Bethanne Patrick

Bethanne Patrick, writer, author and journalist, is above all a reader, one who has built her career on talking and writing about books. Whether she’s recommending a great book, interviewing a novelist or promoting reading online, Bethanne covers both the creative and digital side of the publishing industry. In 2009, she founded the popular #FridayReads hashtag under the Twitter handle @TheBookMaven. The weekly #FridayReads conversation, which peaks on Fridays but runs 24/7, attracts thousands of readers around the world.Bethanne is the author of two books, An Uncommon History of Common Things (co-authored with John Thompson) and An Uncommon History of Common Courtesy, both from National Geographic Books. She writes a monthly column for Virginia Quarterly Review on feminism and culture. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, AARP The Magazine, the Daily Beast, TheAtlantic.com and O the Oprah Magazine. Other credits include PAGES Magazine, where she was an editor-at-large for four years; moderator of “Centerstage,” Barnes & Noble’s first online book club; and a blogger for Publisher’s Weekly.Bethanne has a track record as a launch specialist, having helped get Book Riot, Shelf Awareness for Readers and the AOL Books Channel off the ground. Her television show “The Book Studio,” which ran for four years on PBS’s WETA station, featured hundreds of popular authors, including Ken Burns, Ruth Reichl and Lidia Bastianich.A sought-after speaker and moderator, Bethanne has appeared at numerous conferences and book festivals, including O’Reilly Tools of Change for the Publishing Industry, The Virginia Festival of the Book, Book Expo America, Book Business, The Annapolis Book Festival, the Smithsonian and others. She particularly enjoys moderating panels and interviewing authors.A graduate of Smith College, Bethanne holds a master’s degree in English from The University of Virginia. She is currently working on a third book, a literary history, for National Geographic Books.