Tucson Festival of Books: A Book Lover’s Dream

by Rebecca Joy

The two-day Tucson Festival of Books has come to an end. The seventh annual Festival was held on the beautiful University of Arizona campus, March 14-15, 2015. They were beautiful (warm and windy) days in Tucson. Lots of sun. Lots of food. Lots of writers. Lots of readers. Lots of fun. With kids’ activities, a slew of tents, 350 authors, and food trucks, there was plenty to keep the whole family busy.

This year’s festival featured more than 350 authors, who conducted workshops, book signings, and panel discussions. With more than 250 exhibitors, book vendors, local businesses, nonprofit organizations, national publishers, and media companies were on site all weekend with nonstop activities, sharing information, countless book signings, and the opportunity for plenty of shopping.

Situated just south of the Student Union Memorial Center, tucked into the midst of the massive collection of author tents and vendor clusters was booth #133. Within this notable booth, 24 Poenix-area authors were represented. Each author was allotted time to promote and sign their respective book throughout the two days. The yellow vinyl signage – Phx Publishing & Book Promo – beckoned book lovers into our booth to meet these talented authors of multiple genres.

Laura Orsini, self-publishing/book marketing consultant and organizer of the Meetup that publishes this blog, worked hard organizing all the logistics to bring us together to showcase our books. She even put together a “Writing Sampler,” a great marketing idea that contains contact info and excerpts of the work from each of the authors who represented the Phoenix Publishing and Book Promotion Meetup at the Festival.

Download the Writing Sampler HERE.

I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Laura for well over 15 years. She’s been a tremendous help in getting my book written, edited, published, promoted, and marketed – the whole process. Laura is an expert in all things publishing and will assist and support you also in your book publishing journey. To learn more about Laura Orsini’s services and the Phoenix Publishing and Book Promotion Meetup, click HERE.

All in all, the 2015 Tucson Festival of Books was a success for the authors participating and the estimated 130,000 people, young and old, who showed up this year – making this book festival the 4th largest in the country.

Definitely a book lovers dream come true.

Mark your calendar now. Organizers have already started planning for next year’s festival and the dates are set. We hope to see you back at the University of Arizona campus for the 2016 Tucson Festival of Books on March 12th and 13th. If you’re not a published author yet, you’ve got less than a year to create your masterpiece, and with Laura’s help and input from other members of the group, you can do it!

Keep an eye on this blog as that date approaches. We look forward to seeing you next year at the eighth annual Tucson Festival of Books either as an author or lover of books looking for your next treasured publication. In the meantime, get involved with your community author groups and please continue to support your local authors.

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As a Phoenix firefighter for more than 26 years, now retired, Rebecca Joy had the unique opportunity to collect firefighters stories and compile them into a dynamic anthology book, called Classic Tales from the Firehouse: Firefighters’ Stories of Calamity, Courage, and Caring. Also a speaker, social entrepreneur, and creator of the Simple Awareness Method (S.A.M.), Rebecca continues to save lives and effect positive change in a different capacity by sharing a powerful, practical and life changing message on mindfulness and conscious living. To order your copy of Classic Tales, please visit TalesFromTheFirehouse.com for more information.