About

The North Florida Writers Tour exists for one reason: to make sure the published writers of our region get the recognition they deserve.

I am Jolene MacFadden, founder and editor of this publication, owner of Southern Dragon Publishing, and a digital marketing consultant who has worked with more than 100 authors over the past 30 years. I am also a published author myself, a graduate student in social media at the University of Florida, and the host of Jolene’s Book and Writers Talk podcast, now in its fifth season with 75 published episodes.

I launched this site in 2020 with a simple goal: create a free promotional platform for published authors living in the 22-county region of northeastern and north-central Florida. Readers would discover local writers. Writers would gain visibility. Libraries would learn who was publishing in their communities. In the first 30 days, the response was genuinely exciting. Then COVID arrived and slowed everything down.

The site relaunched in earnest in 2025, energized by two festivals where I serve as Social Media Coordinator: the Sunshine State Book Festival in Gainesville and the Literary Indulgence Festival in Jacksonville. Those roles put me in direct contact with dozens of Florida authors each year, and those conversations became the backbone of a revived podcast season and a renewed commitment to regular publishing on this site.

Here is how the North Florida Writers Tour works. Authors in our coverage area submit their information, answer five or six questions from a bank of more than 100 interview prompts, and we build a featured article around their answers, their books, and their story. Every article is unique because every author chooses different questions. Authors who participate in the podcast receive an embedded episode alongside their written feature. Authors who are not yet ready to participate still appear in our alphabetical directory pages, organized by county, and included in the PDF booklets we distribute to public libraries throughout the region.

Our coverage counties include Duval, Nassau, Baker, St. Johns, Bradford, Columbia, Suwannee, Lafayette, Alachua, Hamilton, Clay, Putnam, Union, Flagler, Gilchrist, Dixie, Taylor, Madison, Jefferson, Marion, Levy, and Volusia.

This is a free service. It always has been. Our operating costs are supported by Southern Dragon Publishing.

If you are a published author in our coverage area and want to be featured, use the Contact form. If you are a reader who loves Florida literature, browse the directory, read the features, and buy a local book.

Jolene MacFadden
Founder and Editor, North Florida Writers Tour
Owner, Southern Dragon Publishing
Social Media Coordinator, Sunshine State Book Festival and Literary Indulgence Festival
Host, Jolene’s Book and Writers Talk