David Gaughran is an Irish author, self-publishing strategist, and indie author advocate who turned 18 months of rejection letters into a career dismantling the gatekeeping machinery of traditional publishing. Through his 'Let's Get Publishing' series of books, a free 27-lesson course, a weekly newsletter, and relentless watchdog journalism exposing predatory vanity presses, he has helped tens of thousands of writers navigate the digital publishing revolution. A nomad by habit — Dublin, Prague, London, Lisbon, southern France — and a storyteller at heart, he writes historical adventure fiction under David M. Gaughran and was awarded the 2020 Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award by SFWA for distinguished contributions to the science fiction and fantasy community.
Joanna Penn is a British author, podcaster, and entrepreneur who turned a miserable IT consulting career into a multi-six-figure independent publishing empire. Writing thrillers as J.F. Penn and teaching the business of writing as Joanna Penn, she has sold over a million books across 176 countries, runs one of the world's top 1% podcasts (10.6M+ downloads), and is among the most prominent voices on ethical AI adoption in the creative community. Based in Bath, England, she competes in powerlifting, pursues a Masters in Death, Religion and Culture, and embodies her own mantra: measure your life by what you create.
David Kadavy is a bestselling author, designer, and creative productivity expert who reverse-engineered design principles for developers, advised a startup that Google acquired, and built a location-independent career from a Nebraska cubicle. His books - including Design for Hackers, Mind Management Not Time Management, and Digital Zettelkasten - have sold 100,000+ copies in 13 languages. He lives in a cabin outside Medellín, Colombia, publishes his income reports publicly, and argues that creativity is about managing your mind, not your calendar.
Eliot Peper is the bestselling author of twelve speculative thrillers — including Ensorcelled, Foundry, Reap3r, and the Analog trilogy — that explore the collision of technology, power, and culture. Based in Pacifica, CA, he serves as Head of Story at Portola, where he builds the lore and personality behind Tolan, an AI companion startup that went from $1M to $4M ARR in four weeks. A former entrepreneur-in-residence at a VC firm, Latin translator, dengue fever survivor, and avid surfer, Peper writes the books he wants to read — and has earned praise from Seth Godin, Kim Stanley Robinson, Cory Doctorow, Kevin Kelly, and Tim O'Reilly along the way.