The San Jose Book Festival took place on September 12 after a year of planning. From my original idea, a team put together an amazing event. While I was exhausted by the end of the day, I couldn’t stop smiling. This was the first book festival of its kind in San Jose, California. While there are similar events around the Bay Area in San Francisco, Berkeley, and Sacramento, nothing like it had been done in the South Bay. I never doubted that the community would embrace it. The issue was getting the word out about the event.
The night beforehand, several of my team members went to Eastridge Center and set up the author tables. The shopping mall was an unusual setting for such an event. I liked the idea because it was indoors so not affected by weather, it had restrooms, janitorial service, food court, security, and plenty of parking. At other venues, we would have had to pay extra for most of that. We’d made a map of where we thought tables would go, but we had to make adjustments. We left at 10:30 p.m.
The next morning, I was at Eastridge at 7:00 a.m. (The last time I was in a shopping mall that early, it was Black Friday!) We set out author name tags on their tables, put up signs with maps and list of events, and scurried about doing a thousand tasks. Authors began arriving at 9:00 a.m. and the rest of the day passed in a blur.
We had over one hundred authors there in varying fiction genres—historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, mystery, romance, and children’s—and some nonfiction too—poetry, memoir, and social issues. Our city council member and ardent supporter, Domingo Candelas, welcomed everyone to the event at 10:00 a.m. and presented us with a commendation from the mayor. He was followed by our keynote speaker, Karen Joy Fowler. They spoke from the center of the mall, where we had roped off a presentation area.
Author panels took place at BookSmart, the bookstore in the mall, and were packed all day long. BookSmart employees were kept busy ringing up sales all day! Back at the center stage, Steaphen Fick, author of books on swordfighting, gave demonstrations of his swordfighting skill. In the children’s area, the San Jose Public Library brought Pete the Cat for photos and storytime. Several times during the day we raffled off tote bags full of books.
Over two thousand people attended our free, family-friendly event, and I must have talked to most of them. It was busy but not crowded. Someone described it as a farmer’s market sort of feel, very community friendly. That made me smile. I smiled all day. Attendees mentioned learning about the book festival on social media, in the newspaper, and on NBC Bay Area, the news show that interviewed me live the morning beforehand. One author sold out of her books by noon. At least four others completely sold out by the end of the day.
The San Jose Book Festival ended at 5:00 p.m. as happy attendees left the mall and satisfied authors packed up. My team and I helped the vendor tear down rented tables, and picked up trash (there was very little) and forgotten items. At 6:30 p.m. Eastridge Center was back to normal. I went home exhausted but ecstatic.
The first San Jose Book Festival was a success. Did you miss it? Did you attend or participate and have a good time? Mark your calendars now.
Next year’s San Jose Book Festival will take place on September 18, 2027.
Go to our website at https://sanjosebookfestival.org/ and sign up for our newsletter to stay informed about opportunities to participate.
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