Mark Levine has been in the book publishing space for 20+ years as a two-time founder, CEO, author and board member. Mark is the owner and publisher of The Independent Publishing Magazine. In 2023, Mark completed 5+ years as CEO and as a board member of DropCap, a company he co-founded in 2018. DropCap’s software platform helps book publishing companies market, monetize and manage the translation rights for their titles. From 2006-2016, Mark was CEO/Founder of Hillcrest Media Group, a book publishing technology company that assisted in the publishing of more than 11,000 titles. In 2016, Mark sold Hillcrest to Salem Media Group (NASDAQ: SALM). Mark is also a domain investor and consultant through his company DomainTheory.com. You can reach Mark at mark@independentpublishing.com.
Sarah Kolb-Williams is an editor and self-publishing consultant from the Twin Cities. After 15 years in freelance copyediting, she cofounded Spoonbridge Press, a new kind of self-publishing services company that helps independent authors navigate the confusing world of self-publishing and keeps them in the driver’s seat of their author careers. Sarah writes the “Ask a Self-Publishing Expert” column at The Independent Publishing Magazine. She also offers free author consultations to help new authors consider their next self-publishing steps. Reach her at sarah@spoonbridgepress.com to schedule a chat!
Josje Weusten (PhD) is a fiction writer, poet, essayist, and a senior lecturer in literature, poetry, and creative writing at Maastricht University. In her fiction and poetry, Josje aims to take Oscar Wilde’s words to heart that ‘a truth in art is that whose contradictory is also true.’ Her poems and short stories have appeared in Burningword Literary Journal, Litbreak Magazine, Flash Fiction Magazine, and Low Hanging Fruit. Her work has been nominated for Best Small Fiction in the category of micro-fiction, awarded by Alternating Current Press, and was shortlisted by Flash Fiction Magazine in one of their 2025 competitions (top 10). Moreover, she’s the founder and chief editor of the literary journal Telling Stories Magazine associated with Maastricht University and of the Maastricht University Creative Writing Summer School. Her debut novel Fake Fish was published by Sparsile Books Ltd (Glasgow UK) and selected as a Scotland’s Book Week Debut Showcase by Publishing Scotland and Books from Scotland, and is a 2025 Page Turner Award Finalist.
Kathy Meis is the founder and CEO of Bublish, the world’s first complete self-publishing platform with built-in book marketing and positioning. As a veteran developmental editor and ghostwriter with more than thirty years of experience in media and publishing, she has worked on many bestselling and award-winning books. She is also a founding partner of PubSmart, an author-centric publishing conference that was held in Charleston, South Carolina, and is a sought-after expert on independent publishing, book marketing, and author branding. She has spoken at Book Expo America, Women in Media, GrubSteet, PubSmart, San Francisco Writers Conference, the Women in Publishing Summit and SelfPubCon, among others.
Eleanor Hecks is Editor in Chief of Designerly Magazine, where she covers design, development and marketing topics. She is passionate about helping other creative professionals publish and market themselves and their art.
Connect with Eleanor on LinkedIn, or keep up with her latest work on X.
Athena Dean Holtz serves as founder and publisher at Redemption Press in Enumclaw, WA. Having pioneered the indie publishing movement in the Christian space over 3 decades ago she is past president of the Northwest Christian Writers, was named Publisher of the Year 2022 by the Soul Café Awards and Best Female Podcast Host 2021 by the national Spark Media. She is the author of Full Circle: Coming Home to the Faithfulness of God, and is co-author of Together for a Purpose: Love and Mission in Marriage and Ministry with her pastor-husband. She also founded the She Writes for Him movement, launched during the pandemic. Their virtual events continue to equip, inspire, and create connection through its extensive global community.
Kelly Lucente is a branding and differentiation expert with over 25 years of experience. As CEO of Re-Tool® (retoolmarketing.com), a Minneapolis-based branding agency, Kelly has worked with Fortune 500 companies like RE/MAX and Pearle Vision®. She played a pivotal role in transforming Rollerblade® into a billion-dollar brand. Kelly is also the creator of Bye Bye Monster™, a semi-finalist at the MN Cup. An accomplished author for her book ‘MOO-LAH-GY’, she’s currently writing ‘WHAT’S YOUR RE-MARKABILITY.’ In addition to leading Re-Tool®, Kelly offers fractional CMO services through kellylucente.com, helping businesses uncover their unique strengths to stand out in competitive markets. You can reach Kelly at kelly@retoolmarketing.com.
Beatrice Lebrun (28) is the Senior Director of Marketing and Creative Direction at StoryForge, a platform putting publishing into writers’ hands. She is an author and illustrator with over 14 years of experience, specializing in fantasy, horror and magical realism. Beatrice enjoys connecting with her audience through social media and is passionate about creating emotional, thought-provoking and character driven stories. You’ll often find her brainstorming new ideas, playing D&D or working on her next novel.
Lindsay Jones is one of the co-founders and CEO of DropCap, a global rights marketplace for independent authors that’s revolutionizing the way agents and editors discover exceptional books. Having spent ten years in self-publishing operations, Lindsay saw first-hand how many opportunities were closed to authors that had independently published their books. She co-founded DropCap in 2018 with the mission of helping indie authors reach a global audience through foreign rights, audio, and film rights licensing. She has a B.A. in English from the State University of New York at New Paltz and resides in Minneapolis, MN with her husband and daughter. Whenever she’s not working or momming, you can find her behind her Kobo eReader.