Following what was by any standard the dreariest Northwest Bookfest to date--in this space last week I called it "cloying," "ridiculous," and "infantilizing," right around the same time the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that the "embattled" festival, owing to a budget deficit and "paltry" attendance this year, was "teetering on the brink of extinction"--the board that runs Bookfest, in its infinite irrelevance, issued a press release calling this year's festival "an achievement" that "exceed[ed] expectations." (In contrast to the press release's tone, the P-I reported one day earlier that organizers were frankly unsure whether the festival would be able to go on at all.) The press release quoted the owner of Snow Goose Bookstore in Stanwood (um, where?) saying that people "were happy to pay the admission charge," that the programming was "fabulous," and that the event was "packed." Putting to rest rumors that the festival might not continue, the press release announced that planning for next year's festival has already begun and that "dates have been secured for October 23 and 24, 2004, at Hangar 27 at Sand Point, Magnuson Park"--where the festival took place this year.

Snow geese be damned, this year's Bookfest wasn't fabulous and it wasn't packed. But next year it could be. So rather than waxing disdainful on where the festival has gone wrong, I offer, instead, some earnest advice to the organizers for next year:

Move it or lose it. Sure, Hangar 27 at Sand Point is beautiful and old, but so is the moon, and that doesn't make the moon a viable place to have a festival. No one wants to drive out to the middle of nowhere, and many people who did last year refused to do so again. Have the festival at UW or Seattle Center, both of which are accessible by bus or foot and have a mix of outdoor and indoor venues.

Change the date. If you hold Bookfest at UW--booths and small stages in Red Square, antiquarian and book arts exhibits in Suzzallo Library, headlining events in Kane Hall--you'd have to do it in late summer, before fall quarter. Do it right before the school year convenes and you'll draw students, too.

Charge less. Ten bucks is too much, especially if the festival takes a tank of gas to get to and is in the middle of October (the busiest book season of the year, when there are always plenty of big--and free--readings at local bookstores).

Make national authors a priority. Do not have Target sponsor a photo booth. Have Target sponsor Jonathan Franzen or Lorrie Moore. Do not depend on publishers to send authors who are on book tour (because authors who are on tour don't want to go to festivals: They don't get undivided attention). Spend your money getting prominent authors who don't necessarily have new books out (but who have a considerable and popular body of work) to the festival, and put them up and pay them. They will lend the festival credibility and draw crowds.

But they probably won't draw them as far as Sand Point.

Are you one of the 16,000 people who went to Bookfest last year but not this year? Is it too far away? Too expensive? Stupid? Send comments to frizzelle@thestranger.com.