Join us at
Sips & Stories After Dark
an author signing event
Friday, February 7th, 2025 from 8:00-10:00 pm
The Hyatt Regency San Francisco on Embarcadero
All ages welcome!
Sips & Stories After Dark: Author information
Carrying on a new tradition
Last year's Wine & Book Tasting event was a hit! We listened to your feedback and made a few changes for this year's event, including a name change. Sips & Stories After Dark offers authors the opportunity to have a signing table and connect with local readers in the San Francisco region.
Who can participate?
Anyone coming to the SFWC and non-attending local authors can get a table for only $50. Traditional, Indie, and Self-published authors are all welcome. Space for authors is limited to 140, so don’t wait!
Event Details
Imagine a magical evening where the SFWC combines two incredible things: books and wine! Attendees can sip a glass of wine or hot cocoa and stroll through hundreds of books with a soundtrack of live music.
How does it work?
We encourage a “two-book minimum” as a cover charge. Our guests stroll the tables and can purchase books either from the bookstore where you’ve placed them on consignment, or directly from authors' tables.
Can children attend?
For those bringing their children as a parent date, the children’s section will be separate, with the hot chocolate bar. The hotel will have a cash bar in the adult areas and a hot chocolate bar in the children’s book area.
Is it open to the general public?
The general public will be advised that they can come as early as 6:30 to buy books with the signings happening from 8:00-10:00.
How many people are expected?
The great thing about a combined author event is that we’re all inviting our fans, and the collective attendance number is expected to be around 1000 people or more.
How is the event being advertised?
We are advertising throughout the Bay Area in print and digital media. If you see an ad on social media, please like and share it. Announce your participation in the event to your email list and social media. For those who register, we’ll send out a graphic you can share right before we start our major push on Jan. 15th.
What’s the protocol?
Authors should sign books for anyone at the event. The space is open, so the public may wander through. If people bring additional books to get signed besides the those bought on-site, it’s fine to sign them. They bought them somewhere, and that’s a good thing.
Additional Information for Authors
If you are attending the conference, the Friday Keynote will end at 8:00, so you’ll need to be ready to proceed directly to your table. There will be maps of assigned tables in the Grand Foyer from early in the day, and members of the public may already be circulating. Authors will be grouped by genre and tables identified on a map by the bookstore in the Grand Foyer ahead of time
If you still have a line at 10:00, it’s okay to finish signing for those who are already in it. We won’t kick people out who have been waiting. If you don’t want to take photos with people, please put a sign to that effect on your table. Otherwise, we are advertising that photos are okay.
Remember to order books ASAP if you don’t already have them for consigning. The consignment form is below so you can have it filled out to drop off with your books. One form per title.
The bookstore can only guarantee sufficient stocking of the conference keynoter titles. They may have a limited stock of books by presenters. We suggest bringing up to 20 copies of no more than three in-demand titles for consignment and displaying copies of others on your signing table. Due to city business license and sales tax certificate requirements, selling books at your table will have additional requirements (see below).
A small sign with your website and a QR code on your table is advised. If you have a pop-up sign you want to put behind you, that is also acceptable. All signage must look professionally printed and be free-standing. It cannot be attached to walls or furniture.
You can drop books for consignment off with our volunteers in the Marina Room as early as 1 pm on Thursday so they’ll be available all day on Friday, or bring them to the on-site bookstore in the Grand Foyer on the street level of the hotel any time that it’s open before 5:00 pm on Friday. You can pick the remainder up after the event on Friday or anytime the bookstore is open on Saturday. The bookstore will not keep and consign your books if you do not come get them by 5 pm on Saturday. They will be considered abandoned and left on a FREE table.
Questions?
If you have any more questions, you can email Praveena at [email protected] before or after registering.
Selling through the bookstore?
Print and complete the Book Consignment Form and bring it with you to the event along with your books.
Selling at your table?
To sell books at your table you will need to have a resale license and business license indicating you are selling at the Hyatt Regency address. Alternatively, you can operate under the conference business license and resale license, but at the end of the night you will need to fill out a form reporting your total sales and remit collected sales tax to SFWC at our registration desk in the Grand Foyer on the street level before leaving. If we do not receive a copy of both licenses before the event, we will leave the reporting form on your table with an envelope for you to return it with payment. We will also have sales tax scale sheets available.