I was disappointed by the fact that, near as I could tell, there was only a single nonfiction session for young readers at the Texas Book Festival — a reading by a single author. As a reader and as a parent…

Oh, please. We know this is really about me as a writer with some nonfiction titles on the way. I’d love to participate in the festival when I’ve got a book to show off, but with just a single nonfiction slot available, that sure hurts the chances for any individual author.

So, now I’m wondering how discussion panels for this or any other book festival come together. Who suggests them? Who coordinates them? Who picks the moderators?

Knowing Austin well, and knowing this year’s nonfiction offerings pretty well, I think a panel at this year’s festival featuring these music-related titles might have been a big draw:

Back to the question in the title of this post, how could a session like this happen next year? Who do I call? And how much of a breather after this year’s undertaking do I give them?