Decatur Book Festival 2011 Report

Last week I was at the Decatur Book Festival! How did it go? Saturday was the day before the weather finally broke so was a hot, hot day, at the end of a long, hot summer, but the crowds were still out in force. I had the opportunity to tell some stories at the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library tent - even though it was a little tough to scare up an audience, considering there were so many other competing delights to be had at the Festival. There was a Skippy Jon Jones parade, a hula-hooping event and so much more. I spent quite a bit of time, scoping out all the booths - how heartwarming it was to see so many literature lovers gathered in one place! Honestly, I might have a longer and better report of the festival if I talked about all of the things that I missed: there were nearly 500 authors scheduled to appear. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see Libba Bray or Beth Revis, and I also missed seeing Andy Runton, creator of the wonderful, nearly wordless Owly graphic novels. I'm told that Andy Runton is a local to the greater Atlanta area, so maybe I will run into him at some future event. There also was a Pete the Cat parade, full of fans of Eric Litwin and James Dean. Local (and famous) authors Jackson Pearce and Laurel Snyder were there too. It's difficult to say how many people were there, but it was a massive crowd. Some estimates go as high as 80,000 attendance over the long weekend, a number I can easily believe.

What I did make time for was some shopping... I picked up this gorgeous leather-bound journal.

I also stopped to check out this art installation. Passersby were invited to share what they were reading on these faux bookshelves.

What were most people reading? Let's just say I saw a lot of The Hunger Games noted on the "shelves."

Interestingly, the mood that I picked up on was a lot of sadness and worry. I can't tell you how many people told me in wistful tones that they missed the library, and they were disappointed with the e-books revolution because it meant that books wouldn't be around anymore. It felt really good to reassure people that the library, as an institution, isn't going anywhere (at least, I hope not!) A lot of people thought that they didn't qualify for a free library card, when in fact, they do. We got a lot of library card sign-ups that day. Everyone that I talked to was shocked, shocked to learn that yes, you can get e-books at the library. One gentleman asked me if I felt "disloyal" when I read e-books, and I told him, no, I appreciate books in all of their forms. I embrace the future, even as I retain my love for old books.

I pointed out to several people that e-books probably are bad news for cheap mass market paperbacks, but honestly, I have seen the quality of hardcover books increase dramatically ever since e-books have really taken off. Foil embossing, ingenious and beautiful cover designs, reversible dust jackets, deckled edge pages... publishers are pulling out all the stops to make books in their physical form really worth having.

More than one person told me that they felt that they were one of the few people around who appreciated books... part of a rare breed. I took great delight in waving my arms about, gesturing to the 40,000-odd people in the crowd and saying, "Look! There are all your fellow book lovers! Books aren't going anywhere, not when there are so many people who love them."

Decatur Book Festival 2011

It's Labor Day Weekend, and that means it's a double-threat for awesome, huge, overwhelming, magical, cool activities to do in Atlanta, GA. On the one-hand, we have the venerable Dragon*Con, a mega-convention for science-fiction, fantasy, costuming and gaming of all kinds, and on the other hand there's The Decatur Book Festival, a monster collection of authors, illustrators, librarians, booksellers and book-lovers of every stripe. They've put forth claims to be the "biggest" book festival in the country (The L.A. Festival of Books, and the Texas Book Festival in Austin might have a bone to pick with that) but they certainly do rank in the top 10, if not the top 5 largest. Their line-up of authors is impressive, to say the least.


I'll be storytelling at the Decatur Book Festival at Booth 127, on Saturday at 10:00 am!


Come on by and say, "hello" if you can. I'm bringing some of my favorite puppets, my wackiest (badly sung) songs and funniest picture books to read-aloud. It should be a good time! Expect a full-report on all the goings-on later this week.

Suwanee Festival of Books

There's nothing I love more than a good book festival, and during my many years in Los Angeles I was a regular at the Los Angeles Festival of Books and the West Hollywood Book Fair. Georgia, of course, has the Decatur Book Festival (scheduled the same weekend as the legendary Dragon*Con.) But it looks like a number of other places are yearning to put together their own literary celebrations. Yesterday, I had the chance to check out the first annual Suwanee Festival of Books, hosted in the Suwanee Town Center Park.

It was a nice day for it. Rather warm, a little humid, but not overly muggy with a pleasant breeze.

Ah, the familiar sight of book tents!
 

I popped in briefly to Peter Bowerman's writer's workshop, where he advised hopefuls on "How to be a Well-Fed Writer". He quizzed attendees on ways to maximize their PR. There were audible gasps from the room when he recommended his own personal secret: hiring an intern to handle much of the legwork for you.

I also got a quick look at a presentation by local illustrator Michael Montgomery, who was demonstrating some of his drawing skills at one of the authors' tents.

I was on the lookout for Laurel Snyder (author of Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains, and the recently released Baxter the Pig Who Wanted to be Kosher) but didn't see her.  There was plenty going on in the children's area though.  Craft tables manned by local teen beauty pageant winners.  Giveaways from the American Girls doll company.  Pony rides.  Hula-hooping. A special guest visit from Spiderman.  Best of all, I got to talk to R. Gregory Christie, the New York illustrator of Jazz Baby, Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves Deputy U.S. Marshall and Only Passing Through: The Story of Sojourner Truth as well as many others.  He told me that he is in the area doing research for one of his newest projects.

Considering the heat though, probably one of the most popular attractions was the interactive fountain in Town Square.

This was a pretty impressive effort for the Festival's first year.  Smaller, easier to manage and less crowded than some of the other "big" book festivals out there, I think people were having a really wonderful time.

Los Angeles Festival of Books 2010

Sad to say, I didn't get to the L.A. Times Festival of Books this year. It's always exciting with huge crowds, tons of authors, a jillion booths.  I really enjoyed going last year.
Well, the next best thing to going there is reading about it.
Here are some fellow bloggers take on the festival:

Lee Goldberg at A Writer's Life met a lot of authors and moderated a panel.

Laura Clark at L.A. Story took plenty of video at the Festival, including an interview with The Fresh Beat Band from Nickelodian, as well as a print interview with Caitlin Sanchez, the voice of Dora the Explorer.

Julian Ayres from The Tattler witnessed a foul-mouthed fracas on one of the mainstages!

The Publishing Maven ruminates about publicity opportunities at the Festival.

Notes from Vivace did a week's worth of blog posts about the Festival.

Jonathan Bernstein spent his time with other Young Adult authors.

Andrew Smith at Ghost Medicine says that this was the best Festival ever.

John Matthew Fox at Book Fox posted plenty about the panels he attended.

I'm jealous of Little Willow at ReaderGirlz (a group blog) who ran into Robin Benway, author of one of my favorite books, Audrey Wait!

Carolyn Kellogg from Jacket Copy moderated a new media panel with Wil Wheaton, Pablo Defendini, and Dana Goodyear.  She provides lots of links to yet more bloggers who covered the event as well.

Any other blog entries that I missed? Let me know in the comments, and I'll add you!


*Edit*  The fabulous Candace Ryan at Book, Booker, Bookest photoblogged Jarrett Krosoczka's presentation on the Target Children's Stage.

West Hollywood Book Fair 2009

Last week, I made it out to the annual West Hollywood Book Fair. It's certainly a much smaller and easier book festival to navigate than the gargantuan Los Angeles Festival of Books that I attended earlier this year. The organizers estimated a crowd of 40,000 for the West Hollywood Book Fair, compared to a whopping 130,000 for the Festival of Books. To be honest, I think 40,000 might be a tad generous. The Fair did manage to feel bustling but not overwhelming. I was only there for 3 or 4 hours, but I managed to see a lot. The weather was just perfect, with just a hint of snap in the air and clear blue skies.

New this year, I noticed several reading tents set up. I loved them! So simple and cozy with plenty of soft chairs to plop down on with one's latest finds. I confess, I expected to see a corporate sponsor for the reading tents, and was a little pleased and surprised when there didn't seem to be one.

One of the first things to catch one's attention was the yaoi booth set up prominently at the Fair entrance. Oh my!

A little further in, I found this Halloween themed booth.

I'd hoped to see Francesca Lia Block, who was signing copies of her newest book, Wood Nymph Seeks Centaur, but unfortunately, I missed her. I did run into June Sobel who was signing over in the children's area though! Other random celebrities present that weekend included Bob Barker and Carol Channing.

I hit up a couple of science-fiction/fantasy panels. A group from World of Warcraft publishing gave a presentation about their upcoming line of tie-in novels. I also listened in on "Comics on Comics" a group of podcasting comedians who provide commentary on comic books.

The children's area had a craft table that looked pretty busy, and several presentations of Shakespeare by kids, some in costume, paraded across the kids' stage. Teens were occupied on the mikes, sharing poetry.

Halloween's around the corner, so I was glad to see this ghost-stories tent. Inside was sufficiently darkened to lend a spooky atmosphere to the dramatic readings shared.

There was plenty of swag to be had at this Fair. Much more than usual. I lucked out and happened to win a raffle prize of free books right away. I also got several recycled cloth bags. I wasn't shy about snagging some kids' posters for my library, either. Speaking of which... the Federal Trade Commission is cracking down on freebies for bloggers. It occurred to me, as I was leaving West Hollywood that I hadn't really mentioned my blog to anyone. I'm fairly confident that none of the free books I received were in consideration of that. I will start mentioning where I've acquired my books in future reviews, however. I'll have more to say about that in upcoming post.

On Vacation

I am on vacation, breathing in the mercifully less smoky air of Atlanta, GA. There's lots on my agenda for the long weekend. I'm geeking out at Dragon*Con (for those unfamiliar, they describe themselves as "the largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the US") Plenty of fantasy and science-fiction authors here... Kevin J. Anderson, Rebecca Moesta, Timothy Zahn, Charlaine Harris (of True Blood fame), Janny Wurts and Peter S. Beagle to name a few.

As if that weren't enough, this is also the same weekend as the Decatur Book Festival. About a 30 minute train ride east of Atlanta, they claim to be the country's largest independent book festival. I don't know about that! They are expecting a respectable 60,000 attendees, but that's still nothing compared to the L.A. Festival of Books 130,000. Their author line-up looks like a dream for adult librarians: Sara Gruen, Diana Gabaldon, Kathryn Stockett and Lee Child will all be there. But, just like the L.A. Festival, there is a Target-sponsored Children's Stage featuring Jon Scieszka, Kate DiCamillo, David Lubar, Ally Carter and Lauren Myracle among others. If I get a chance, I may try to spend half a day there.

Good times!

L.A. Festival of Books 2009

Well, here is my report on the Festival of Books from this weekend. It was tremendous. Very interesting, very overwhelming, fortunately not too hot, but my goodness extremely crowded. I hear that the attendance was 130,000 for the whole weekend and I can believe it. It was the kind of crowd where you are simply pushed along in a sea of people being jostled and elbowed about as you attempt to rubberneck everything in the display booths. I took a picture from the top of the steps looking west, but I still don't think it does it justice.

The great mass of humanity at the book fair this weekend.

As always there are simply too many awesome things going on all scheduled at the same time. I really wanted to see Susan Patron, but sadly, the half-hour I'd allotted myself to walk across campus was not enough time to push past the crowds and get to the hall where she and other children's authors were speaking. Happily, I did get to a panel where Katherine Krull, Candace Fleming and Kadir Nelson were speaking about the educational value of picture books. Elizabeth Partridge was the moderator. It was a quiet panel... Nelson turned out to be much, much shyer than I would have thought.


Heading back to the main square, I came across this cool piece of wall art. Festival participants were invited to write with markers what they were reading right now.

A really neat display.

A close-up of the graffiti wall. Notice the large "Twilight" at the bottom of the book graphic? It was probably the most often written on the wall and always in the biggest font.

There were dozens of neat booths to check out. Brave New Voices, a new poetry show hosted by Queen Latifah on HBO had a booth with a rotating group of teens who stood on the nearby sidewalk, chanting urban rhymes.

I really wanted to see Kevin J. Anderson, who was discussing his newest book, Enemies and Allies, about Superman and Batman's first meeting in the 1950's. I just finished reading an advance review copy of it, and so I was very curious to hear his comments on it. (I'll post a review of it soon.) However! I also really wanted to see, speaking at the same time on the opposite side of the festival, Jon Scieszka of Stinky Cheese Man fame, so I wended my way over to the Target Children's Stage. Scieszka (say it, "SHESH-ka") was very entertaining. He read aloud a few things from The Stinky Cheese Man, as well as a short story or two from his autobiographical book Knucklehead. Mainly, his stories were about growing up among five brothers in Michigan and were pretty scatological, which all the kids in the audience seemed to enjoy.

There were a number of costumed characters there for kids to get their pictures taken with: Clifford, the Target Dog, some kind of dancing hip-hop character that bore a striking resemblance to Winnie-the-Pooh. My friends and I took advantage of this "lull" in the programming to check out more booths, and grab some lunch. I went over to see my colleagues at the LAPL booth. It was hopping! I didn't know any of the folks at the LAPL booth, but that didn't surprise me, as our system is so large, I'm sure I don't know even a third of all the people who work there.

Even though I was only there for a few minutes, most of the questions people asked at the LAPL booth were exactly the sort of things I thought people would ask:

Are you hiring right now? No.

Wow, can I really download e-books and e-books on tape for free? Yes.

Do you guys need degrees to be librarians? Yes.

Will there be a summer reading club for kids this summer? Yes.

If I come in can you teach me to use a computer? Yes.

Seriously, I don't know anything about computers, I'm a total beginner, can you help? Yes.

Right around the corner, the County Library of Los Angeles had a booth of "Library Scientists" dressed in white lab coats, surrounded by bubbling lava lamps, beakers, and books. It looked so cool! I wish I had snapped a picture of it.

That afternoon, I went to see Melissa de la Cruz, author of the Blue Bloods books, and several other teen series, back at the Children's Stage. Honestly, I felt so bad for her! I didn't think it was the best venue for her talk. The children's area was firmly dominated by the 5 and under set. Suddenly throwing a teen-vampire-romance author into the mix didn't seem to make much sense at all. Kids played in the aisles and parents stared at her glumly, as if to say, "Hey, bring that Winnie-the-Pooh guy back!" I guessed that she must have modified her talk a bit; she told everyone to follow their dreams, and then read the first chapter from her new book, The Van Alen Legacy, coming out next October.

By that point I was footsore and running low on sunscreen so that was about as much as could be packed into a single day!