Observations from the Sydney Writers' Festival 2011

I'm safely home again after my trip to this year's Sydney Writers' Festival. I really enjoyed the event and the people I spoke to also enjoyed it. While I was at the event I had an hour between sessions to have a beer and do a bit of writing. I made a few notes on the event that I thought I would share:

• Writers' festivals are predominately attended by middle aged women who dream of being an author.
• Everyone fancies themselves as an intellectual (me included).
• Actors have to dress eccentrically.
• Publishers are continually being pitched books, especially by writers who haven't actually finished a first draft. Publishers refer to random pitches from strangers as “another one”.
• Writers are always being asked the same 3 questions.
• Some writers love the crowds, others would clearly prefer to be at home writing. It sucks being a famous/successful introvert.
• Sessions about writing are very popular, especially amongst those still working on their first book.
• Sydney has an obsession with coffee culture.
• Due to the coffee culture they have no idea what a cup of tea is meant to taste like.
• The smallest population at the event is the male under 40 crowd. I'm sure I was meant to have a minority discount token as a result.
• Apparently you have to be a feminist to be a female author, even if you write romantic fiction about finding the right man to take care of you.
• Judging by the Sydney Dance Company's posters I need to see more productions: all the female dancers are hot and naked.
• Handing out promotional bottle openers at a writers' festival is a poorly thought out strategy. It should have been a coffee mug, book mark, or cork screw.
• Handing out promotional pens is a great idea, the lovely people at Pilot pens gave me a Frixion Clicker that isn't even on the market yet.
• Politics at the writers' festival tends to be a more neutral topic than you would think. The older population and the education level tend to lean towards rational rather than partisan divisions.
• Most people in the publishing industry are passionate about books, just like the readers. The least passionate people seem to be the ones who make the marketing and buying decisions.
• People who like dead trees are a largely unaware of what is happening in e-books and the progressions they have made.
• Readers at the festival were spotted reading on their phones, tablets, e-readers and of course DTB. DTB are still the most popular, but even e-readers are taking off among the older readers.
• The sales of Michael Connelly's latest book are apparently 45% e-books.
• Julian Morrow (The Chaser) and his wife Lisa are really nice.
• The Chaser, despite the best efforts of Channel 7, 9, BBC and the Queen, are still hugely popular.
• Shamini Flint probably sold more books and garnered more fans from chairing a crime writers' session than her advertising for the past year. Witty + Funny + Getting Michael Connelly telling jokes = Sales!
• Gail Dines probably alienated more people with her polemic vitriol than she intended. Then again she is blind to facts and probably doesn't care.
• The people of Sydney were very friendly. They were just like Western Australian's, except for their constant IV drip of coffee and lack of familiarity with sunny days.

More on the Sydney Writers' Festival tomorrow; my dog - fur-kid, who am I kidding - needs more attention.