by: Rachel Slaiman
The easiest way to describe a festival is that it is a showcase for all the independent publishers, self publishers, and literary presses that get taken over by the big six of the publishing industry to get their name out there as well and so that authors can have more choices in trying to find the best publisher to pitch their book too. But is a festival really the first place you think of when you want to go get a new book or the next book in a series by a particular author? Probably not. In fact, Barnes and Noble may be the first place that book lovers will go and get books, followed by the public library, then the grocery store, and then finally festivals. It is hard to believe with all the hype about Kindles and iPads and other e-readers, festivals still manage to stay alive and still be very popular. With a festival, it is a time to appreciate all those, for argument sake, not so popular books. Seeing just how many independent publishers and the like there are, it is almost seems clear of why there is so much competition in the industry. There are just too many books to choose from. Some people may argue that they have a few booths they will want to hit, staying about two hours or so and then leave. But now with the growing popularity of festivals and the word spreading fast, it takes all day just to get through it, not that book lovers would not mind.
That being said, with the fall season just beginning, don’t fall back into old habits. Go out and try something new, perhaps to a festival for an afternoon and enjoy all the books that are there, not to mention the food as well. Just remember, take someone who loves books with you or if you prefer, fly solo. The last thing you want your buddy to do is to complain and not look interested with so many things going on around them. So for all you book lovers out there trying to find some new reading material, consider these that were found at a nearby festival and then go out to another festival and find even more.
Boundaries by Elizabeth Nunez (Akashic, September 2011)
This novel is about choosing the country that you were born in and the country that you live in now.
A Wedding in Haiti by Julia Alvarez (Algonquin Books, April 2012)
Taking a journey through two countries, Haiti and Dominican Republic that share an island, but are bordered by each other is hard enough. Even though there is hatred toward each other, the main character returns to Haiti a year later trying to answer questions of “have…” and “have not…”
It is hard to believe, but much of what is said to be “dead” or “no longer exists”, can arguable not be true all the time. Festivals are here to stay and some may see it as an opportunity to appreciate what the smaller presses and agencies have to do in order to survive in this tough economy and a tough time in general for America. Just read all that you can and that is the way to keep in touch with an industry that is so dynamic, yet agree on one thing, it keeps people reading.
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