Maggie Sefton sat behind a desk in the ballroom at the Suffolk Center for the Cultural Arts, her novels and postcard brochures spread before her.

“Readers are ravenous,” she told a visitor to the first Suffolk Mystery Authors Festival who evidently had asked about e-books.

“They want stories and memorable characters. The e-publishing revolution has been marvelous. All any writer wants to do is get more characters in front of readers. That is all.”

Sefton was one of 11 authors, including one husband-and-wife team, to attend the conference. Katie Kelley, tourism development specialist with the city, estimated the eight-hour event would see 350 to 450 visitors.

“It’s been pretty steady throughout the day, and we’ve still got a few events to go,” Kelley said mid-afternoon.

Kelley is Facebook friends with an author who attended Saturday, Ellery Adams. She said she messaged Adams about coming to Suffolk for a book signing, and Adams planted the seed that grew into the festival.

“She said, ‘Sure, I’d love to. What if I brought a few friends with me?’” Kelley recalled. “They said, ‘Great!’ and it just sort of grew from there.”

Besides the author meet-and-greet and book signings, the festival, which Kelley hopes will become an annual affair, included readings, moderated panel discussions and workshops.

Workshops included Anatomy of a Mystery, Mystery Sub-Genres: Rooms in the Mansion of Mystery, and Do’s and Don’ts for Querying Agents.

Kelley suggested the reader-aspiring author split among visitors was 70-30. But not all members of the aspiring author contingent were working on their first mysteries.

Housemates Christy Conley and Elizabeth Wells said they’re collaborating on a “drinking book.” “It’s a book on alcoholic drinks for the 30s and under,” Conley said.

“We got out of college and found a lot of books at the library (were) either bartender books, or the Martha Stewart variety. We are not at that time of our lives.”

Drinking book authors notwithstanding, the festival was pitched at fans of “cozy mysteries,” according to Kelley.

“It’s generally a female protagonist,” she said. “Somebody who’s — for lack of a better term — a busybody: well-educated, knows everybody in town, is able to be privy to what’s going on.”

A specific theme, such as scrapbooking, typically suffuses a cozy mystery, Kelley said.

With Sefton’s the Kelly Flynn Knitting Mystery Series, it’s … knitting. “Yarn Over Murder,” the 12th installment, was released in June.

Sefton seemed to relish the opportunity to connect with readers in a new location.

“I have not had a chance (before) to talk to readers in this particular area,” Sefton said. “I love the idea of them starting a mystery authors’ festival.”

But according to Kelley, it won’t always be for mystery authors.

“Maybe in a few years following, we’d like to open it up to different genres.”