Boston Book Festival Recap 10/19

by Katlyn Stokarski

There could not have been a more beautiful, perfect fall day for this year's Boston Book Festival. Clear skies and warm sunshine made exploring the many booths set up around Copley square all the more enjoyable. Free swag made this deal even sweeter: browsing with cider donut and free pumpkin latte in hand, I felt even more like finding a good book to curl up with.

And where better to find that book than at the David R. Godine booth? We were conveniently located near Boston Public Library and a delicious Roxy's Grilled Cheese cart (off topic, but I recommend their "Green Muenster").  Here's my sum-up of the day's events:

The Godine staff attending the event woke up bright and early to set up our table--simply trying to find a way to display the vast variety of our books on one little table was a 45-minute challenge in itself (especially difficult considering I didn't find those pick-me-up free lattes til after we set up!). It wasn't even 10am when the earliest browsers came knocking, getting an early bird scoop on what all the booths had to offer.

Colorful Black Sparrow titles ready to be unpacked.

Many perennial visitors to our booth expressed to us their happiness to see David R. Godine still operating independently and continuing to produce quality books. We were happy and proud to show them all of our new releases as well as suggest old favorites. Newcomers and browsers got free catalogs and signed up for our mailing list. Everyone was delighted to find that we had special one-day only Boston Book Fest promotion prices--20% off!!

Children's books were definitely Saturday's hot items. I listened as kids recognized the Catie Copley series, and parents explained about "the old days, before cell phones" as their kids flipped through Peter Ackerman & Max Dalton's The Lonely Phonebooth. Rush hour hit at midday and we soon found ourselves sold out of Susan Fillion's Pizza in Pienza.  Local celebrity and dog ambassador herself Catie Copley stopped by the booth, much to the delight of her awaiting fans. For the occasion she had on her signature red collar and an extra-shiny coat! She posed with us for a few pics:

Catie at the booth with a "paw-o-graphed" copy of her book.

Catie and caretaker Joe: aren't they a dapper looking pair?

And a great day was had by all. A huge thank-you to our supporters and everyone who visited us at the Boston Book Festival this year, and an even bigger thank-you to all those who bought a book! As an intern, it was great to see the personal impact this little company continues to make on the big world of publishing. See you there next year!