined. No, better! Black indie authors deserve the same amplification as traditionally published authors, and this event is doing just that. I’m excited to get more cool books wedged into readers’ consciousness.

Did you draw inspiration from other virtual events? In-person events? Or something else?

My only inspiration was the Scholastic Book Fair and my ever-increasing social anxiety.

Activities and Events

There are so many fun things happening at the fair: you have authors, businesses, speakers, and sponsors involved. How did you coordinate so many moving parts? How did you find all these excited participants?

I have no idea! I suppose I’m a machine when I need to be! Whenever I have an idea, it just…happens! But most of the participants are people I’ve known, with a few who asked to join after the launch. This honestly feels less like an event I’m planning and more like one that’s puppeteering me. For anyone reading, sometimes you just have to take the leap and not think.

Getting sponsors to back you can be tough work. Was it hard to get sponsors for the event? What was that process like?

I know this isn’t a helpful answer, but it honestly wasn’t hard! Everything was God and good timing. When people believe in you, they make things easy for you. You have more people in your corner than you think!

Victoria Johnson is listed as the event coordination consultant. How did you meet and when did you decide you wanted to do this event together? Did you have any other help?

Actually, the event is organized and run by me, with Victoria being consulted when need be! She runs the largest fan-run convention for magical girls in the United States. Check out Magical Girls Fest!

You packed a lot of things into the event. What was it like to coordinate everything? What can people expect when they attend?

It was seamless! Things just fell into place. People can expect a fun time, good tunes (we have a playlist), cool activities, and discounted books from Black authors. If you’re a reader who loves staying home and can’t attend in-person events for one reason or another this one’s for you.

The Vibe

The Black Girl Book Fair sample catalog

The vibe for the fair is immaculate. How did you decide on the design? What did you want this event to feel like?

Please don’t hate me for repeating this….but it genuinely just came to me. I didn’t make a moodboard or anything. I just started freestyle designing until it came together. I did the visuals in an evening. It’s definitely giving off an early 2000s book fair vibe, which I think is fitting. We’re for the girls who loved dress-up games, Neopets, and That’s So Raven for sure.

You have a beautiful sample catalog for the event. Was that inspired by the catalogs of your youth? What was the thought process behind creating it?

Thank you so much! It was! I just wanted it to feel like the Scholastic catalogues we flipped through back in the day.

You created two different playlists for the event. What went into creating these playlists? What kind of mood were you trying to build?

We have a chill manga-reading playlist curated by Trap Sushi, and another to pair with Weird Girl books! Honestly, I was just listening to a lot of rock music and wanted a reason to share, ha. For Trap Sushi, I know they were inspired by chill anime tunes.

Final Thoughts

What does success look like for you and the event?

It’s already a success to me because it exists!

Was there anything else you wanted to do but didn’t get a chance to do? Do you have any future events planned?

Nope, everything is happening as the universe allows! Whatever happens in the future is what God wants to happen. I have no idea.

Any final thoughts or anything else you want people to know about the event?

Check us out on April 25th if you love buying books and love staying in the house!

Conclusion

Jacque Aye proves that we don’t need a fully flushed out roadmap, endless strategizing, and permission to do things that excite us. We can make our ideas come to life if we take a chance on ourselves.

If you have a story of a time you made your own dreams a reality, let us know in the comments.

---

Want to know more about Jacque? Check out our interview: