A Million Lives Book Festival

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Overview

The A Million Lives Book Festival was a romantasy (romance-fantasy) BookTok convention held on the weekend of May 2nd to the 3rd, 2025, at the Baltimore Convention Center in Maryland. The event was advertised as including a "fantasy ball" and was first announced in November 2023, hosted by author Grace Willows of Archer Management. The event, in particular the ball, became the subject of online criticism during the weekend it was hosted for being underwhelming and not meeting the expectations of attendees, with some publications likening it to other event fails like Fyre Festival and the Glasgow Willy Wonka Experience. In response, Willows released an apology statement and accepted refunds from participants as the convention was mocked online.

Background

A Million Lives book festival was originally announced on the archerfantasyevents Instagram^[1] page on November 28th, 2023. The event was heavily advertised on the page, as well as the @archerfantasyevents TikTok^[2] page, throughout 2024 and 2025, with subsequent posts announcing authors and influencers who would be in attendance, signings, seminars and a "bookish ball" to be held during the event.

On January 15th, 2024, a video was posted to the TikTok^[3] page announcing the date of the event as May 2nd through 3rd at the Baltimore Convention Center.

@archerfantasyevents Author and Vendor interest forms are available now on our website! Go check it out www.archer-management.com! #archerfantasyevents #booktok #bookishevents #amillionlivesbookfestival #bookfestival #bookcommunity ♬ Beautiful Things – Benson Boone

Developments

Reactions To The Event

Convention attendees began uploading videos of their reactions to the event on the weekend it was hosted, with many criticizing it.

On May 3rd, 2025, TikToker^[4] @percijay_fantasyauthor posted a video of the ball, showing a mostly empty convention hall and a Bluetooth speaker on a chair as the night's DJ, garnering over 3.5 million views in five days.

@percijay_fantasyauthor We’re here to vibe ✨✨✨💕💕💕 Everybody here is so gorgeous tho 😘 #bookevents #booktok #percijay ♬ Jurassic Park Harmonica – Cilan Alt*Berries

That same day, TikToker^[5] @azthiabookwyrm posted a video filming and criticizing the event, highlighting a small $10 cup of wine and the low attendance of the event, garnering over 950,000 views in five days.

@azthiabookwyrm A Millon Lets Downs Book Festival.. The only good thing about this festival was the amazing people I was able to meet. Trauma bonding 🫶🫶 #booktok #booktokfyp #readersoftiktok #millionlivesbookfestival ♬ original sound – SAINTED

On May 4th, 2025, TikToker^[6] @stephdevourerofbooks posted a video showing herself and her friends dressed up nice for the fantasy ball, followed by footage showing the ball to be empty, garnering over 3.5 million views in four days.

@stephdevourerofbooks When you gotta laugh so you don’t cry. 😂😭 a million lives or a million lies? 😬🫣 I was an attending author…at least we looked fantastic. @Valerie Rivers @Author Sarah Zane🏳️‍🌈 #baltimore #amillionlivesbookfestival #amillionlies #bookball ♬ origineel geluid – Tik Toker

Apology

On the night of May 3rd, 2025, as TikTokers began uploading now-viral videos of their negative experiences at the festival, the event host, author Grace Willows, posted a video apologizing for the disappointing ball on TikTok,^[7] garnering over 3 million views in five days.

@archerfantasyevents Hi! I do want to formally apologize this is unacceptable and I will issue refunds to anyone that would like one. @Kalista Neith 🖤💋🔪 ♬ original sound – Archer Fantasy Events.

The apology post was followed by three other posts from the Archer Management team taking full responsibility for the event, offering refunds and encouraging viewers to support the authors who attended the event.

A statement from the management team behind A Million Lives Book Fest. The statement announces refunds and apologizes.

Online Reactions

The event garnered significant media attention as TikTokers continued to upload videos sharing their negative feedback.

On May 6th, 2025, TikToker^[8] @motelsiren posted a video venting about how a friend had sold their tickets to see Charli XCX to go to A Million Lives with a girl she only knew for a week, garnering over 580,000 views in two days.

That day, NBC News^[9] reported on the event, comparing it to Fyre Festival.

@motelsiren hope you enjoyed booktok fyre festival i would love the money back for my ticket btw #amillionlivesbookfestival ♬ Frolic (Theme from "Curb Your Enthusiasm" TV Show) – Luciano Michelini