Let's have more conversational book events

I attend a lot of book events. I live in Brooklyn, there are book events around the city every week (Reading the City has a great weekly roundup if you want to attend more), and I represent a lot of writers who live in or travel to NYC for their events.

In the past few weeks I’ve attended more events for books I don’t represent and have been thinking more about enlivening the form of ‘brief reading from the book, prepared questions from an interlocutor, audience questions.’ It’s the standard format for a book launch; is it what audiences want? Often, yes, but sometimes, I think they do want something a bit more engaging — more conversation, more inclusion of them as individuals who are also in the room.

Reports from recent book events and thoughts for the future below.