Damon Courtney is the creator and CEO of BookFunnel, an ebook delivery service for authors and publishers. Though he would like to be a highly successful indie author, he can only lay claim to publishing a single fantasy trilogy that he does really like, despite its lack of sales. But self-publishing three novels did lead to the creation of BookFunnel, so he’s got that going for him. As a lifelong software engineer, Damon is an expert in just about everything technical and can offer unique insight on publishing as it relates to software and technology. Our lives as authors cannot survive in this new world without software, so that makes Damon feel really important.

Diana M. Pho is a Hugo Award-winning fiction editor with nearly 20 years of experience in publishing, including roles at Hachette, Tor Publishing Group, and the Science Fiction Book Club. Presently, she is Editorial Director at Erewhon Books, acquiring and editing genre-bending and game-changing fiction. Additionally, she has a double B. A. in English and Russian Literature from Mount Holyoke College and an M.A. in Performance Studies from New York University.Books she has edited have won the Thriller Award, the American Library Association’s Alex Award, the Nebula Award, the Lambda Literary Award, and a Kirkus Best Book of the Year Selection, among other honors. Diana herself is a two-time finalist for the Ignyte Award, a two-time finalist for the Locus Award, and a two-time Hugo Award recipient for Best Editor, Long-Form.  She lives in New York City with her wife and their cats Laszlo and Nadja.

Jana S. Brown has been involved in publishing as an Author, Editor, Presenter, slush reader, executive secretary, and marketer for nearly 30 years. She is the acceptance editor for Book Cave and an editor and author coach specializing in self-publishing. She writes the weird and the wonderful with smoochies and runs Opal Kingdom Press where she and her pennames have published over twenty books, including new anthologies and collections! She's also frequent co-host with the Blasters and Blades podcast.

Jennifer S. Wilkov is a multi #1 international best-selling award-winning author, an award-winning freelance writer, and a Hollywood consultant. She supports first-time writers and seasoned authors with the essentials to become a bestseller: a great project, a strong platform and a well-polished pitch, presentation and hook for their book, film, tv, streaming or theater project. She assists with the writing, editing, marketing, and publishing of their books as well as the building of their platforms to raise their visibility to readers, the media, Hollywood and beyond. She passionately teaches and educates writers as a speaker and program producer of workshops, at writers conferences and events coast to coast, and for groups such as the Writers Guild of America – East and New York Women in Film & Television. Her keen eye for stories that sell is trusted by industry professionals who appreciate her savvy in seeing the many possibilities a story lends itself to. www.YourBookIsYourHook.com

Joshua Essoe is a full-time editor who has edited for NYT bestsellers including Piers Anthony, David Farland, and Dean Lorey. He has edited for USA Today bestsellers, Writers of the Future winners, and hundreds of independents. He was also lead editor at Urban Fantasy Magazine and founded the weekly writing podcast Hide and Create with Michael J. Sullivan, Diana Rowland, Jay Wells, and Debbie Viguie. You can find Joshua teaching at the Superstars Writing Seminar every February in Colorado.

Kevin J. Anderson has published more than 175 books, 58 of which have been national or international bestsellers.

He has written numerous novels in the Star Wars, X-Files, and Dune universes, as well as unique steampunk fantasy novels Clockwork Angels and Clockwork Lives, written with legendary rock drummer Neil Peart. His original works include the Saga of Seven Suns series, the Wake the Dragon and Terra Incognita fantasy trilogies, the Saga of Shadows trilogy, and his humorous horror series featuring Dan Shamble, Zombie PI.

He has edited numerous anthologies, written comics and games, and the lyrics to two rock CDs.

Mary Robinette Kowal is the USA Today Bestselling author of the Lady Astronaut series and the Glamourist Histories. Her novel The Calculating Stars is one of the few works to win the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards in a single year. She is also a recipient of the Astounding Award for Best New Writer and multiple Hugo awards. A professional puppeteer for over twenty years, Kowal’s background in physical performance informs much of her approach to character in prose. She shares this craft expertise as a core cast member of the long-running, Hugo-winning podcast Writing Excuses. Kowal served as the President of SFWA and is an accomplished audiobook narrator. At home, she explores communication through a different lens with her cat, Elsie, who uses Augmentative Interspecies Communication buttons to “talk.” She also has an asteroid named after her.

Matt Bialer has been a literary agent for over 35 years.  He has worked at some of the top agencies including Curtis Brown, Ltd, William Morris and Trident Media Group. He is currently an agent at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates and has been there for 23 years.  His clients include Patrick Rothfuss, Tad Williams, CJ Cherryh, Tracy Hickman (of Weis and Hickman) and Stephen Lawhead.

Rebecca Moesta (pronounced MESS-tuh) is co-publisher at WordFire Press and a bestselling author. She writes SF/F and nonfiction books for writers, both solo and with her husband, Kevin J. Anderson. Her work includes novels in Star Wars, Star Trek, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer universes, her Crystal Doors and Star Challengers trilogies, and nonfiction books Million Dollar Professionalism for Writers and Writing as a Team Sport: The Complete Writer’s Guide to Collaboration. Currently, she’s working on several new books for writers.

Defying all odds is what #1 New York Times and international bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon does best. Since her first book debuted while she was still in college, she has placed more than 80 novels on the New York Times list in all formats and genres, including manga and graphic novels, and has more than 70 million books in print worldwide.

A pioneer in paranormal, fantasy, science fiction and romantasy, she has become one of the most popular and influential authors in the world (in adult, YA and middle grade fiction), with dedicated legions of fans known as Paladins–thousands of whom proudly sport tattoos from her numerous genre-defying series.

Her current series include: Dark-Hunters®, Chronicles of Nick®, Infernal Affairs™, Eve of Destruction™, Myths & Outlaws, Secret War, and The League®.

Over the years, her Lords of Avalon® novels have been adapted by Marvel, and her Dark-Hunters® and Chronicles of Nick® are New York Times bestselling manga and comics and are #1 bestselling adult coloring books.

Join her and her Paladins online at SherrilynKenyon.com and www.facebook.com/mysherrilyn.

‍