Around 30 local Savannah authors gathered in Johnson Square on Oct. 7 to sign copies of their books and meet new readers.

The book drive and author fair was the work of local authors Jeffrey Pax (“The Rules/Las Reglas”) and Thomas Mitchem (“Karrington the Kangaroo Visits a Farm”), two authors who recently published their first children’s book.

When Pax and Mitchem had difficulty finding literary events and book fairs post-Covid, they decided to start their own. Planning took about six months and grew mainly through word-of-mouth.  

“The main focus of the local author fair is to create an opportunity for us to get right to the public because I only have one book and no one has ever heard my name, you cannot find this on the shelf at Barnes and Noble, so the general public can’t just stumble on it,” Pax said.

Mitchem agrees that events like these are a great way for independent authors to market and advertise their work, a need many emerging writers have.

“If we can get thirty one authors to sign up for this event, that means we’re talking to a need, I mean we’re answering, responding to a need that’s out there,” Mitchem said.  

The event brought together authors from all age groups and book genres and will likely be the first of many.

“The authors are hungry for opportunities to get out in front of the public and make our books available.” Pax said.