When a Big Book Event Gets Canceled, the Book World Doesn’t Quit

If you’ve been on bookish Instagram this week, you may have already heard the news: Dreamers & Readers Festival—the romance/fantasy event scheduled for early March at Gaylord Texan Resort—has been canceled.

And if you’re an author, vendor, or reader who planned to attend?

Whew. It’s a gut punch.

For a lot of us, it wasn’t just a weekend on the calendar. It was months of prep, inventory decisions, travel planning, costumes, excitement, budgeting, and honestly… community. CBS reported that around 2,000 people were planning to attend. That’s a lot of hope to have to suddenly pick up off the floor.

The thing I know about the book world: we rally

Here’s what’s been hitting me the hardest—in the best way:

Readers have shown up.

My DMs have been full of people checking in, offering ideas, sharing posts, and trying to help authors and vendors figure out the next move. That kind of support is everything. (Truly. Readers are the best.)

And locally, the DFW book community has been mobilizing fast. According to CBS, several indie bookstores jumped into action to explore alternative plans— including Talking Animals Books, Folklore Grove Bookstore, and The Plot Twist.

I don’t have a clean master list yet (because things are changing by the hour), but the energy has been: Okay. If the original plan fell apart, we’ll build a new one.

That’s the book world.

What I’m doing next

After sitting with the disappointment (and doing the practical math we all suddenly had to do), I’ve decided this:

I’m sending my 350 paperbacks to Reader Author Get Together (RAGT) in June for the goodie bags.

This event is absolutely going forward as planned—June 3–6, 2026—and it’s held at the Holiday Inn Cincinnati Airport.

And a big reason I feel so good about this choice: RAGT is being run by Jane Porter. If you know her, you already know why that matters. If you don’t know her… honestly, what are we even doing? 😉

RAGT has been around for years, it has a strong community foundation, and it’s built for real connection—readers and authors actually spending time together beyond a quick hello at a signing table.

So: that’s where I’ll be in June. And I’d love to see you there.

If you’re a reader, here’s how to get info on attending

RAGT’s official site is here + registration info is here

(They also have hotel details and FAQ info on-site, including dates and costs.)

A quick note, because I know a lot of us are feeling it

If you’re an author or vendor who got blindsided by this cancellation: I’m so sorry. The logistics alone are stressful (and expensive), and the emotional whiplash is real.

But if there’s one thing I keep seeing—over and over—it’s that this community refuses to let people fall through the cracks. We pivot. We create alternatives. We keep the magic going.

And I’ll keep sharing updates as I learn about more DFW-area pop-ups and regroup events, too.

Because we don’t just write stories.

We live in one.