Linda Joy Myers, founder of the National Association of Memoir Writers, is the author of award winning memoirs Don’t Call Me Mother and Song of the Plains, and two books on craft The Power of Memoir, & Journey of Memoir. She co-authored Breaking Ground on Your Memoir and Magic of Memoir & co-teaches Write Your Memoir in Six Months. A memoir coach for 26 years, she helps memoir writers find their voice and get their story into the world.

Topic – The Power of Memoir

Brooke Warner is publisher of She Writes Press and SparkPress, president of Warner Coaching Inc., and author of Write On, Sisters!, Green-light Your Book, What’s Your Book?, How to Sell Your Memoir, the co-editor of The Magic of Memoir the co-author of Breaking Ground on Your Memoir. Brooke is the former Executive Editor of Seal Press and sits on the boards of the Independent Book Publishers Association, the Bay Area Book Festival, and the National Association of Memoir Writers. She writes a monthly column for Publishers Weekly.

As the first hybrid publisher recipient of the 2019 Independent Publisher of the Year, She Writes Press is unique in the world of publishing because we’re neither traditional publishing, nor are we self-publishing. As an independent publisher, we bill ourselves as a “third way” for authors, and we proudly occupy the gray zone, a much-needed alternative in a rapidly changing publishing landscape.

Topic: Why Now is the Crucial Time to Green Light Your Own Book

Alexa Bigwarfe is an advocate, mother, proud veteran, USA Today Best-Selling author, and podcaster. Her writing career began after her infant daughter passed away at 2-days-old and she turned to writing for healing. She gathered together other parents to write and publish Sunshine After the Storm: A Survival Guide for the Grieving Mother, her first of many books. Now she guides other authors through the process of writing to heal and publishing your words to help and impact the world. Alexa is the founder and owner of Write|Publish|Sell, the publishing houses Kat Biggie Press, Purple Butterfly Press, and Chrysalis Press, and the Women in Publishing Summit. In her own healing journey, she founded a nonprofit, Sunshine After the Storm, to help other grieving mothers through free care packages, support activities, and healing retreats. A spirited activist, Alexa enjoys bringing light to topics surrounding marginalized voices, particularly as they pertain to women and children. She lives in Columbia, SC with her three living children and her dog.

Topic: Why Your Voice Matters in this Noisy World

Betsy Graziani Fasbinder is a genre-jumping, thrice-published author with a novel (Fire & Water), a memoir (Filling Her Shoes), and a how-to (From Page to Stage) to her credit. She’s garnered Gold and Bronze IPPY Awards, a Booklist Starred Review, and a collection of other blingy congratulations for her writing.

In addition to her own stories, Betsy delights in helping others write and tell their own lived and imagined stories, both as a writing coach and a speaking coach. She features the stories of others on her weekly podcast, The Morning Glory Project: Stories of Determination.

Topic: Writing Essential Truth in Fiction and Memoir: Write Emotionally True Stories Across Genres

Rachael Herron is the internationally bestselling author of more than two dozen books, including thriller (under R.H. Herron), mainstream fiction, feminist romance, memoir, and nonfiction about writing. She received her MFA in writing from Mills College, Oakland, and she teaches writing extension workshops at both UC Berkeley and Stanford. She is a proud member of the NaNoWriMo Writer’s Board. She’s a New Zealand citizen as well as an American.

Topic: Imagination – How to Listen to Your Characters