NOTE: There will be a lot more speakers, agents, and editors added this fall, so please check back here often to see who is coming!

FEATURED KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Maia Kobabe is a nonbinary, queer author and illustrator from the Bay Area, California. Eir first full length book, GENDER QUEER: A MEMOIR, was published in May 2019. Maia’s short comics have been published online by The Nib and The New Yorker, and in many print anthologies including THE SECRET LOVES OF GEEKS, FASTER THAN LIGHT Y’ALL, GOTHIC TALES OF HAUNTED LOVE, ADVANCED DEATH SAVES and BE GAY, DO COMICS.

Before setting out to work freelance full-time, e worked for over ten years in libraries. Eir work is heavily influenced by fairy tales, homesickness, and the search for identity.
https://redgoldsparkspress.com/

 

Alka Joshi is the internationally bestselling author of the Jaipur Trilogy: THE HENNA ARTIST, THE SECRET KEEPER OF JAIPUR, and THE PERFUMIST OF PARIS. Her debut novel, The Henna Artist, immediately became a New York Times bestseller and a Reese Witherspoon Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick. It has been translated into 28 languages and is currently in development at Netflix as an episodic series.

Born in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India, Alka Joshi has lived in the U.S. since the age of nine. Joshi graduated with a BA from Stanford University and worked in the fields of advertising and PR before starting her own marketing consultancy. In 2011, she obtained her MFA in Creative Writing from the California College of Arts in San Francisco, California. She lives on the Monterey Peninsula with her husband and Coco, the misbehaving pup.  https://alkajoshi.com/

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PRESENTERS

Kaia Alexander, Producer, Podcaster, Author

Patrick Aylward, BookBaby

Jim Azevedo, Draft2Digital

Mahnaz Badihian, Poet

Camille Baumann-Jaeger, Video Game Writer, Novelist

Phil Beauman, Screenwriter

Sara Biel, Poet & Social Worker

Sheryl Bize-Boutte, Author, Poet & Writing for Change Coordinator

Heather Bourbeau, Author & Poet

Julie Broad, Book Launchers

Kiffer Brown, Chanticleer Reviews

Karla Brundage, Poet, Activist & Educator

Carole Bumpus, Author

John Byrne Barry, Author

Leslie Kirk Campbell, Author

Sherrie Cau, Inworld, AI Expert

Ying Chang Compestine, Author

Lucille Lang Day, Writer & Poet

Peter Dudley, Author Coach

Josh Fernandez, Author & Journalist

Marika Flatt, PR By The Book

Jodi Fodor, Finish Line Script Competition

Tina Gallagher, author

Joey Garcia, Author Coach, Editor, Media Pro & Author

Joan Gelfand, Writer, Coach, Activist

Lindy Gullett, Author, Consultant, AI Panelist

Marinda Johnson, Television Producer

Neville L. Johnson, Senior Partner at the Law Offices of Johnson & Johnson

Dr. Andy Jones, Poet Laureate Emeritus of Davis, CA

Maya Khosla, Biologist & Author, Poet Laureate of Sonoma

Shawn Langwell, Author, Speaker, Coach, Audiobook Panelist

Donna Levin, Author

Stephanie Light, Author

Emilie Lygren, Poet

Erika Mailman, Author & Journalist

Eric Maisel, Creativity Coach

Chris Mancini, White Cat Entertainment

Rod Martinez, Author

Robert McAdams, Teen Summit Host

Cecelia Mecca, Author

Susie Meserve, Creative Coach, Author

James Edward Moorer, Screenwriter & Producer

Dave Mowry, Audiobooks

Linda Joy Myers, Memoirist, Teacher

Kay Newby, Sommelier

Jabba Nori, Audiobook Panelist

O'Cyrus, Author, Publisher

Eli Potter, Venture Capitalist & AI Expert

Lissa Provost, Poet, Author, Cooperative Publisher, SFWC Director

Tara Rolstad, Audiobook Panelist

Jordan Rosenfeld, Author, Editor, & Coach

Krystaelynne Sanders Diggs, Author & Publisher

Ralph Scott, Audiobook Producer

Prartho M Sereno, Poet

Rusty Shelton, Author Brand Guru, Founder & CEO of Zilker Media

Victoria "Nicole" Shi, Author

Derek Slater, Proteus Strategies Media Consultant, AI Panelist

Andrea Stewart, Author/Writer Coach

Amanda Traylor, Mystery/Suspense and Romance Author

Julia Vee, Author

Bruce Wawrzyniak, Publicist/Founder of Now Hear This, Inc.

Elizabeth Ann West, AI Expert

Susan Wooldridge, Poet

Natasha Yim, Children's Author

Paul Zeidman, Screenwriter & Actor

 

AGENTS

Lisa Abellera, Kimberley Cameron & Associates

Malaga Baldi, Baldi Agency

Michael Carr, Veritas Literary

Karly Dizon, Fuse Literary

Laurie Fox, Linda Chester Agency (only teaching a Master Class)

Leticia Gomez, Savvy Literary

Camille Kantor, Kimberley Cameron & Associates

Kesia Lupo, The Bindery Agency

Alyssa Maltese, Root Literary

Jim McCarthy, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret

Laurie McLean, Fuse Literary & SFWC Biz Dev Director

Maeve McLysaght, Copps Literary Services

Stefanie Molina, Ladderbird Agency

Mary C. Moore, Aevitas Creative Management

Patricia Nelson, Marsal Lyon Agency

Lynnette Novak, The Seymour Agency

Natalie Obando, Ladderbird Agency

Andy Ross, Andy Ross Agency

 

ACQUIRING EDITORS/INDEPENDENT EDITORS

EJ DeBrun, Independent Editor

Tanya Egan Gibson, Independent Editor

Jodie Fodor, Independent Editor

Diane Frank, Blue Light Press

B. Lynn Godwin, Independent Editor

Leticia Gomez, Kensington Books

Gini Grossenbacher, Independent Editor

Georgia Hughes, New World Library

Lesley Iura, Berrett-Koehler

Jennifer Joseph, Manic D Press

Kaitlin Ketchum, Ten Speed Press (Penguin Random House)

Brenda Knight, Mango Publishing Group

Mary Knippel, Independent Editor

Heather Lazare, Independent Editor

Isidra Mencos, Ghostwriter, Editor, Coach

Mary Rakow, Ph.D., Independent Editor

Jill Roberts, Tachyon Publications

Kristen Tate, Independent Editor

Kristen Tatroe, Independent Editor

Wendy Tokunaga, Independent Editor

Brooke Warner, She Writes Press/Spark Press, Author, Coach

Jacob Weisman, Tachyon Publications

Monica Wesolowska, Independent Editor