Gabriela Pereira is the founder of DIY MFA, an online education company. She earned an MFA from The New School and now develops online writing courses. She is the author of DIY MFA and host of DIY MFA Radio, where she interviews authors and publishing experts about the art and business of writing.

Stuart Horwitz is the author of three books: Blueprint Your Bestseller, Book Architecture, and Finish Your Book in Three Drafts. He is founder and principal of Book Architecture, a firm of independent editors whose clients have reached New York Times bestseller list in fiction and nonfiction.

Julie Duffy is the founder and director of the annual StoryADay May short story writing challenge and online community.

Jane Friedman teaches publishing and digital media at UVA, and formerly held positions at VQR and Writer's Digest. She's a columnist for Publishers Weekly, and her essays have been published in collections by the University of Chicago Press, Seal Press, Milkweed Editions, and McPherson & Co.

Andi Cumbo-Floyd spends her days editing manuscripts, running a robust community for some wonderful writers, and doing research about people who were enslaved in the American South. Her books include Steele Secrets, The Slaves Have Names, and Writing Day In and Day Out: Living a Practice of Words.