book festival

amelia island BOOK FESTIVAL

The Amelia Island Book Festival brought in traffic but it was a crowd of lookers and not buyers. Only one writer in my vicinity sold any books, and she was a local author. My neighboring author summed it up this way: “Time to scratch this one off my list.” The festival lasted until 5:00 PM but writers were leaving as early as 3:00 PM.

The auditorium was full of writers and books.

I’m coming to the view that book festivals without events that allow participation by visiting authors are a waste of time. By events, I mean panel discussions, interviews, debates, and author presentations. These have the potential to raise interest not only in authors but in books and publishing in general. Too many festivals are limited to a lecture by a well-known author, in which case, it's not a book festival but a lecture. What I'd like to see are events that spotlight talented writers who haven’t been recognized by New York publishing houses.

No, she didn't buy the book...

Without author events/performances how do visitors draw distinctions among the writers? As it was at this festival, visitors strolled along the aisles without a clue to the nature or character of the writers or books. It had to be a confusing experience. 

However, Amelia Island is a lovely beach town with a thriving historic downtown. My sister Nila and I had dinner at two local restaurants (Marina Seafood Restaurant and Barbara Jean's Restaurant & Bar) and we enjoyed both of them. 

 

I loved being with my sister. And she took the photos!