It's that time of year when we pack up all our books and spend three days hawking our wares to America's literary folk. The Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference is the biggest such conference in the country (not to be confused with BEA, which is more about the publishing aspect). University writing programs and literary mags abound at AWP. As a small press, we go to try and drum up some interest in our unusual books.
It's fun to be surrounded by people who are as nerdy about books as you are, and also a little overwhelming--there are just so many good outlets for the written word, every one of them vying for your attention. Though I suppose it's not a bad problem to have; with so much doomsday talk about how people don't read anymore, here are thousands of people who do.
Given the economy (I feel like I've written this phrase in several previous posts), I've wondered about the tone of the conference. Will people be hopeful? Cautious? No matter what the mood, there will be drinking. There's always booze when literary folk abound.
Stop by our table, #550, if you too are at AWP.
