The festival was founded in 2011 by Jonathan Sanchez of the Charleston bookstore Blue Bicycle Books along with authors Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.
Author Melissa de la Cruz joined as Director of Development in 2012.
[1] In 2015, Stohl and de la Cruz co-founded a sister festival, YALLWEST, that occurs every spring in Santa Monica, California.
Festival Director: Jonathan Sanchez Author Track Guests:[2] Festival Director: Jonathan Sanchez YALLFest 2012 Keynote Conversation: Cassandra Clare and Holly Black Author Track Guests:[3] YALLFest 2013 brought together forty-eight top young adult, middle grade and crossover writers (including 25 New York Times Bestsellers) from all over the country.
Festival Director: Jonathan Sanchez Programming Directors: Margaret Stohl (YA), Melissa de la Cruz (Crossover), Pseudonymous Bosch (Middle Grade) YALLFest 2013 Keynote Conversation: Veronica Roth and Rae Carson (Presented by Epic Reads & HarperTeen) Author Track Guests:[4] Editorial Track Guests: YALLFest 2014 Keynote Conversation: Author Track Guests:[5]