Mark Gottlieb is an Executive Vice President and literary agent at book publishing’s leading literary agency Trident Media Group, representing bestselling and award-winning authors.

Jimmy Newson, the Impact Influencer, is the Founder and CEO of Moving Forward Small Business (MFSB), with a mission to prevent one million business failures by 2050. He is a SaaS Founder (Traxcend and FoClea) and a certified digital strategy expert. As an international speaker and dynamic event host, he collaborates with organizations like SBA, SCORE, and DMWF and is featured in Forbes and Entrepreneur.

Tony specialised in Human Behaviour, author of the #1 bestseller Climb Greater Heights™, and architect of the 12-Step Accelerated Growth Methodology®. Featured in over 1,000 TV, radio, podcast, and magazine interviews reaching more than 100 million people worldwide, Tony delivers a future-proof system for authors, entrepreneurs, and visionary leaders to transform their words into legacies that outlive them.

An accomplished actress, https://www.kateorsini.com/credits, Kate Orsini, on screen, she's been, among other things, Maria Bello's ex, Robert Patrick's nemesis, Hank Azaria's nemesis, Hayden Panettiere's lawyer nemesis, Gina Rodriguez' yuppie nemesis, Ed Begley Jr.'s angry daughter, Malcolm McDowell's daughter...
Shakespeare on stage, Chekhov on film, and her own material, culminating in the zoom episodic she's just co-written and starred in,
"The Corona Dialogues," for which she just won Best Actress at The Indie Fest Awards. Coming soon to a sofa near you (um, Hulu).

Brian O'Leary is the executive director of the Book Industry Study Group, which oversees standards and best practices for the book industry supply chain in the United States.

Creatorwood turns books, scripts, and any written story into movies and shows with AI. Bring your story to life 1,000x cheaper and faster than traditional means and sell it directly to viewers on our streaming platform.

Nadim is the Founder & CEO of Shimmr AI. An AI-native business, it focuses on publishing, making under-monetised titles more productive, improving publishers’ profitability, and bringing fulfilling books to psychologically-matched readers. Previously, Nadim was Founder & CEO of ProQuo AI, an AI-driven brand management platform, which proved a new sector in marketing technology. Earlier, he used his degree in Psychology to found and lead what became the world’s largest qualitative market research company, Sadek Wynberg Research. This was sold to WPP, and he led two of their global networks, Millward Brown Qualitative Network and Research International. He studied Pure Psychology (and Mental & Moral Science) at Trinity College, Dublin.

Olczak is the publisher of BookCAMP magazine, which addresses authors and publishers' challenges of book publishing. He also manages the marketing for the Independent Press Award and the NYC Big Book Award, he is the magazine publisher of the awards.
Olczak is a career-long publishing professional, Master's Degree in Marketing Management in Book and Magazine Publishing from New York University.
His experience includes Independent Book Publishers Association, Independent Press Award, NYC Big Book Award; Publishers Weekly; National Business/Lifestyle Magazines (FORTUNE, Money, Delta, United, and 14 others); helped New York Magazine create its sister visitor publication IN-New York Magazine.

Gloria Mindock is editor of Cervená Barva Press. She is an award-winning author of six poetry collections, two translations into Romanian and Serbian, and three chapbooks. Her poems have been published and translated into twelve languages. Her recent book, Grief Touched the Sky at Night (Glass Lyre Press, 2023), won the NYC Big Book Award, and the Independent Press Award. The book went on to win five other awards besides being a finalist twice, long listed and a few honorable mentions.
Recently, Gloria received the Sam Cornish Award for contributions as an international publisher, activist, and poet whose unflinching eye bears witness to atrocities inflicted on people around the world, from the New England Poetry Club.

Lee Woodman is the author of the “Scapes” poetry series (“Colorscapes,” “Soulscapes,” “Artscapes,” “Lifescapes,” “Homescapes,” “Mindscapes”) and winner of the Independent Press Gold Award 2025, the Nautilus Gold Award for Poetry 2025, and the Independent Press Award for Distinguished Favorite in Poetry 2023. She is also winner of the 2020 William Meredith Prize for Poetry, the 2021 Atlantic Review International Poetry Competition Merit Award, and First Prize in Poetry and Prose Contest for Carve Magazine 2022.

As the author of the novel "Bell Hammers," praised as "a hoot" by Publishers Weekly, Schaubert has published dozens of stories, hundreds of poems and essays.

A full voting member of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association, Schaubert edits "The Showbear Family Circus" and the anthology series "Of Gods and Globes." Schaubert believes art should change us for the better, motivating us to be true and good. My goal is to create work that fosters virtue in both myself and others.

Megan Sells, Acquisitions Manager and Developmental Editor at Atmosphere Press, helps authors navigate hybrid publishing contracts and shape their manuscripts into powerful, polished books ready for publication. They are excited to connect with authors who bring energy, originality, and heart to their work.

Is your book a movie? What steps do you need to take to make it so? In this session, seasoned veteran Eddie Garmarra, known for The Maze Runner (2014), Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018) and Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015), and Actress and writer Kate Orsini speak directly to process.

Presenting "Next Level Printing – Taking Your Book from POD to PRO"

Becky Parker Geist is the Founder and CEO of Pro Audio Voices, a Portland-based company. They work with rights-holders who may feel challenged in navigating audiobook & podcast production, distribution and marketing, helping them create an exceptional audio experience, get it out there and reach more people, all while staying in control.

Brian has worked in book publishing, public relations, and marketing for three decades, having helped thousands of authors, from first-time, self-published writers to New York Times best-selling authors, including Dr. Ruth, Stephen Covey, Ken Blanchard, Mark Victor Hansen, and Comedian George Wallace, and is a published author and an award-winning blogger.

Sponsor of the Independent Press Award as well as the NYC Big Book Award for the past nine years, and journalist. Host of the www.theGABTALKS.com podcast show, which can be found on the YouTube channel
https://www.youtube.com/
Independentpressawardspringnycbigbookawardfall as well as dozens of streaming services including, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Apple, Google, Amazon, Pandora, etc.

Brian Jud is an author, book-marketing consultant, speaker, seminar leader, television host and president of Premium Book Company that sells books to non-bookstore buyers on a non-returnable, commission basis. Brian is the author of How to Make Real Money Selling Books (Without Worrying About Returns) This is the ultimate do-it-yourself guide to selling your books to non-bookstore buyers in large quantities, with no returns.

Jessica Powers is publisher of Catalyst Press (www.catalystpress.org), an independent traditional and hybrid publisher with three imprints--Catalyst, Flare, and Powers Squared. An award-winning author of 9 books for children and young adults, a freelance editor, and professor of writing in UTEP's MFA program, Powers has midwifed almost a thousand books for writers through a variety of publishing paths. She recently founded Maverick Independent Book Review (www.maverickindependentreview.com), a book reviews service for indie authors. She lives in Texas with her son.

Isabella S. Olczak is an attorney. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration Finance, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at the University of Rhode Island; and obtained her Juris Doctorate degree from Roger Williams University School of Law.
Isabella held legal intern positions at Shiseido Americas Corporation, and CVS Health. She served as an intern Judicial Law Clerk for the Honorable Richard A. Licht of the Superior Court of Rhode Island. Isabella worked as a teaching assistant and was President of the Tax and Business Law Society.
Lastly, she has experience helping businesses forming business entities including nonprofits, and LLCs.

David Benjamin is a prolific and oft-awarded storyteller, author of more
than twenty books, most of them published under his imprint, Last Kid
Books. Benjamin and his wife, technology journalist Junko Yoshida, live
sometimes in Madison, Wis., and the rest of the time in Paris.

Ann Mracek is the multi award winning author of Unpacking the Attic: A Path to Healing Your Inner Child, a composer, pianist, and creator of the YouTube channel My Best Friends Live in the Woods with over 500k subscribers. Her newest novel, "Symphony of Self : Compose Your Life," will be accompanied by online courses, retreats and keynote music concert experience.

Kristen Tate has been a freelance editor for over a decade, helping authors transform their work from rough draft to finished book. She is the author of Novel Study: Decoding the Secrets and Structures of Contemporary Fiction.

Avery Bacchues is a Publishing Services Manager with BookBaby with over a decade of experience in the self-publishing and music industries.

Rick is the Director of Community Relations for Audible's ACX. Since joining in 2018, he has served in various roles, all of which have been focused on empowering creators to bring their stories to life in audio and delivering creator-driven product features and improvements.

Tony Chellini is the Co-Founder and Director of Sales & Business Development at Gatekeeper Press. A former law student turned publishing innovator, Tony is dedicated to empowering independent authors by providing them with high-quality distribution, 100% royalty ownership, and professional design services. With a focus on transparency and author education, he has helped position Gatekeeper Press as a leading name in the self-publishing industry.

Elizabeth Blake-Thomas is a British award-winning director and philanthropist based in Los Angeles. Elizabeth is the co-founder and resident director of entertainment company Mother & Daughter Entertainment. Her latest directing projects include wrapping up a TV episode of Sony AFFIRM's upcoming show Shadrach, as well as YA supernatural thriller Karma's A Bitch, starring a stellar ensemble cast including Once Upon A Time's Isabella Blake-Thomas, Candyman's Tony Todd, and Disney Z-O-M-B-I-E-S 3's Terry Hu and Pearce Joza.