Love books? Two bookstore owners team up with indie marketer to bring 'Books Burgh' to Pittsburgh next year

Pittsburgh has over two dozen independent bookstores. It’s also home to the PGH Book Fest, spearheaded by the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in early summer, and the Great Pittsburgh Book Crawl, organized by Blythe Books and Fine Gifts in late July. There are dozens of book clubs scattered around the city and suburbs, hosted by libraries, groups and individuals. Bookstores regularly host authors for signings and special events. 

And, next year, a new book convention is coming to the city: Books Burgh. 

Lizzie McCoi, owner of Blythe Books on Brownsville Road in Brentwood, has teamed up with Tiffany “Tiffy” Overly, owner of The Shelf Love Society bookstore in Lawrenceville, and Leslie Stohl, an indie book marketer on Instagram at @tattedtrashreader, to create the book convention. 

The trio announced the event, which will take place on Nov. 7, 2027, in early October. 

“[We] recognized that Pittsburgh is a really literate community. But we feel like there aren’t a lot of larger scale book conventions, book events, whatever you to phrase it as,” McCoi said. “... Book Fest is wonderful, but [it] is also run by the [Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh], so they have their own rules and their own limitations of what they could do. So, we wanted to step in and kind of fill some of their gaps while expanding on what they’ve already set up and done a wonderful job at to bring more book relationships to Pittsburgh.”

PGH Book Fest first launched in 2022 as the Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books by founder Marshall Cohen. The library was the major organizing partner in 2024, and the library took over the event completely after Cohen moved to Maine, according to Pittsburgh Magazine. The festival was rebranded as PGH Book Fest for its 2026 iteration. The 2027 PGH Book Fest is scheduled for June 5 of next year. The Great Pittsburgh Book Crawl took place for the first time in May 2025 and shifted to July this year. McCoi said that she plans on having it again in July next year as “everyone seemed pleased with hosting in July,” although no firm dates have yet been set for the 2027 edition. 

As part of the Books Burgh announcement, the organizers asked for interested vendors to send in applications. Books Burgh will not be a genre-specific event, and authors from any genre are welcome to apply. 

The response has been more than they could have hoped, McCoi said.

“I think Pittsburgh is really hungry for this kind of event,” she said. “That’s not to knock what’s already going on because there are tons of events … but that’s one thing about readers: they’re always happy for another one.”

“I still get chills every time I see how many people have filled out the interest form or commented on our posts or talked about it in the store,” Overly said. “I have friends who have messaged me and been like, ‘My client’s just mentioned your [convention].’ It’s kind of taken over and spread on its own, and that’s really cool.”

Planning began well before the announcement, McCoi said, and has been ongoing since the spring. This is not the first time Overly and McCoi have worked together — the Shelf Love Society hosted an event for the Book Crawl’s social media ambassadors. 

McCoi said they plan on having space for 50 vendors and have already received more than double that number in applications. The work to winnow that number down hasn’t yet begun in earnest, but they hope to feature a nice mix of authors. 

“We have not decided yet, but I would say I think vibes are more important than location [of the author or vendor], with the caveat that we really do want to support Pittsburgh,” McCoi said. 

Each member of the team, called “A Bookish Day in the Neighborhood,” a nod to the Steel City’s beloved icon Mr. Rogers, all bring their strengths to the organizing effort. McCoi has experience organizing the Book Crawl; Overly has connections to independent authors; and Stohl will market Books Burgh. 

“I can run things from a bookstore’s point of view, and I can get bottom lines and business stuff all put together,” McCoi said. “[Stohl] can often bring that side that maybe I don’t think of first, with engagement and social media, all those things to bring people in; she’s very talented at that kind of stuff. … [Overly] has these amazing relationships with authors, especially indie authors, that’s a big reason why I wanted to work with her on this. ... We bring kind of the best of all worlds into one group.”

Books Burgh already has a venue booked — the Sheraton Pittsburgh Hotel at Station Square, a location that was chosen for its accessibility, available parking, access to public transportation, proximity to restaurants and even where it sits on the Monongahela River with a view of the city.

“We very intentionally thought about what’s going to give us the best value,” Stohl said. “... Is this spot one where people can go out and do other things? With it being right there at Station Square, if people choose to stay the night, then they can go and have dinner at the restaurants there. 

“There’s so much cool stuff Downtown still that people can go and experience, too. People can go up to Mt. Washington on the incline, and all that brings in more revenue for those restaurants and other businesses.”

For its first year, the organizers are keeping it a “mid-sized” event, and the Sheraton will also allow Books Burgh to grow year after year, as the portion reserved for 2027 isn’t close to the entire footprint at the hotel. 

“The goal is never to overreach," McCoi said. "We want to have a successful event the first year, and then we want to really scale that up and grow it.”

While an announcement about the cost of the event is still a ways off, the trio want to keep it affordable for both vendors and attendees. McCoi said both Blythe Books and Shelf Love Society have set aside money in their budgets to make Books Burgh happen. Since the announcement, she also said that several people and groups have reached out to be sponsors, but that organizers haven’t made any decisions yet. 

Overly and McCoi have made creating community a big part of their approach to business. The Shelf Love Society, a romance-only bookstore, opened in the spring and hosts several book clubs alongside regular events with local and indie authors, plus others like a private screening of the movie “Wicker.” Blythe Books, which will celebrate two years of operation in the new year, regularly hosts community events and book clubs. 

“We both have similar vibes, like we’re both really focused on community and building that reader community in our stores and in Pittsburgh as a whole,” Overly said.

At the heart of the idea to bring a new book convention to Pittsburgh is to continue to foster that same sense of community.

“Supporting the indie authors and vendors and small business creators and supporting readers, there is a way to do [all of that] and kind of bridge the gap so that everyone fill ups their cup and walks away having had fun at this event,” Overly said.

McCoi agreed. “This forces you to be a little social, but it’s social in a safe setting. You know that everybody there loves to read or everybody there loves to read maybe fantasy or sci-fi or whatever [mix] of authors that we bring in. You know you’ll have some kindred spirits in the room.”

That local community connection is important if the event is to be a success, Stohl said. 

“I’m going to say this as somebody who does social media professionally, but when it comes to getting people to actually show up for an event, there definitely has to be a really strong local presence,” she said. “It can’t just be social media.”

Stohl, who lived in Pittsburgh before moving to Baltimore to be with her husband three years ago, still holds strong connections and love for the Steel City. She works for a Pittsburgh-based tech company and visits regularly. 

“The Pittsburgh community is the community that really molded me into the person I am today,” Stohl said. “I grew up in central PA, but when people ask me where I’m from, I usually tell them I’m from Pittsburgh because Pittsburgh became my first real home. I see the potential that Pittsburgh has, and I really want to be able to bring something really special to Pittsburgh as a kind of thank-you to the city that built me.”

It’s still a long road ahead for McCoi, Overly and Stohl to make Books Burgh happen. 

“If only 20 people come, it's not a successful event,” McCoi said. “So, while we’re excited to see so many people interested, our work has only just begun. We have to promote the ever-loving crap out of this to make sure it’s hitting everyone in every corner of this city and hopefully beyond.”

But all three spoke about how well they work together and their excitement to bring the event to the city next year. 

“We want this to be a love letter to Pittsburgh," Stohl said, "but also to Appalachia and the tri-state area that doesn’t always get bigger events like this.”

“Do you have a love of reading?" Overly asked. "Do you want to meet other people who have a love of reading? Do you want to meet authors who have a love of reading? That is the foundation that we’re building upon.”

The vendor application for Books Burgh is still open; interested authors and vendors are encouraged to apply. Organizers are not looking for volunteers at this time but advise people to follow them on social media (@bookishneighborhood_pgh, @blythebooks_pgh, @theshelflovesociety, @tattedtrashreader) for information about potential opportunities.