Bringing Readers and Writers Together in ‘23

Welcome to the 2023 Sunshine State Book Festival—bringing readers and writers together again. This year we’ve made several changes important to participating authors.

• Our 2023 festival will be held in a new, better venue. The mall used for our 2022 festival spread authors too far apart, and it lacked the feel of a book festival. For 2023, we have found a facility that will accommodate all author tables in one large hall, like our successful 2020 festival at Santa Fe College, but with twice as much space.
• New! A select number of registered authors will have an opportunity to do readings during the day of the festival. If interested, see details below.
• New! A free author reception the night before will allow you to meet and mingle with fellow authors and interested members of the public and become familiar with the venue for the book sale the next day.
• Keynote address by a noted author will draw community attention to the festival and increase attendance.
• A discount is being offered to authors who register for 2023 before September 1, 2022.

Participation

Authors of all genres are invited to participate in the 2023 festival. The goal of Writers Alliance of Gainesville (WAG) is to promote, encourage, and support writers. The Sunshine State Book Festival is one of the ways WAG does that.

In this, our fourth year, the Sunshine State Book Festival is proud of what we have accomplished, and invite you to view photos of our past festivals.

Don’t delay. Author tables have sold out for every previous festival. Secure your place in the festival by registering now!

A celebration of learning and literacy

A book festival is a celebration of learning and literacy that should be fun as well as educational, bringing together people of all ages who share a love of reading and who will leave the event inspired by their experiences.

Florida has an impressive literary history dating back to William Bartram nearly 250 years ago. Today, Gainesville is a leading center of literary culture and home to hundreds of writers, novelists, playwrights, and poets, many of whom you can meet at the Sunshine State Book Festival on Saturday, January 28, 2023, and at the author reception the night before.

Last year over one-third of our festival participants were prize-winning authors.

Promotion

Letting visitors know about our festival is obviously important. Our marketing and publicity plan includes both print and electronic media. Media outlets have been identified, including newspapers, magazines, area radio and television stations, and online community calendars. We also plan to initiate a social media campaign to advertise the event and promote interaction among participants and their followers. Schools, libraries, bookstores, retirement homes, museums, and other organizations are part of our outreach program.

Help Spread the Word

We’d appreciate your help to get the word out. Please mention to fellow authors that festival registration is now open, but spaces are limited. Send them the link: SunshineStateBookFestival.com.

After you’ve registered, share our link on social media and add it to your blog or website.