The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books began in 1996 with a simple goal: to bring together the people who create books with the people who love to read them. The festival was an immediate success and has become the largest and most prestigious book festival in the country, attracting more than 130,000 book lovers each year.

Diana Wagman has published three novels, Skin Deep, Spontaneous, and Bump. She is the winner of PEN West's 2001 Fiction Award and the American Film Institute's Mary Pickford Award for New Screenwriters.

Tom Epperson received his M.A. in English from the University of Arkansas at Fayetville and has co-written the scripts for One False Move, A Family Thing, The Gift and A Gun, a Car, a Blonde. His novel, The Kind One, is a 2009 Edgar Award nominee.

Paul Feig is the creator of the acclaimed TV show Freaks and Geeks and author of the adult memoirs Kick Me: Adventures in Adolescence and Superstud. Ignatius MacFarland: Frequenaut! is his first novel for young readers.

Seth Greenland is the author of The Bones and Shining City, both of which have been optioned for films. He also writes for HBO's Big Love.

Merrill Markoe is an Emmy award-winning author of humorous essays and novels. She has worked as a radio host and a TV correspondent, and has written for television, movies and an assortment of publications. Her newest novel is Nose Down, Eyes Up.