The Los Angeles EFA chapter worked the EFA tent at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books this year. The festival is held over two days in April at the University of Southern California, and it is the largest literary event in the United States­ (150,000 people usually attend!)[1]. It’s not an exaggeration to say it has everything: authors giving interviews and signing books; panels on writing, publishing, and literature; tents for writing organizations, libraries, bookstores, authors, and publishers; and books and book-related merchandise as far as the eye can see.

Everyone who worked the EFA booth was blown away by the turnout. We had a constant stream of people stopping by, and we spent hours happily chatting with authors who need editors, people who want to become editors, and established editors seeking information.

In between shifts at the booth, we attended sessions like “California State of Mind: Publishing in the West,” listened to Ed Begley Jr., shopped at the tents of our favorite indie bookstores, and met the many publishers and writers attending the festival. The volunteers all left with more connections, more knowledge and—of course—more books.

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[1] https://events.latimes.com/festivalofbooks/faq/