The Christian Book Expo, a first ever "fan event" for evangelical Christian book lovers, drew only about 1,500 people to the Dallas Convention Center during a three-day run that ended Sunday. "It's far less than we had hoped for," said Mark Kuyper, president/CEO of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, which put on the event.

Kuyper said the marketing strategy relied too much on networking through publishers, authors and church groups, and would have to include billboards and other forms of mass marketing to pull in a much larger crowd. If ECPA tries again, Dallas will remain the site, Kuyper said. He added that the event was well-received. "The people who came just loved it," he said.

The expo featured workshops and panel discussions with authors, including one Saturday with best-selling author Christopher Hitchens and four Christian apologists.