Book Festival Blooms in Palm Springs

The Second Annual Palm Springs Book Festival on April 22 is the work of Chris Johnson, owner of the three-year-old Peppertree Bookstore in Palm Springs. The California village's first successful book festival organized by Peppertree debuted in 2005. This year's plans include more activities, particularly for children, more authors, and substantial sponsorship by local media, developers, and others. Anne Rice, Tab Hunter, Sen. Barbara Boxer, Gen. Janis Karpinski, and food maven Ted Allen from television's Queer Eye for the Straight Guy are just a few of the authors appearing.

Past experiences attending other book festivals, including the Los Angeles Times festival, inspired Johnson to organize the Palm Springs event. Although Peppertree Bookstore is fairly new to the community, it had already built up a reputation for a very strong author program. "We feature over 70 author events per year," Johnson told BTW. "Even though the population here is very seasonal -- many people leave when it gets hot -- the village is growing exponentially, adding 42 residents a day.

"We did [the festival] all by ourselves the first year without major support," he explained. "It was amazing. We had 120 authors on half a dozen stages. Book TV filmed it and aired the program. Many companies wanted to wait and see before putting their support behind it. This year they're very enthusiastic."

For the second festival, Peppertree has outsourced some of the vending. Johnson explained, "This is not a moneymaker. Admission and all events are free. Our goal is to create a lasting event in our community." --Nomi Schwartz