Pat Conroy has words for censors; Texas Book Festival is here!

Don’t make “Conrack” angry-

There has been quite a bit of buzz lately about the banning of Pat Conroy’s well-known novels, The Prince of Tides and Beach Music from discussion at Nitro High School in West Virginia. Apparently, parents have a problem with the profanity and violent scenes throughout the novels. A few months ago we discussed whether or not getting banned could be good for your book. Challenged and banned books are generally way more interesting to consumers and media outlets. When controversy is packaged correctly it can be a great thing for your book sales and your publicist. Always the fighter, Conroy stated in a scathing letter to the school board in the Charleston Gazette, “Because you banned my books, every kid in that county will read them, every single one of them. Because book banners are invariably idiots, they don’t know how the world works — but writers and English teachers do.” Will the recent controversy around Dumbledore do anything for JK Rowling? On second thought, driving sales is probably something JK Rowling never worries about.

Texas Book Festival-

This weekend, thousands will convene at the state capitol building here in Austin for the 12^th annual Texas Book Festival. If you’re in the area or if you’d like a fun weekend getaway, this is the perfect opportunity! The festival offers attendees the chance to rub elbows with well-known authors, including Jenna Bush, Kristin Gore and Sherman Alexie, learn more about services available to writers and sample tasty Texas cuisine. The festival will also feature discussions and readings with authors, art and even the sweet sounds of former Texas gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman. It’s this Saturday and Sunday. We’ll see you there!