Last Saturday, I was at the Festival of Books in the Alleghenies selling my book Wuthering Depths in Johnstown: By the Numbers. There were around 40 authors presenting their wares. Fifty-five authors signed up for the festival but a few were unable to attend. The event was sponsored by the Somerset Trust Company, Sunbury Press, Catamount Press, and the Writers Conference of Northern Appalachia. The Community Foundation for the Alleghenies is a fiduciary for the festival just as it is for this website.
In the video above, I interviewed the authors who were present. I also did a numeric profile of the authors. There were 57 authors (55 who signed up plus 2 from the Writer’s Association of Northern Appalachia). Twenty-six of these authors were men and 31 were men. All authors were white except one who was of Pakistani descent.
Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror was the most popular genre with 13 authors. Some authors write in more than one genre. Murder/Crime mystery was the second most common with 10 authors. There were 9 Historical Fiction and General Fiction authors, 8 Children’s authors and 7 Memoir/Biography, 5 in Poetry, 4 each in History and Romance, and 2 in Nonfiction.
The Festival of Books in the Alleghenies provides a good survey of the literary scene in the area. A few such as Annette Dashofy and Russell Shorto have achieved best seller status. The literary scene here may not get the same attention that other large cities get but it does make a statement. The night before they had a fundraiser for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library but I was unable to attend.