Superstars Writing Seminars 2025: Full Schedule

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8:45am MST

Saturday February 8, 2025 8:45am - 9:45am MST

What are the advantages of a formal graduate degree in publishing that you can’t get just from online forums and writing conferences? Kevin J. Anderson and Allyson Longueira talk about their Publishing MA degree program at Western Colorado University.

Speakers

Kevin J. Anderson

Kevin J. Anderson is one of the founders of Superstars, a #1 international bestselling author known for his work in the Dune, Star Wars, X-Files, Batman and Superman universes. He is also publisher of WordFire Press, and director of the Publishing Masters Degree program at Western... Read More →

Allyson Longueira

An award-winning writer, editor and designer, Allyson Longueira has worked in fiction andnonfiction in multiple media, including newspapers, magazines and books for twenty years. Sheholds a BA in English from Rutgers University and an MA in journalism from the prestigiousUniversity... Read More →

Johanna Parkhurst

Johanna Parkhurst is the author of multiple young adult and adult contemporary romance novels. Her most recently published ghostwritten work was a YA romance that received a Kirkus-starred review. She has been traditionally published, published by small presses, and she currently... Read More →

Saturday February 8, 2025 8:45am - 9:45am MST
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Panel

10:00am MST

Industry Tools Discussion

Saturday February 8, 2025 10:00am - 11:00am MST

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There are almost as many tools as there are published books, and finding the right one for what you need can be overwhelming. Our panel of experts discusses what's proven useful, what's new and upcoming, and how to find what you need.

Speakers

Jason Hamilton

Jason Hamilton is a mythic fantasy author, former content manager at Kindlepreneur, and now runs the largest YouTube channel about the use of AI in creative writing (The Nerdy Novelist). His Story Hacker membership (StoryHacker.ai) has helped hundreds of authors write their first... Read More →

Dave Sheets

Indie Author Book Services

Dave Sheets has spent more than 28 years in the publishing industry working with many of the top book publishers, distributors, and printers in the industry, followed by owning a publishing services company working with independent authors. He has served clients in various sales and... Read More →

Alex Smith

Alex Smith has been with Printondemand-worldwide for over 7 years during which time he has gained an in-depth knowledge of the publishing industry. This placed him in the perfect position to lead the redevelopment of the Bookvault platform. He has worked very closely with some of... Read More →

Saturday February 8, 2025 10:00am - 11:00am MST
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Panel

11:15am MST

How to Curate a Successful Anthology

Saturday February 8, 2025 11:15am - 12:15pm MST

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Learn from our panel of expert anthology editors how to plan, curate, and launch a successful anthology, year after year.

Moderators

JanaLee Brown

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... Read More →

Speakers

John Goodwin

John Goodwin, President Galaxy Press, has been involved with book publishing since 1986, publishing the fiction works of bestselling author L. Ron Hubbard which includes the Writers of the Future anthology. He is also host of the award-winning Writers and Illustrators of the Future... Read More →

Sam Knight

Sam Knight has worked for three different publishers, curated five anthologies, authored six children’s books, four short story collections, three novels, and over five dozen short stories, including a Planet of the Apes story and a Wayward Pines story, both co-authored with Kevin... Read More →

Jonathan Maberry

Jonathan Maberry is a New York Times bestselling author, 5-time Bram Stoker Award-winner, and comic book writer. His vampire apocalypse book series, V-WARS, was produced as a Netflix original series. He writes in multiple genres including suspense, thriller, horror, science fiction... Read More →

Lisa Mangum

Lisa Mangum is the Managing Editor for Shadow Mountain. She is also the author of four national best-selling YA novels, several short stories and novellas, and the nonfiction book Write Fearless. Edit Smart. Get Published. She regularly teaches at writing conferences. She lives in... Read More →

Saturday February 8, 2025 11:15am - 12:15pm MST
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Panel

1:45pm MST

Self Publishing Round Up With Industry Service Pros

Saturday February 8, 2025 1:45pm - 2:45pm MST

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Industry pros from The INKfluence, CraveBooks, and ProWritingAid discuss the advantages of publishing with various publishing platforms.

Speakers

Dana Claire

Dana Claire, a marketing and sales expert, public speaker, and young adult author, founded The INKfluence, a specialized marketing agency for authors. The INKfluence offers special edition design & production, Kickstarter campaign management, and direct sales website build outs. Passionate... Read More →

Kerrie Flanagan

Kerrie Flanagan, with 25+ years in publishing, is an accomplished author, consultant, and instructor. She’s written for top magazines, authored 24 books, and developed the Magazine Writing Blueprint. Kerrie supports authors through her expertise and dedication and through speaking... Read More →

Saturday February 8, 2025 1:45pm - 2:45pm MST
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Panel

3:00pm MST

Resilience for Writers

Saturday February 8, 2025 3:00pm - 4:00pm MST

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In our business, hard work is not always rewarded with success. We experience rejection on a regular basis, not just from publishers and editors, but also from the marketplace. Sometimes a project we love just doesn’t resonate with readers. In this panel, we’ll discuss strategies to deal with the rejections that too often come—and the slights we too often suffer.

Speakers

Joshua Essoe

Joshua Essoe is a full-time editor who’s edited for NYT bestsellers, like David Farland and Piers Anthony, along with hundreds of independents. His books on writing, funded in just hours on Kickstarter cover the most-common issues he sees in fiction writing. Find him teaching at... Read More →

Todd McCaffrey

New York Times Bestselling Author Todd J. McCaffrey has over sixty books in print including eight in the classic Dragonriders of Pern® series. He holds degrees in art and engineering, is a licensed pilot, and an Army veteran.

Rebecca Moesta

Rebecca Moesta (pronounced MESS-tuh) is a freelance editor, co-publisher at WordFire Press, and 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... Read More →

Toni Weisskopf

Toni Weisskopf is an American science fiction editor and the publisher of Baen Books. She has been nominated four times for a Hugo Award. She has won the Phoenix Award, the Rebel Award, and the Neffy Award for best editor.

Saturday February 8, 2025 3:00pm - 4:00pm MST
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Panel

4:15pm MST

YA/MG: How to Write and Market to Readers AND Their Guardians

Saturday February 8, 2025 4:15pm - 5:15pm MST

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Our panel of authors writing for today's youth talk about how to capture young imaginations and parental pockets.

Speakers

Sabine Berlin

Sabine is an avid reader, writer, and editor. She has a BA in History, a Certificate of Proficiency in Editing and Document Design, and an M.Ed in Higher Education Leadership. During the day she works in higher education. At night she reads, writes, edits fiction, and watches K-dramas... Read More →

Jennifer Brody

Jennifer Brody (a/k/a Vera Strange) is a Bram Stoker Award Finalist and the author of A SACRIFICE OF BLOOD & STARS, DISNEY CHILLS, THE 13TH CONTINUUM trilogy, STAR WARS: STORIES OF JEDI AND SITH, and SPECTRE DEEP 6, prompting Forbes to call her “a star in the graphic novel worl... Read More →

Lindsay Flanagan

Lindsay Flanagan is an award-winning editor with an MA in English and Creative Writing.Her debut novel, AnnaGrey and the Constellation, was published by Young Dragons Press in August 2023, with two more books about AnnaGrey slated for publication in 2024 and 2025.She’s edited for... Read More →

Rebecca Moesta

Saturday February 8, 2025 4:15pm - 5:15pm MST
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Panel