Panel: What Publishing Professionals Wish First-Time Authors Knew

This month, the Speculative Literature Foundation - Bay Area chapter will host "What Publishing Professionals Wish First-Time Authors Knew," a panel of local publishing professionals eager to share their knowledge about the publication process and tips and stories that'll help authors know what to expect before their first book is published.

Our panelists come from many corners of the industry to provide multiple perspectives on different aspects of publishing. They include a book publisher, multiple award-winning editors and writers, a children's book author, a reviewer, a bookstore manager, and a bookseller - and those are only 4 people! The panelists are Jacob Weisman, Angela Dalton, Arley Sorg, and Ann Seaton.

The panel will be moderated by your SLF-Bay Area organizers: Jasmine T. Wade, Rebecca Gomez Farrell, and Audrey T. Williams. This event will hosted as a Zoom webinar, and the link to join will be shared the day of the event.

$10 donations are asked, but no one will be turned away due to a lack of funds. If you cannot afford a donation, please contact the SLF-SF Bay Area organizers to request a ticket. The Zoom link will be sent to ticket holders the day of the event.

Panelist Biographies:

Before her current position as operations director for the California Independent Bookseller's Alliance, ANN SEATON worked as a bookstore manager and buyer in the San Jose, CA area for more than 30 years. Her contact with people in all aspects of the book industry continues to give her perspective and insight into this unique ecosystem.

JACOB WEISMAN is the World Fantasy Award-winning editor and publisher at Tachyon Publications, which he founded in 1995. He is the editor of Invaders: 22 Tales from the Outer Limits of Literature, The New Voices of Fantasy (with Peter S. Beagle), The New Voices of Science Fiction of Science Fiction (with Hannu Rajaniemi), and The Sword & Sorcery Anthology (with David G. Hartwell), among others. His writing has appeared in The Nation, Realms of Fantasy, the Louisville Courier-Journal, The Seattle Weekly, and The Cooper Point Journal.

ANGELA DALTON is an author of children’s literature. She self-published her award-winning picture book If You Look Up to the Sky in 2018. Her forthcoming books include Ruby’s Reunion Day Dinner (HarperCollins, 2021) and To Boldly Go: How Nichelle Nichols and Star Trek Helped Civil Rights (HarperCollins, 2023).

ARLEY SORG is co-Editor-in-Chief of Fantasy Magazine, senior editor at Locus Magazine, and associate editor at both Lightspeed and Nightmare. He reviews books for Locus, Lightspeed, and Cascadia Subduction Zone and is an interviewer for Clarkesworld Magazine. Arley grew up in England, Hawaii, and Colorado, and studied Asian Religions at Pitzer College. He lives in Oakland, and, in non-pandemic times, usually writes in local coffee shops. He is a 2014 Odyssey Writing Workshop graduate.