Several thousand romance readers from across the country descended on the Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center two weeks ago for Readers Take Denver, billed as a four-day conference where bibliophiles would have the chance to mingle with their favorite authors, get books signed, and attend panels and other events.
But attendees say the April 18-21 conference was so disorganized and chaotic — self-described “RTD survivor” Kelli Meyer referred to it as “the Fyre Festival of books” — that authors soon began pulling out of next year’s event at the Aurora hotel, which already was on sale.
This week, Readers Take Denver announced its 2025 edition was canceled.
“I’ve been to many conferences and this, by far, was the worst one I’ve ever been to,” said Sarah Slusarczyk, a 32-year-old who traveled from Michigan. “It was such a nightmare.”
Miffed attendees told The Denver Post they shelled out for registration fees, hotel expenses, airfare and additional charges for books and other added experiences, all predicated on unfulfilled promises from conference organizer Lisa Renee Jones.
They described an event marred by hours-long lines, a lack of proper security, insufficient communication from events staff, preordered books that weren’t delivered in time to be signed by their authors, and even a shortage of gift bags.
Big-name authors, including New York Times bestseller Rebecca Yarros, of “Fourth Wing” and “Iron Flame” fame, took to social media to lambast the event, pledging not to return in 2025.
“Readers, on behalf of every author at the event, I’m sorry.” Yarros wrote on Facebook last week. “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 you did not get to bask in the overwhelming joy that spending three days in the book world should give you.”
Organizer Renee Jones did not respond to a request for comment from The Post.
She had put on a smaller version of Readers Take Denver in 2023, but promised a bigger, better conference this year — and vowed, specifically, that no one would have to wait in line, according to screenshots of marketing materials shared with The Post.
Attendees said Renee Jones — a mystery and romance author herself, who has written more than 100 books — downplayed problems with Readers Take Denver during the event and shifted blame to the venue in Aurora or the invited authors, at one point referring to the conference in an email as having some “bumpy bumps.”
In a statement emailed to attendees after the conference, Renee Jones said many people brought her to tears with their praise for the event. She acknowledged concerns about the conference, including a lack of security, unprofessional behavior by volunteer staff and not enough accessible accommodations.
“In the case that someone has claimed a volunteer put hands on someone, I got security involved IMMEDIATELY,” Renee Jones wrote in the email to attendees.
Representatives for the Gaylord Rockies Resort did not respond to a request for comment.
“Unorganized disaster”
Renee Jones marketed Readers Take Denver, which cost $300 to $375 to attend, as unique because there wouldn’t be any lines.
A timed ticketing system utilizing the WhatsApp messaging service was supposed to prevent waits to see favorite authors, according to the promotional materials shared with The Post. Guests were told this meant they could visit as many of the hundreds of authors in attendance as they wanted.
“All we did was stand in line. It was total BS,” said Meyer, the attendee who likened the Readers Take Denver to the Fyre Festival. That 2017 event in the Bahamas, which had been sold as a luxury music festival, went viral after attendees found themselves staying in wet disaster-relief tents and eating cheese sandwiches.
People who spoke with The Post about Readers Take Denver said they waited hours just to check into the conference and receive their name tags and swag bags, though some people say they didn’t receive the giveaways as they were told the event had run out.
Lines wrapped throughout the hotel, confusing attendees who didn’t know which line was for what. Volunteers at the event didn’t know, either, and often gave out incorrect information, causing people to wait hours in the wrong line, multiple attendees told The Post.
“It was worse than Disney, and there wasn’t even a ride at the end,” said Meyer, a 35-year-old from Massachusetts.
Panels included conversations on romance subgenres like mafia romances, sports romances and small-town romances. Other topics that were featured included how to write from personal experience and how to publish a successful audiobook.
Meyer said she ran into Renee Jones, who she described as rude and unhelpful — “about as cuddly as a friggin’ cactus” — when she asked the organizer what was going on. Author Rhian Cahill wrote a blog post describing an “unorganized disaster” and also detailed a heated run-in with Renee Jones.
“I witnessed the utter chaos of the event, 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,” Cahill wrote.
“This was not a good time”
After the lengthy registration waits, attendees said they were directed to what was described as a welcome reception, but instead found a lone bartender in a hallway filled with throngs of conference-goers.
“There weren’t enough people working,” said Susan Casper, a 52-year-old from New York. “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.”
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The process of picking up preordered books and getting them signed devolved into hours-long waits in rooms so crowded that Slusarczyk said she could barely move an inch.
Those waits were so long that some attendees never received the books they had already paid for, resulting in authors holding impromptu book distribution and signing sessions from their hotel rooms, Meyer said.
As attendees shared their experiences online, people tried to get refunds, which Meyer denied, citing the event’s standing refund policy, according to email screenshots shared with The Post. On the Readers Take Denver website, the only page currently available says the 2025 event is canceled and that refunds are underway for qualifying ticket buyers, minus non-refundable fees and non-refundable down payments for delayed payment plans.
Slusarczyk said she felt bad for the people who came to the Gaylord to experience their first book conference.
“The whole point is to have a good time, she said. “And this was not a good time.”
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