Publishers of all stripes pondered last weekend's Christian Book Expo, trying to figure out why only 1,500 readers arrived when organizers were expecting between 15,000 and 20,000 people. Organizer and Thomas Nelson CEO Michael Hyatt just published a thoughtful essay about the event.

His post analyzed five "mistakes" that organizers made, helping other publishers avoid the same fate. The problems included bad location choices, low marketing budgets, and bad timing, but Hyatt ultimately wondered if the event could succeed during a recession.

Here's an excerpt: "We shouldn't have charged for the event. I don't know how we would have made the business model work, but the truth is, it didn't work any way. Again, as Chip pointed out, people aren't going to pay for the privilege of being able to buy books. Not in today's environment."