Although president and founder Carl West calls the Kentucky Book Fair in Frankfort "one of the oldest in the nation of its kind," its 21st edition this fall will see some significant changes. For starters, the date has been moved up to Saturday, November 2, from the traditional Saturday before Thanksgiving, to avoid conflicting with the Miami Book Fair International (Nov. 17—24), and the venue will change from the Kentucky State University campus to the downtown Farnham Douglas Civic Center, adjacent to the restored Old State Capitol and the Kentucky Historical Society's History Center museum.
But perhaps the most important change is the honing of a partnership with Joseph-Beth Booksellers in nearby Lexington to help attract more nationally known authors and to streamline ordering and sales procedures. Joseph-Beth/Lexington general manager and fair liaison Shawn Metts told PW that half the books to be sold in the booths at the not-for-profit event will be ordered by the large independent, with 10% of sales proceeds to be donated to the fair, a fundraiser for the state's school and public libraries. (Although the fair's major sponsor is Frankfort's State Journal newspaper, the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives and the University Press of Kentucky are cosponsors.)
Metts thinks such pairings will increase as book fair facilitators—especially those with small staffs—realize the advantages. "Not only can we help promote the fair to our customers, but we have contacts at the larger houses that fair planners may not have ready access to," said Metts.
To date, Joseph-Beth has sent invitations to 45 authors, although Metts declined to cite any by name. According to part-time manager Connie Crowe, KBF has traditionally attracted 135 to 150 authors—the preponderance of whom were from the state or surrounding region—and she is in the process of extending invitations to a separate list.
West and KBF's 30-member volunteer board are eager to surpass last year's near-record 5,000 attendance and $146,000 in sales. Describing the event as an interactive "author-reader fair" with few speaker sessions, West noted that while attendees come from throughout the state, "for the most part, they're from an triangle anchored by Lexington to the south, Louisville to the west, and Cincinnati to the north. Joseph-Beth has a store in Cincinnati as well as Lexington, of course, which is another reason why we were anxious to get them involved."
