Amelia Island Book Festival

Since 2001, the beautiful village of Fernandina Beach has been home to the Amelia Island Book Festival. Over 30 authors in the genres of novels, nonfiction, Southern literature, adventure, poetry and children's books take part in this festival each year.

This year I finally got to attend. Here's what you need to know about the Amelia Island Book Festival and my review of the day I spent with authors, book lovers, and other aspiring writers.

Where is the Amelia Island Book Festival?

The Amelia Island Book Festival has been drawing book lovers, writers and authors to this lovely area of northeast Florida for seven years. The town of Fernandina Beach is located on Amelia Island. Just 35 miles from Jacksonville, Florida and 60 miles from the Golden Isles of Georgia, the Amelia Island Book Festival is easily accessible for writers and book lovers alike.

The main event of the Amelia Island Book Festival - the Book Marketplace and the Writer (and Reader) Sessions - is held on the grounds of St. Peter's Episcopal Church. I can't imagine a more appropriate venue for this event.

St. Peter's Episcopal church lies on the northeast end of the historic downtown of Fernandina Beach. When you are not taking in festival events, it is a leisurely walk to the antique shops, gift shops, art galleries, and unique restaurants of this charming village.

But you may not want to leave the festival or the environs of St. Peter's Episcopal Church. Behind the church is a courtyard which held part of the Book Marketplace and an information station. In the buildings surrounding the courtyard, the writer's workshop sessions where held and another part of the Book Marketplace for most of the featured authors was held in a second story room. There are plenty of restroom facilities, water fountains, elevator access to second floor seminars, and dining facilities for dining with the authors. There were also benches in the courtyard to just sit and people watch - or dream up a plot for your next novel.

We had attended the pancake breakfast at St. Peter's Episcopal Church during the Fernandina Beach Shrimp Festival (which you can learn about here) so I knew these facilities were first-rate. But, I do have to rave about them because the setting and facilities add so much to the success of this festival.

Things to Do at the Amelia Island Book Festival

The Amelia Island Book Festival has hosted many different activities during the years including a festival party on Thursday evening, authors in the schools on Friday, talks, readings, and discussions by the authors, a book marketplace on Saturday, and lunch with the authors.

Most people come for the Book Marketplace and that is always held on Saturday. When the weather is good - which it almost always is in October unless a hurricane is brewing - you couldn't ask for a more beautiful venue for this event.

This year the Writer Sessions were also held on Saturday and even better, there was no charge to attend. After attending I can say that I would gladly pay the $35 that has been charged in previous years. But, free is even better.

Writer and Reader Sessions at the Amelia Island Book Festival

I attended the Amelia Island Book Festival on Saturday specifically to participate in the writer sessions. This was my first book festival and my first chance to attend any type of seminar presented by successful authors so I had no idea what to expect.

There were five blocks of "seminars" available. Each block of seminars lasted 50 minutes with a 10 minute break between the next block of seminars. The event started at 9:00 a.m. and the last block of seminars began at 4:00 p.m. and ended at 4:50 p.m.

The seminars were divided into Reader Sessions and Writer Sessions with approximately six sessions in each block from which to choose. During two of the sessions there were additional "chats" held with the Guest of Honor authors, Laura Moriarty and Steve Berry. There was also a literary luncheon with Guest of Honor author, Louis Bayard, as the featured speaker. To say the least, it was difficult to choose a session or a chat because they all looked good. The luncheon with Louis Bayard, I'm sorry to say, was already sold out.

I chose to attend sessions presented by J.L. Miles on how to craft a query letter; tips from Shannon Greenland on how writers come up with their ideas (this was actually a reader's session but I came away with some great information); a talk on the importance of the first page of your novel presented by Vic Digenti; and the "chat" held by Steve Berry.

What I Learned at the Amelia Island Book Festival

I'm sure you can attend a book festival in a much larger city and meet 100 or more authors who routinely appear on the bestseller lists. But I doubt you will attend a book festival and writing sessions - for free - and receive such valuable information and have such access to so many successful writers as you will at a smaller festival like the Amelia Island Book Festival.

I was impressed with the accessibility to the Guest of Honor writers, Laura Moriarty and Steve Berry. Although I was unable to attend the chat held by Laura Moriarty, she spent ample time in the Book Marketplace signing her books and talking with her fans. Steve Berry, who by the way, is a "local" - he lives in nearby St. Mary's, Georgia - was folksy and down-to-earth and also made time for his fans after his "chat".

Shannon Greenland, the successful author of a teen series called "The Specialists," even shared a look at her "notebook" with the attendees to her session. Greenland organizes a notebook for each one of her books and includes her research, character development, and chapter organization pages among other items. It was fascinating to get an inside look at the development of a book and gave me plenty of ideas to get organized myself.

And while I'm not ready to send out any query letters just yet, J.L. Miles' talk on the importance of a punchy beginning to a query letter will help me improve my writing and my article titles for the writing I do here on AC as well as any other writing I do.

Tips for Attending the Amelia Island Book Festival

I very much enjoyed the Amelia Island Book Festival and I will definitely attend again. However, I learned a few things to make my attendance even more pleasant next year.

Watch out for traffic in to Fernandina Beach. We thought we left the Golden Isles in plenty of time to make it to the first writer's session at 9 p.m. However, we had no idea that the Atlantic Coast Triathlon was taking place, too. This slowed traffic to a crawl and we missed the first writing session. Definitely watch out for this! We gave up and had breakfast at the uniquely southern T-Ray's Filling Station instead. This is another place you don't want to miss - look for a review from me in an upcoming article.

Be sure to wear comfortable clothing. I was worried about needing a sweater in the air-conditioned rooms for the writer sessions but all rooms were very pleasant. However, it never hurts to wear layers.

Comfortable shoes aren't all that necessary but you might want them if you wish to walk down the street to a restaurant for the lunch break.

Speaking of lunch, if you want to attend the Literary Luncheon be sure to get your tickets ahead of time. It was sold out before Saturday. There are lots of cute and unique restaurants nearby, and the Lions Club was selling hot dog combos in the backyard of the church. There's also a farmer's market just a block down the road where we got the best muffaletta I've had outside New Orleans. It was made with homemade olive salad that you could also purchase in jars.

Bring a notebook and, even better, a cloth bag or backpack. Most of the authors had handouts for their sessions and you will probably purchase a book or ten as well. If you are serious about writing, you will definitely want to take a note or two.

You might want to bring a bottled water. There were plenty of water fountains and the Lions Club was selling drinks but I would have liked to have a bottled water to keep with me.

The authors were very accessible at this book festival. I'm sure some are more helpful than others but if you are polite and considerate, I think you could easily get specific advice on agents, or maybe even a look at a couple of chapters of your own novel by an author at this event. The important thing is to be courteous about it, however.

Fernandina Beach is probably the loveliest and most fun place you've never heard of in Florida. Plan on visiting for the Amelia Island Book Festival and taking a few extra days to explore the beach and historic village.

Plan Your Visit to the Amelia Island Book Festival

A review of the 2007 Amelia Island Book Festival can be found on the American Booksellers Association web site.

Main website for the Amelia Island Book Festival is www.bookisland.org/.

Hat's off to St. Peter's Episcopal Church for being such a lovely setting for the Amelia Island Book Festival. Link here.

To learn more about Fernandina Beach visit here .

Visit the Fernandina Beach Farmers Market for a quick bite and some jelly to take home.