Hello SCAF Team,

I applied when I was in an earlier planning stage, so this project will sound familiar--although I am aiming to include more information to answer your questions! I’m launching a festive Holiday Book Fair from 11am-6pm on November 28 in Soquel as part of my mission to make the Monterey Bay Area more bookish! It'll be like BookTok meets the Scholastic Book Fair meets a local community holiday market.

My goal is to host 25+ local/regional authors, booksellers, and bookish artists with a wide variety of genres. With the deadline for the initial application review at the end of this month, I have nearly 20 applications in already, so we're well on our way! Author applications will be evaluated based on submission by the review deadline, local connections, professional covers, and variety of genres. Crafter and bookseller apps will be evaluated based on variety and timeliness of application.

I'm aiming to have at least 100 visitors per hour and to rally the community to Shop Small this holiday season--the conventional wisdom being that once people get out to shop they keep going. I think this is something very needed in the Soquel area since highway construction is slated to close their offramp for the next couple of months.

As part of the celebration, we will have story times, author panels, a book-related craft, and–of course–hot cocoa! Attendees will enter the main entrance with pillars decorated like candy canes and be able to meet local authors face to face. A creative story about a mischievous shelf elf will give kids a fun treasure hunt to go on. A nook with couches and a coffee table will provide space for readers to relax and partners to rest. A breakout room will host the presentations, and readers and authors can geek out over books in the main hall. Readers can snap selfies with authors, and everyone can chat about their favorite books. Oh, and my big-picture goal is to make this an annual event!