Sinners and Stardust: Registering and Mastering the Consent Guides

My villain origin story will absolutely start with me missing my 5:30 a.m. bus from NYC to Boston on the morning of Sinners and Stardust Industry Registration. At 1 in the morning, I decided that sleep could benefit me before my morning bus. In hindsight, that was the dumbest idea I’ve had in a long time. Trust that all of the alarms I had set, were muted to my brain that somehow managed an incredibly deep R.E.M. sleep that I could only dream of getting on a regular work night. So, running on 4 hours of sleep, I booked the next bus, tossed the last remnants of my equipment in my suitcase, and made my way to Boston.

I somehow managed to make it on time and watch the first big influx of authors, vendors, and influencers make their way to the registration tables. Obviously, not before I secured 2 cups of coffee at MJ O’Connor’s which is right around the corner. It’s like a right-of-passage for me to pop in there when I attend Sinners & Stardust and order their chicken tenders and fries. It hits the spot just right, and with the sweetest staff — you can’t go wrong with the service either (ask for Dominic, you won’t regret it).

With a renewed sense of excitement to be in a familiar place with people we love, we made our way over to registration where the beginning of our fun weekend was set to start. As readers began to pack the hotel floor for dedicated registration — authors, vendors, influencers, and press had been moving and grooving since 2 p.m. As they all began to settle into the flow of navigating where to go, how to set up, and how to re-ground themselves before hitting the signing floor tomorrow, the Hilton Park Plaza was beginning to bustle with activity.

It’s safe to say that preparing for an event like this is no easy feat. Authors are lugging books and merch from across the country and globe to be apart of something bigger than them in an effort to share their love for their work and their readers with others. Vendors are hoping to meet new customers while finally meeting their loyal clients who have helped take them to new heights. Tattoo artists are preparing for long days of bringing your visions to life. Influencers, as well, are working hard to give you on-the-ground coverage of what amazing things the event has to offer.

As you can imagine, getting through registration is far from being the roughest part of a convention. The Dark Collective made it incredibly easy to navigate author registration lines, know exactly where to register, and to find volunteers that are incredibly sweet and informative. It looks like throughout the event, and even at the registration lines, you will find the Code of Conduct and the Levels of Comfort on huge banners. As the third year that this event is happening here in Boston, it’s important to note that The Dark Collective has been incredibly efficient in taking reader concerns about safety seriously. The dedication to ensuring the safety of your authors, vendors, and attendees alike is of the utmost importance and it’s reaffirming to know that your comfort is prioritized by the people who run the event.

The lovely, Hailey Jo, @jobetweenchapters on TikTok, is definitely one of those sweet aforementioned volunteers that are dedicated to bringing you all the information on the Code of Conduct and The 3 Levels of Comfort that you could need. Before you walk the convention floor tomorrow, familiarize yourself with the consent guides so that you can be aware of your needs as well as others! It’s great to know that Sinners and Stardust and the entire team want us to all experience a safe event, but truly it’s up to us to make sure we pay attention to our needs, stand firm on respecting other’s boundaries as well as our own, and leaving room for people to be as comfortable as they wish to be.

We are excited to follow-up on the event all weekend long and provide as many updates as possible. If you want to stay tuned with our updates, please check out the Library of Angels Threads platform for Live Updates on Saturday & Sunday!