The latest 'Fyre Festival'? A Denver book expo that drove Rebecca Yarros away

A Colorado book festival got a little crazy, think Fyre Festival level crazy. 

A lot of people have been talking about the “dumpster fire” that was Readers Take Denver, an author signing event turned convention held last month after attendees began to share their experiences online. 

In describing Readers Take Denver, disgruntled attendees have pointed out that just about anything you wouldn’t want to experience at a book convention, happened at RTD, including "hours-long lines, lack of proper security, insufficient communication from events staff, preordered books that weren’t delivered in time to be signed by their authors, and a shortage of gift bags," according to reporting by The Denver Post. 

“I believe every single horror story that came out. The disorganization and the lack of communication was apparent,” CC, an attendee said in an Instagram video detailing her experience. 

There have even been reports of harassment, assault and theft, Abigail Owen, an author who attended the convention acknowledged in a blog post. All of the negative attention Readers Take Denver has received in the days, weeks following the event has prompted the cancellation of next year’s convention, which was previously scheduled for February 2025. 

Check out: USA TODAY's weekly Best-selling Booklist

Here’s what we know. 

Readers Take Denver founder apologizes, but Rebecca Yarros doesn’t plan on coming back

Lisa Renee Jones, an author and the founder of Readers Take Denver, didn’t feel like the event she organized played out exactly the same way critics have described.

She shifted blame to the venue or the invited authors, writing in an email that the conference was having “some bumpy bumps,” according to The Denver Post. 

Jones did reach out to attendees via email after the conference, writing that “many people brought her to tears with their praise for the event.”  But she did acknowledge similar issues brought up by attendees, “including a lack of security, unprofessional behavior by volunteer staff and not enough accessible accommodations,” The Denver Post reported. 

“In the case that someone has claimed a volunteer put hands on someone, I got security involved IMMEDIATELY,” Jones wrote in the email obtained by The Post. 

The event, which cost between $300 to $375 to attend,  was marketed a “unique experience” because no one would have to wait in any lines. A timed ticketing system using WhatsApp was supposed to “prevent waits to see favorite authors,” which would allow attendees to visit as many of the hundreds of authors in attendance as they wanted, The Denver Post reported. 

But the damage is done, with a number of attendees and authors, including NYT bestselling author Rebecca Yarros, vowing to never return. Unless there is a change in leadership.

Yarros apologized to attendees on behalf of every author in attendance, writing on Facebook, “It hasn’t been said to you enough, so let me say it again: I’m sorry. I’m so sorry you couldn’t get your preorders, couldn’t see the authors you wanted to.” 

“I'm sorry registration took hours, sorry food ran out, sorry security wasn’t tight enough at the night events, sorry some volunteers raised voices, sorry it was disorganized, sorry you felt frazzled, sorry you felt overwhelmed, sorry you did not get to bask in the overwhelming joy that spending 3 days in the book world should give you,” Yarros said at the end of her post, detailing her own experience with RTD staff and recounting some of the experiences she’s seen on social media.

Jones responds: 'We truly wanted it to be perfect'

Jones was surprised to hear all the flack she was getting over the event she organized, telling USA TODAY Friday afternoon, that she "getting gifts, getting emails and had emails from people telling me how amazing it was."

It wasn't until Sunday, April 21, the last day of the conference that she had people coming up to her, telling her not to listen to people, that that event was great.

"'What are you talking about? What's happening,'" Jones recalled. "And the next thing I know, we're being attacked. Anybody who tried to defend us, including authors were attacked and put on a blacklist."

Jones told authors and influencers who had gone to the event and enjoyed it to refrain from saying anything positive because she didn't want them to be attacked. Jones said she created this event so the author community could have a great place to go and be together.

"That's why I was so sideswiped about all of it. And the things that are being said are just insane," Jones said.

Jones is the first to admit that they didn't do everything perfect, there were definitely "a lot of bumps," particularly with the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center in Aurora.

"But I wanted us to be better every year. I wanted us to not have bumps. And if we had bumps, I wanted to make sure my whole team, was already making notes, about things we could do differently next year," Jones said.

Jones disputed the allegations made about the event, stating that they had a system for lines, communicated important information via WhatsApp and that pre-order responsibilities fell on the authors. She did say that staff was fully briefed and prepared for the event but may have gotten flustered because of issues with the hotel.

As far as reports of an assault, Jones said she was told it had occurred between a volunteer and an attendee, with the attendee providing conflicting information. She’s also not sure what happened to a stack of missing books, one author said had been misplaced. But she’s tried to find them. 

Jones apologized for the event not being perfect.

"And to anybody that didn't feel it was perfect. I'm sorry, I as coordinator have to take responsibility for anybody who didn't have a perfect time and I take it with a cut to the heart because I so badly wanted it to be perfect for them. But the problem here has just been that there were some things that they got layered onto what did happen."

Internet and attendees react, share experiences 

“All we did was stand in line. It was total BS … It was worse than Disney, and there wasn’t even a ride at the end,” said Kelli Meyer, an RTD attendee. 

Sarah Slusarczyk, a 32-year-old who traveled from Michigan to attend the conference, said it was “the worst” conference she had ever attended.

“It was such a nightmare … “The whole point is to have a good time. And this was not a good time,” Slusarczyk told The Post. 

Rhian Cahill, an author at the event, described in a blog post the “utter chaos,” including “the lack of communication between the organizer and her volunteers, between the volunteers themselves, between the volunteers and attendees.” 

“It was insane how little anyone seemed to know about what was going on. And don’t get me started about events being moved to different locations and nobody having a clue about it until they turned up,” she wrote. 

Susan Casper, a 52-year-old from New York, told The Post, that they didn’t have enough people working the event. 

“I don’t think they were trained right. There were a lot of technical issues. I have been to much bigger book conferences that were organized and ran smoothly. This did not.”

Here's a thread of reactions, experiences about Readers Take Denver 2024, now known as the "Fyre Festival of Books." You can also read the Reddit thread, here.