Char Adams is a reporter for NBC News, and former reporter for People, and her writing on race and identity has appeared in The New York Times, The New Republic, Oprah Daily, Vice, Teen Vogue, and Bustle. She hosted COVID University New York, one of the first podcasts to chronicle the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. She is a proud Philadelphia native and now lives in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Maura Cheeks is the author of Acts of Forgiveness, named a most anticipated book by Elle, The Root, Real Simple, and The Millions. Maura was named one of “10 Writers to Watch” by Publishers Weekly. Her other work has been published in the Paris Review, The New York Times, The Atlantic, Harvard Business Review, Tin House, Lenny Letter, and others. In 2019, she was awarded the Masthead Reporting Residency for The Atlantic’s first residency program where she worked on the feature article that would later inspire the idea for her novel. She is the owner and general manager of Liz’s Book Bar in Brooklyn.

Jake Cumsky-Whitlock is co-owner of Solid State Books (SSB) in Washington, D.C., the store he co-founded in 2017. SSB has two locations that sell new children’s and adult books, stationery, and other book-related gifts. His bookselling career began in 2004 at Kramerbooks & Afterwords in Washington, D.C. Jake currently serves on the Board of Directors for the ABA and Bookshop.org. He was a member of ABA’s Booksellers Advisory Council, as well as the chair of the Spring 2020 Adult Indies Introduce panel. He holds a B.A. in English Literature and Art History from the University of Virginia, and an M.A. in Creative Writing from Boston University. He lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife, 14- and 11-year-old sons, and 8-year-old daughter.

DJ Johnson is a visionary entrepreneur, community leader, and advocate for social change. He is the founder of Baldwin & Co., NOLA Art Bar, and the Baldwin & Co. Foundation, cultural hubs that intersect literature, social justice, and community engagement. A proud New Orleans native, Johnson graduated from Clark Atlanta University and Georgia State University, earning degrees in Management Information Systems and an MBA. His cultural contributions shine through Baldwin & Co., a celebrated bookstore and forum for dialogues on race, justice, and progress, and NOLA Art Bar, recognized among the city’s best. The Baldwin & Co. Foundation addresses disparities in education and income through scholarships and financial literacy initiatives.

Janet Webster Jones, the daughter of a librarian, is a retired educator from the Detroit Public Schools, where she spent a 40-year career. She has been in the bookselling business since 1989. Janet opened her first brick and mortar store, Source Booksellers, inside the Spiral Collective, a shared space with three other woman-owned, African American businesses on Cass Avenue and Willis Street in Detroit’s Midtown area in 2002. Janet is often invited to participate in city wide committees, local NPR programs and non-profit association’s events. In 2022, she was invited to serve on the nonfiction panel for the National Book Awards; a highlight of her long-time service to literary life.

Rakia Clark is an executive editor at Mariner Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. She acquires serious, literary and narrative nonfiction; and gorgeously written, plot-driven novels and short story collections. Books on Rakia’s list have won the Kirkus Prize, been longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence, been finalists for the NAACP Awards, and are routinely recognized in best-of-the-year roundups. In all cases, she looks for writers who have something to say. An Atlanta native, Rakia lives in New York City but refuses to root for the Yankees. The Knicks are growing on her.

Ruqayyah Daud is an editor at LBYR. She began her career in 2018 assisting Editor-in-Chief Alvina Ling and Editor-at-Large, Susan Rich. She is currently building her own list and is drawn to commercial books with a strong hook, emotional core, and vibrant cast of characters. Her titles include the critically acclaimed As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh and the bestselling Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma. When she isn't editing she can be found working as a part-time bookseller at her local independent bookstore, Fonts Books & Gifts, where she also leads the Fantasy Book Club.

Christa Désir is the Editorial Director for Bloom Books, an imprint of Sourcebooks. She’s edited a variety of fiction books, including those from award-winning and NYT/USA Today bestselling authors E. L. James, Scarlett St. Clair, Elle Kennedy, Ana Huang, Elsie Silver, and more. In 2019, she developed a mentorship program for young BIPOC talent who are looking to learn about publishing and editing. In her free time, she knits, volunteers, hangs out with her dog, has weekly dinners with her large extended Haitian family, and in 2018 gave a TED Talk that educates parents about how to talk to their kids honestly and authentically about sex.

Aline Dolinh is an Editorial Assistant at the University of California Press, where she supports acquisitions in sociology and regional/urban studies. She has a keen interest in nonfiction projects that bring a distinct critical eye to ethnic studies and aesthetics (especially in relation to design, film, and food and dining), and is especially interested in acquiring more projects that confront the complexities and contradictions of Asian diasporic identity. Before coming to UC Press, she received an MFA in poetry from Boston University. (IGNITE)

Jennifer B. Greene is an Editor at Nosy Crow Inc., the newly launched North American wing of the UK children’s publisher Nosy Crow Ltd. Previously she worked for more than 20 years at Clarion Books, now part of HarperCollins. She has edited hundreds of children’s books over the course of her career, including Nana in the City by Lauren Castillo, which received a Caldecott Honor, as well as many other critically acclaimed picture books, and fiction and nonfiction for older readers. She is committed to publishing books that promote diversity of all kinds and is always looking for books that tell universal stories from unique perspectives.

Carina Guiterman is VP, Executive Editor at Simon & Schuster. Her taste spans many genres: domestic and psychological suspense, coming of age, family sagas, adventure stories, narrative nonfiction, and more. She is drawn to books that challenge the expected tropes of a genre and combine captivating, smart prose with strong narrative momentum to pull the reader in and illuminate contradictions and complexities hidden inside all of us. A discerning editor whose taste sits smack-dab in the Venn diagram of commercial and literary, her recent books include Swift River, Florence Adler Swims Forever, and Broken Country. Carina is presenting Daria Lavelle's stunning debut, Aftertaste, which asks what if you could have one last meal with someone you've loved and lost?

Maya Marshall is Poetry Director and an Editor acquiring poetry and literary left narrative nonfiction at Haymarket Books. Her authors have won or been shortlisted for major prizes including, National Book Award, Lambda Literary Award, the Chicago Review of Books awards, the CLMP Firecracker Award, and others. Winner of the 2024 Holmes National Poetry Prize, Marshall is the author of the poetry collection All the Blood Involved in Love (2022) and co-founder of underbelly, the journal on the practical magic of poetic revision. (IGNITE)

Rakesh Satyal is an Executive Editor at the HarperOne Group/HarperCollins. Authors on his list include Michael Arceneaux, Munroe Bergdorf, Common, Megan Garber, Megan Giddings, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Sonora Jha, Daniel Lavery, Isle McElroy, Greta Morgan, Graham Norton, Ijeoma Oluo, Chita Rivera, Anuradha Roy, Jeffery Self, Ari Shapiro, and more. An award-winning novelist, Rakesh has taught in the publishing program at New York University and sat on boards for noted arts organizations. He is based in New York. (IGNITE)

Jen Sookfong Lee was born and raised in Vancouver’s East Side, and she now lives with her son in North Burnaby. Her books include Superfan, named a Best Book of 2023 by the Globe and Mail and Apple Books; The Conjoined, nominated for International Dublin Literary Award and a finalist for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize; The Shadow List; and Finding Home. Jen acquires and edits for ECW Press and co-hosts the literary podcast Can’t Lit.

Irene Vázquez is an Associate Editor at Levine Querido, a children's book publisher dedicated to amplifying diverse voices. With a Bachelor's in Ethnicity, Race, and Migration and English from Yale University, their passion for children's literature is evident in their diverse portfolio of projects. They have worked on critically acclaimed titles such as Sim Kern’s The Free People's Village and Mani Semilla Finds Her Quetzal Voice by Anna Lapera. Irene also champions debut authors including Night: A Children’s Fable by Katherine Jumbe and Shana Dixon. Originally from Texas, they play a pivotal role in Levine Querido's Spanish language imprint, Ediciones LQ. Irene is also a poet, journalist, and translator.

Han Zhang is Editor-at-Large of Riverhead Books, with the mission of bringing works from the Chinese language for translation and publication in the United States. Born in China, Zhang earned a master’s degree from Columbia Journalism School and is currently a New York City-based journalist on the editorial staff of The New Yorker. She has written about culture and politics in China and the Chinese diaspora for various publications, including The New Yorker, The Nation, The Guardian Long Read, and The New York Times.

Jessica Berger Gross is the author of the memoir Estranged: Leaving Family and Finding Home. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Cut, Longreads, and many other publications. She lives in Maine with her husband and teenage son. Hazel Says No is her first novel.

Susan Choi is the author of Trust Exercise, which received the National Book Award for fiction, as well as the novels The Foreign Student, American Woman, A Person of Interest, and My Education. She is a recipient of the Asian American Literary Award for fiction, the PEN/W. G. Sebald Award, a Lambda Literary award, the Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation. She teaches in the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University and lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Julie Clark is the New York Times bestselling author of The Lies I Tell and The Last Flight, both of which were also #1 international bestsellers and have been translated into more than twenty-five languages. She lives in Los Angeles with her family and a goldendoodle with poor impulse control.

Over the past 32 years, Dudley Edmondson has become an established photographer, filmmaker, and presenter. His photography has been featured in gallieries and publications around the world. In 2006, Dudley set out to create a group of outdoor role models for the nation's African American community by writing the landmark book, Black and Brown Faces in America's Wild Places. During the Obama Administration, Dudley's book landed him an invitation to the White House for the signing of America's Great Outdoors Initiative. Dudley currently lives in Duluth, Minnesota, and serves on the board for the Bell Museum of Natural History as well as the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council.

Virginia Feito, raised in Madrid and Paris, studied English and drama at Queen Mary University of London and advertising at Miami Ad School. She writes regularly for Vanity Fair Spain and is the author of the acclaimed Mrs. March.

Born and raised in Atlanta, Rob Franklin is a writer of fiction and poetry, and a cofounder of Art for Black Lives. A Kimbilio Fiction Fellow and finalist for the New England Review Emerging Writer Award, he has published work in New England Review, Prairie Schooner, and The Rumpus, among others. Franklin lives in Brooklyn, New York, and teaches writing at the School of Visual Arts. Great Black Hope is his first novel.

Hayley Gelfuso is an author and poet who works in the environmental nonprofit sector. As a writer, she is drawn to stories of the wild and wonderful that are rooted in real world history and science. Her poetry about her experiences working in the conservation field has been published in the Plumwood Mountain Journal. The Book of Lost Hours is her first novel. She lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband.

Peter Geye is the award-winning author of Safe from the Sea, The Lighthouse Road, Wintering, Northernmost, and The Ski Jumpers (Minnesota, 2022). He lives in Minneapolis with his family.

Sarah Landenwich is a writer and writing educator. Also a classically trained pianist, her debut novel The Fire Concerto was inspired by her love of music of the Romantic period. She lives in Louisville, Kentucky with her husband and daughter.

Daria Lavelle is an American fiction writer. Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, and raised in the New York metro area, her work explores themes of identity and belonging through magic and the uncanny. Her short stories have appeared in The Deadlands, Dread Machine, and elsewhere, and she holds degrees in writing from Princeton University and Sarah Lawrence College. Aftertaste is her first novel. She lives in New Jersey with her husband, children, and goldendoodle, all of whom love a great meal almost as much as she does. Learn more at DariaLavelle.com.

Jazzi McGilbert is the founder of Reparations Club, the beloved bookshop in her hometown, South Central Los Angeles, CA. Jazzi cut her teeth in fashion at Teen Vogue & NYLON before retiring in pursuit of her curiosity and community. Since opening in 2019, Rep Club has partnered with Well Read Black Girl, Noname's Book Club, Nike, and Beyoncé, and featured in the NY Times, LA Times, & Washington Post, and named a favorite of hometown heroes like Issa Rae, Tyler the Creator, & Tessa Thompson. Most importantly, her queer Black woman-owned space has won the love of the community, earning its place as an empowering, visionary landmark in the LA literary scene.

Kristina McMorris is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of two novellas and seven historical novels, including the million-copy bestseller Sold on a Monday. The recipient of more than twenty national literary awards, she previously hosted weekly TV shows for Warner Bros. and an ABC affiliate, beginning at age nine with an Emmy Award-winning program. Kristina lives near Portland, Oregon.

Alice Murphy is the pen name for a prolific Hallmark screenwriter and romance author from the deep south. She collects secret recipes, secret admirers, and secret histories.

Joni Murphy is a writer from New Mexico who lives in New York. Her debut novel, Double Teenage, was published in 2016. It was named one of The Globe and Mail's 100 Best Books of 2016. Her second novel, Talking Animals, was published in 2020 from FSG Originals.

Emma Pattee is a climate journalist and fiction writer. Her work has been published in The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and elsewhere. Her first novel, Tilt, is an Indies Introduce Selection. She lives in Oregon.

Sarah Penner is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of The London Seance Society and The Lost Apothecary, which will be translated into forty languages worldwide and is set to be turned into a drama series by Fox. Sarah spent 13 years in corporate finance and now writes full-time. She and her husband live in Florida. To learn more, visit SarahPenner.com.

Thomas Schlesser is the author of several works of nonfiction about art, artists, and the relationship between art and politics in the 20th century. He is the grandson of André Schlesser, known as Dadé, a singer and cabaret performer of Roma origins who founded the Cabaret L'Écluse. Mona’s Eyes is Schlesser’s American debut. It was a #1 bestseller in France and has been translated into thirty-seven languages, including Braille.

Michael Thomas received his BA from Hunter College and his MFA from Warren Wilson College. He is the author of Man Gone Down, winner of the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, A Public Space, and the anthology The Book of Dads. He teaches at Hunter College and lives in Brooklyn.

Cadwell Turnbull is the award-winning author of The Lesson and No Gods, No Monsters and a member of Darkly Lem, along with four other authors, dressed in an impeccably tailored trench coat: Josh Eure, Craig Lincoln, Ben Murphy, and M. Darusha Wehm. They live in an Earth-type locality in the Central Cluster with their five kids, several spouses, and a modest menagerie.

Ibi Zoboi is the New York Times-bestselling author of American Street, a National Book Award Finalist; Pride, a remix of Pride and Prejudice; and the Walter Award and LA Times Book Prize-winning Punching the Air, co-written with Exonerated Five member Yusef Salaam. Ibi is a two-time Coretta Scott King Award honoree for The People Remember and Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler, and the winner of the 2024 CSK Award for Nigeria Jones. She is the editor of the anthology Black Enough and has written Okoye to the People, a Black Panther novel for Marvel. Born in Haiti and raised in New York City, Ibi lives in New Jersey with her family.