Why Get Involved?

Now in its 10^th year, the Wisconsin Book Festival is a highlight of the fall cultural season, drawing thousands of visitors, and securing Madison's reputation as one of the Midwest's literary and cultural centers.

The Wisconsin Book Festival brings together people from diverse regions and backgrounds to engage in conversation, a phenomenon that occurs with less regularity in communities every day. By bringing authors to schools, libraries and neighborhood centers, the Festival enjoys a significant and lasting impact on the lives of young people and families, and encourages a lifelong love of books, learning and civic engagement.

The Wisconsin Book Festival is a special project of the Wisconsin Humanities Council, an independent 501(c)3 nonprofit, and works to fulfill the WHC’s mission: Community through Conversation.

Key Facts about the Festival:

• The Festival is an annual, five-day public celebration of reading, writing and community, in Madison, WI.
• All events are free and open to the public.
• In 2011, the Festival will present more than 100 of the nation’s top authors and poets.
• The Festival has an annual economic impact of $365,000, through hotel stays, book sales, retail & restaurant spending, transportation, and parking.
• The Festival is heavily publicized through earned media, paid advertisements and social networking.
• Festival publicity reaches an average 3,000,000 people per year.

Publicity and Media Attention

The Wisconsin Book Festival receives an impressive level of media and public attention. As a result, our sponsors enjoy high-profile coverage, including:

• Extensive coverage and a comprehensive pull-out event program in the Isthmus, Madison’s free alternative newsweekly.
• Major articles in the Wisconsin State Journal and the Capital Times, Milwaukee’s Shepherd Express and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and other newspapers around the state, including Beloit, Appleton, Eau Claire and Superior.
• Regional and national news coverage in Better Homes and Gardens, Chicago Reader, Chicago Tribune, and Publishers Weekly.
• Radio and television coverage in Madison (WISC/CBS-3, WMTV/NBC-15, WMMM/105.5FM, WORT/ 89.9FM, WSUM/91.7FM, WIBA/1310AM) and statewide (Wisconsin Public Television, Wisconsin Public Radio, and Wisconsin Eye).
• Paid advertisements in Shepherd Express, Wisconsin Academy Review, Onion, Isthmus, LaVoz, The Progressive, University of Wisconsin-Madison student newspapers, and other outlets.
• Poster distribution statewide through libraries, bookstores and other widespread grassroots

Mary Knapp and Susan Lee with some of the hand-made journals created by members of the Bone Folders Guild, a group of artists who initiated the 60 Books, 60 Libraries project.
2005 by Masarah Van Eyck.