TURNS OUT I MIGHT’VE been a trife optimistic about attendance figures at this year’s Northwest Bookfest. Unofficial reports have it at 9,000 over the two days, down at least half from last year’s event (when admission fees were only voluntary). There were also fewer exhibitors (the rare/antiquarian book people didn’t care for the old airplane hangar’s leak-prone roof).

Still, the event should be considered a success, given the dire fiscal straits the Bookfest organization’s gone through in the past two years or so.

Now, it’s time to start planning for Ought-Four. And this time the Bookfest gals-n’-guys really oughta start listening to the suggestions I’ve given just about every year:

Give it the ol’ razzle-dazzle. More authors, more games, more fun. Imagine the possibilities:

• Literary-character costume contests (kid and adult divisions).
• An adults-only corner where readers recite the “good parts” from favorite novels.
• A two-day, on-site novel writing contest.
• A literary-trivia-based treasure hunt across the Magnuson Park grounds.
• A local-celebrity poetry slam.

Why, the possibilities are endless…