{"id":1105,"date":"2008-08-30T22:04:29","date_gmt":"2008-08-31T02:04:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/?p=1105"},"modified":"2008-08-30T22:04:29","modified_gmt":"2008-08-31T02:04:29","slug":"book-festivals-cartoonists-new-turf-the-decatur-book-festival-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/?p=1105","title":{"rendered":"Book Festivals: Cartoonists’ New Turf? – The Decatur Book Festival (part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Now that “Crash, Boom, Pow–Comics Aren’t Just for Kids Anymore,” book festivals around the country seem to be slowly but surely dipping their toes into the murky pool of comics and graphic novels.\u00a0 As mentioned in a previous post, this summer I’ll be attending Winston-Salem’s Bookmarks Festival<\/a> in a few weeks, as well as this weekend’s Decatur Book Festival<\/a> outside Atlanta, Georgia (for which I’ll be departing here as soon as my wife returns from dropping off our poor dog in “puppy jail” for the weekend).<\/p>\n

I’ll be taking my camera and laptop to the festival so hopefully this’ll be a multi-part post and will include a full run-down of the event, pictures and all.\u00a0 But, even before the thing’s started, I’ve noticed some interesting and notable differences between this event and the standard comics convention\/expo, and given that there will most certainly be more overlap between the world of comics and the realm of prose books, I thought I’d offer a few thoughts.<\/p>\n

A while back Bart Beaty wrote a post-SPX wrap-up in which he lamented the standard U.S. convention setup and wished for something more akin to the European model of events like the Angoul\u00eame International Comics Festival<\/a>.\u00a0 Maybe the book festival, as it includes more cartoonists, is a move more in that direction.\u00a0 From the outset this event has been quite different from the run-of-the-mill comics convention.<\/p>\n

I’ll preface this by saying that comics conventions run the gamut as far as how organized they are; Charlotte’s Heroes Con is an example of an extremely well-run show… and there are a few small press shows that are notoriously haphazard.\u00a0 That said, the pre-planning for the Decatur Book Festival seemed to be executed with a precision almost unheard of in the comics community.\u00a0 Groups of guests are apparently assigned a sort of liaison, who is available to answer questions, provide information, arrange transportation to and from the airport–even book hotel rooms for guests.<\/p>\n

Likewise, there are little perks that, while minor, really make you feel welcome.\u00a0 Here’s an example from some info sent out to the authors:<\/p>\n

Once checked in, relax in the suite, have a drink, get online, and have a bite to eat.<\/p>\n