Publishing

From Keyboard to Bookstore (2009): Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

By: John Freeman, Kerry Slattery, Johnny Temple

Narrated by: Betsy Amster

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books began in 1996 with a simple goal: to bring together the people who create books with the people who love to read them. The festival was an immediate success and has become the largest and most prestigious book festival in the country, attracting more than 130,000 book lovers each year.

Betsy Amster is president of Betsy Amster Literary Enterprises, a literary agency in Los Angeles. She is a frequent instructor in the UCLA Extension Writers' Program and also runs publishing workshops. Her clients include some of the nation's best-selling writers.

John Freeman is the American editor of Granta magazine. A former president of the National Book Critics Circle, his criticism has appeared in publications around the world. Freeman's book The Tyranny of Email: The Four-Thousand-Year Journey to Your Inbox is due out in October.

Kerry Slattery is the general manager and co-owner of Skylight Books, an independent bookstore in Los Feliz that is celebrating its 13th anniversary this November. Prior to that, she worked as an actress for more than 24 years, was in a PhD program in linguistics, and worked on the production side of the film industry.

Johnny Temple is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Akashic Books, the Brooklyn-based independent publisher. Temple plays bass in the band Girls Against Boys and has also played with Liz Phair.

©2009 LA Times (P)2009 LA Times