If You’re in Albany This Saturday…

I’m headed upstate this weekend to take part in the second annual Empire State Book Festival, and it’s looking like we’ll have a pretty good time. I’m participating in two panels: First, I’ll be discussing “genre, gender, and race” in the context of the new publishing and bookselling landscapes—my contributions will probably touch upon how social networking tools enable authors and publishers to connect with readers who share an affinity for certain types of stories, even if those stories aren’t covered extensively (if at all) by mainstream literary outlets. Later that afternoon, I’ll moderate a panel called “Romance: [Publishing’s] Red-Headed Stepchild,” where I’ll talk with novelists Lauren Willig and Cara Elliott, and Sourcebooks editor Leah Hultenschmidt, about how this genre keeps big publishing afloat but still gets barely any respect—from there, we’ll hit upon some of the most popular trends in current romance publishing, as well as the eternal verities.

There’s a lot else to see Saturday—one panel alone consists of Jonathan Dee, Martha McPhee, and Teddy Wayne, and the afternoon keynote speaker is Rosanne Cash—so if you can make it to the Empire State Plaza in downtown Albany, I hope you’ll drop by! (You can’t miss it; it’s the group of buildings that looks like the set of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. We’ll be in the underground meeting rooms, which you can access through the building that looks like an egg turned on its side.)

31 March 2011 | events |