My California debuted this weekend at the massive BookExpo America and we’re pleased to report that it was a lovefest. Contributors T. Jefferson Parker, Kathi Kamen Goldmark and David Kipen spent Saturday afternoon signing copies at the My California booth (generously sponsored by Malloy Incorporated ) — and booksellers, librarians and journalists from all over snapped up books. We were especially thrilled with the response from the California contingent among the twenty–thousand–plus attendees in Chicago. Many of the state’s booksellers, including Book Passage in Corte Madera, Cody’s in Berkeley, Readers’ Books in Sonoma, Border’s, Whale of a Tale in Irvine, and Hicklebee’s in the Bay Area, to name just a few, were enthusiastic about My California and eager to support a great cause. Sales of this special travel and adventure anthology featuring 27 California writers will benefit the state’s beleaguered Arts Council, which has earmarked the money for school writing programs.

Corey Roskin, an organizer of the West Hollywood Book Fair, stopped by Saturday and offered a My California booth at the upcoming Oct. 3 fair. Laurel Toby, the founder of MediaBistro, offered to host a My California party in Los Angeles this summer. “The response to the book was just extraordinary,” said Paddy Calistro, the Publisher of Angel City Press, which collaborated with CaliforniaAuthors.com to create the anthology. “And the Californians just went wild for it.” My California will be in bookstores later this month. Read more here.

More notes: The Elegant Variation blog offers a glimpse of the chaotic scene in Chicago, including photos of Amy Tan and her dog on the Expo floor and the McSweeney’s booth, a beat up, old bedroom with a cozy red bedspread. McSweeney’s Publisher Barb Bersche and Co. had picked up a truckful of old furniture from a thrift store as soon as they hit Chicago. “We got it all for $160!” said Bersche.