Read my lips...the UCF book festival was excellent!

Especially considering it was their first year, everyone involved in presenting the 2010 UCF Book Festival deserves a big round of applause. From the army of student volunteers that helped out all day to the informative full-color program to the yummy sandwiches in the author waiting area, everything was well-conceived and executed with no glitches that I was aware of. There was a teensy problem with the sound system that produced some unusual reverberations, but that seemed to be taken care of quickly. 

Held in the UCF Arena, there were over 50 authors that spoke and signed their books, free book appraisals, many activities for children, books galore from Scholastic, Barnes & Noble, and several smaller outfits, and if you looked closely, even an astronaut wandering around. Several characters from Star Wars were also in attendance. It was particularly funny to see Darth Vader posing for a photograph with a cute baby girl dressed in pink.

My brother Robert’s double booth looked wonderful and he was pleased with sales at the show. Leedy’s Books is located near Fashion Square Mall in Orlando and carries used books (primarily nonfiction) and also my new children’s books, naturally. We made a couple of suggestions in the exhibitor survey, the main one being that 2 days would be even better for next year’s festival. We heard that it was definitely under consideration, so keep your fingers crossed! 


This was one of those events that made you think, “Why hasn’t this been done before?” Well, now it has been and promises to be even better in the future.