What you missed on the Rare Book Cafe on Saturday, including a special limited-time, limited quantity ticket offer

So, on Saturday on the Rare Book Cafe,  we announced the special offer you see at the top of this blog. It's something we've never done before so this is an experiment of sorts -- and an opportunity for you, book lovers.

For a limited time only, you can purchase four tickets for the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair in April at a special price and save $10. The key is that you have to act quickly because there are only a limited number of these tickets available and it is available only for a limited time. Be sure to use the special code to unlock this hidden ticket offer. The code is in the graphic above. The button below will take you right to the Eventbrite.com page for the book fair.



Our guest on Saturday's show was veteran bookseller GiGi Best Richardson, a longtime exhibitor at the book fair. GiGi and her husband Skip have just opened the Best Richardson African Diaspora Literature and Culture Museum in Tampa.

You can view the Rare Book Cafe episode below.

Order tickets to the book fair online at Eventbrite

This is the interface you'll see at Eventbrite when you order tickets.

You can order your tickets for the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair online now at Eventbrite. It's a convenient way to order tickets and it means you don't have to stand in the box office line to get into the book fair. You can go right to the entrance where your ticket will be scanned electronically. Many book fair fans have told us they really like the convenience of getting their tickets in advance. It's especially helpful if you're coming from out of town.

This is a screen shot of Eventbrite's nifty map.

Eventbrite has made quite a few improvements and it's a breeze to order tickets, even from your phone or other mobile device.  They've even made it easy to find the location of the book fair (if you didn't already know where The Coliseum is) with a nifty interactive map, also accessible from your phone.

Here's something you should know when you order your tickets. If you use the discount code "saveabuck" (without the quotation marks), you'll save a dollar on each ticket you purchase.

A note: If you are coming from out of town and you're planning to stay overnight, make your  hotel reservations in advance. There are other events in town that weekend. One of the largest is the Grand Prix. So the city will be busy. As always, parking is free at The Coliseum so you shouldn't have difficulty finding a place to park.

We're looking forward to seeing you at the book fair.

For your convenience, book fair tickets online

We've mentioned this before but it certainly bears repeating. Through the miracle of the Internet, you can now buy your tickets to the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair online.

For the practical minded among us, this is quite a convenience. It means, in real terms, that you don't have to stand in line at the box office to buy your tickets. One less obstacle to getting to what you're really coming for -- the books.

The folks at Eventbrite make it really quite easy to buy your tickets. Their website is easy to navigate and everything is quite clear. What's more, they have it set up so that you get immediate notification via email, and you get your tickets. You can print them out and bring them with you or leave them on your phone and we'll scan it when you arrive. Ain't technology wonderful?

We started this a couple of years ago and it's really amazing how many more people are buying their tickets online than did that first year. Eventbrite is probably a huge company by now. They're based in San Francisco, where all great technology-based ideas come from (are you an Uber Taxi fan?).

Back when we were setting all this up we had an occasion to call out there for some advice. The company seemed pretty tiny then. You had the impression of a few tech-savvy folks getting together to and creating this great idea for helping small venues deal with ticket sales. Don't think they even had a receptionist or a phone operator. The woman who answered the phone had all the answers as if she had been working on the software herself. (She might have been.) Think she might have said that she was the only one in the office. Everyone else had gone to lunch.

Anyway, we've been pleased that so many of you have decided that buying tickets online is the way to go. You may know that we've set up a discount code "saveabuck" so that if you enter it you'll save most of the service fee, plus you get the tickets immediately. Don't use the quotation marks. Just enter the code as one word. There's a link in the column on the right on this blog. Click where it says BUY TICKETS NOW. You'll be taken to our page on Eventbrite.

If it works for you, we hope you'll go online and get your tickets. If not, we're happy to accommodate you at the box office. We hope you won't have to wait in line too long. We'll get you in the door as soon as we can.

It's getting closer. We'll see you at the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair.

Here's how to avoid waiting at the box office

Now you can buy tickets online at Eventbrite for the 2014 Florida Antiquarian Book Fair. Tickets are $10 (plus a small service fee) for the Friday Night Preview and they are good for all weekend. You also can buy individual day tickets for Saturday or Sunday. They are $6 each (plus as small service fee). It is the convenience of already having your tickets with no need to wait in line at the box office. The time you save can be devoted to looking at all the wonderful books on display. And since you’re reading this, you can save a dollar on each ticket by entering the promotional code “saveabuck” (without the quotation marks). So buy your tickets today and have no waiting in the box office line.