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Inkers Con

2025 Speakers

Becca Syme

Presentation: Win This Author Game

Bonnie Paulson

PRESENTATION: Intro to Amazon Ads

C. S. Lakin

PRESENTATION: Showing Emotion Effectively in Characters

Casualfarmer with border

Casualfarmer

PANEL: Passive Income with Patreon

Elana Johnson

Presentation: Seeing (and Earning) Double

Holly Darling

Presentation: Growing your Mailing List

Jeff Elkins2

Jeff Elkins

Presentation: Pacing Your Dialogue to Perfection

Karen White

PANEL: Making Money in Audio

Kate Hall

PRESENTATION: Advanced TikTok for Authors

Kate Hawthorne

Presentation: How to Add the Steam and Sizzle

Kenya Wright

PANEL: Passive Income with Patreon

Krista Ritchie

PANEL: Passive Income with Patreon

Lisa Lang Blakeney

Presentation: Breaking that 6-Figure ceiling (and staying there)

Lisa Montanaro

PRESENTATION: An Authorpreneur Crash Course

Lucy Lennox

PRESENTATION: Maximizing Your Novel Income

Malorie Cooper

Presentation: Facebook Ad Building Blocks

Miranda Darrow

Presentation: Revisions in Six Easy Steps

Rebecca Hefner

Panel: Making money with Audio

Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer

Presentation: How to Dictate Your Novel

Steff Green

Presentation: Behind the Doors of a 7-Figure Author Business

Dr. Trina Boice

Presentation: Will your book make any money?

Willow Winters

Presentation: Increasing your Profits through Print Sales

Alessandra Torre

NYT Bestselling Author & Inkers Con Co-Founder

Alessandra Torre is an Edgar-nominated New York Times bestselling author of over thirty novels. Her New York Times bestseller Hollywood Dirt was produced as a full-length movie in 2017 and five more of her books have been optioned for film and TV. Her books have been translated into twenty different languages, in over thirty countries.

Alessandra has signed multiple six-figure publishing deals with industry giants Amazon, Hachette, and Harlequin, yet grew her success with self-publishing, hitting the New York Times list seven times, all with self-published novels. Alessandra is a popular public speaker and presents frequently to universities, conventions, and author groups.

Aven Ellis

PANEL: Passive Income with Patreon

USA Today bestselling author Aven Ellis began her publishing career in 2013 with her debut release, Connectivity. Her books are designed to make readers laugh out loud and fall in love. Happily-ever-after endings and good-boy heroes are guaranteed. Aven lives in the Dallas area with her family and is an avid sports fan. Aven is obsessed with cats, chocolate, and Drive to Survive on Netflix. She can usually be found in her favorite chair, writing as many words as possible for her next novel.

Becca Ritchie



​​Krista & Becca Ritchie are New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors and identical twins—one a science nerd, the other a comic book geek—but with their shared passion for writing, they combined their mental powers as kids and have never stopped telling stories. They love superheroes, flawed characters, and soul mate love.

Becca Syme

Presentation: Win This Author Game

Becca Syme (MATL) is a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach and has been coaching success alignment for more than a decade. She is the author of the Quitbooks for Writers series and the popular Write Better-Faster course. She also writes mystery novels in her spare time and lives on one of the thousand lakes in Minnesota.

Bonnie Paulson

Intro to Amazon Ads

Bonnie Paulson works wonders with ads, words, and business strategy. When she's not working on dominating the world, she's with her family - eating, vrooming on dirt bikes, or just enjoying time. She's grateful to be alive!

C. S. Lakin

Presentation: Showing Emotion Effectively in Characters

C. S. Lakin is the author of more than thirty books, fiction and nonfiction. She works professionally as a writing coach and book copyeditor, specializing in manuscript critiques. Her online school, Writing for Life Workshops at cslakin.teachable.com, offers video courses for fiction writers and has helped more than 6,000 writers to learn how to craft successful novels. Her blog at Live Write Thrive has more than 1 million words of instruction for writers, and you can read about her coaching and mentorship packages at her website.

Casualfarmer

PANEL: Passive Income with Patreon

Casualfarmer started writing after listening to his parents’ stories on their long drives to visit relatives. He had been saving money from his food-service-industry job to go to college for teaching when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Beware of Chicken is Casualfarmer’s first original story. He lives in Ontario, Canada.

Elana Johnson

Presentation Seeing (and Earning) Double

Elana Johnson, a prolific 7-figure author, is sometimes accused of having split personalities, because she writes under the pen names of Liz Isaacson and Jessie Newton (and has had others in the past!). All three of them are USA Today Bestsellers and Kindle Unlimited All-Stars. But she's really one person who loves dogs with fluffy fur, outdoor adventure shows though she's an indoor cat, and anything with a lot of bacon on top. She writes Feel-Good Fiction, which includes clean & Christian romance, as well as women's fiction and romantic comedy.

Holly Darling

Presentation: Growing your Mailing List

Holly Darling is the owner of Holly Darling HQ, a business that focuses on helping authors create and implement their email marketing strategies to sell more books and build their brand loyalty. She has worked with creative business owners for the past ten years, helping them grow a business that is data-driven and automated, allowing them to spend more time on writing their books.

J. Bengtsson

PANEL: Making Money in Audio

J. Bengtsson is a top ten Amazon bestselling author of contemporary romance. Her Cake Series—named by Audible as one of ‘the top 100 series of all time’—follows the highs and lows of a large close-knit family who, despite reaching a level of success most people can only dream of, still struggle to find love and happiness after a traumatic incident ten years prior. Bengtsson’s debut novel Cake A Love Story is a 2018 Audie Award Finalist in Romance as well as a 2023 Audie Award Finalist in Spanish Language. A native Californian, Bengtsson's novels are set under the glittering lights of the West Coast entertainment industry. They are for the dreamer in all of us

Jeff Elkins

Presentation: Pacing Your Dialogue to Perfection

Jeff Elkins is a writing coach who has worked one-on-one with over 300 authors the author of 13 novels and 3 nonfiction books. He is the host of the Dialogue Doctor Podcast and the co-host of Our Podcast About Books. Jeff specializes in helping writers craft engaging dialogue, create unique character voices, and build dynamic casts. For the past decade, Jeff has led the writing and production team for a technology company that utilizes artificial emotion to train professionals how to have difficult conversations. In his coaching, Jeff brings the knowledge he’s gain from ten years of studying conversation to the page to help writers curate emotional journeys for their readers.

Karen White

PANEL: Making Money in Audio

After working in the audiobook industry from 1998 - 2022 as a narrator, director, producer, and serving on committees of both the Audiobook Publishers' Association and SAG-AFTRA, as well as publishing her own romantic comedies as Karen Grey, Karen White created a boutique audiobook marketing company called Home Cooked Books. Drawing from accumulated contacts in and knowledge of the industry, HCB helps authors with every aspect of audiobook production, from casting to promotion.

Kate Hall

Presentation: Advanced TikTok for Authors

I started publishing paranormal romance in 2020 under the name Alexis Pierce and grew my publishing into a six-figure business. In 2022 I opened Alyne Digital (Pronounced “align”), consulting privately with authors to help them market their books. In September 2023, I launched the course “TikTok for Authors,” which has since helped over 1,000 authors increase their royalties. I’m also an avid horse-girl who owns four horses (how often do I ride? Wait, do other people get to ride their horses??) and too many dogs to mention. I live on a small farm in the midwest with my stay-at-home husband and our two-year-old son who subsists on a diet of 90% chicken nuggets and 10% rage.,

Kate Hawthorne

Presentation: How to Add the Steam and Sizzle

Kate Hawthorne is an Amazon top 100 bestselling author of character-driven LGBT romance, known for crafting emotionally intense stories with high heat and a kinky twist. Creating worlds where passion and angst collide, Kate’s books bring you complex protagonists in fearless pursuit of self-exploration and happy—if not sometimes unconventional—endings for everyone.

Kenya Wright

PANEL: Passive Income with Patreon

Kenya Wright is a USA Today bestselling author of over 70 novels. For her ten-year career, she’s focused on increasing the presence of diverse characters in romantic fiction. She also writes mysteries that touch on societal problems. Her books have been sold all over the world and published in print, eBook, and audio. In between full-time writing, she homeschools her three children. They live a nomadic lifestyle, traveling and connecting with amazing people all over the world.

Krista Ritchie

PANEL: Passive Income with Patreon

Krista & Becca Ritchie are New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors and identical twins—one a science nerd, the other a comic book geek—but with their shared passion for writing, they combined their mental powers as kids and have never stopped telling stories. They love superheroes, flawed characters, and soul mate love.

Lisa Lang Blakeney

Presentation: Breaking that 6-Figure Ceiling (and Staying There):

Lisa Lang Blakeney is a USA Today Bestselling author of sexy contemporary romance featuring alpha hot antiheroes & athletes. She is the wife of one alpha and a mother to four girls and two Labradoodles. Visit her at: https://LisaLangBlakeney.com

Lisa Montanaro

Presentation: An Authorpreneur Crash Course

Lisa Montanaro is part no-nonsense Italian American New Yorker and part sunny Californian. She has a unique background as a performer, teacher of deaf students, lawyer, coach, speaker, and author. Her debut novel, Everything We Thought Was True, released January 2025 by Red Adept Publishing. Lisa is also the author of The Ultimate Life Organizer, and contributed the chapter “The Brand Called You” in the anthology Launch Pad: The Countdown to Marketing Your Book. She serves as webinar host for the Women's Fiction Writers Association and a member of its diversity and inclusion committee. She facilitates the Retro COLAGE group for adult children of LGBTQ parents. When not writing, Lisa enjoys cycling and hiking with her veterinarian husband, tending to her garden, and chasing after her rescue dogs. Lisa has enjoyed living snow-free since 2012 in Northern California, where she’s made it her mission to sample the wines of the region.

Lucy Lennox

Presentation: Maximizing Your Novel Income

Lucy Lennox is the USA Today bestselling author of over seventy gay romance titles including the GoodReads Hall of Fame winner Wilde Love. Born and raised in the southeast USA, she is finally putting good use to that English Lit degree she earned before the turn of the century.

Malorie Cooper

Presentation: Facebook Ad Building Blocks

Malorie Cooper is a science fiction author and creator of the Aeon 14 universe. She has written over one hundred books and plans to write another hundred more (at least). Having built her career using advertising to spread awareness of her books, she’s shifted focus to helping other authors get a leg up through ads on a variety of platforms optimizing their product page with a focus on increasing conversions.

She and her wife now run The Writing Wives, which helps dozens of authors a month reach their marketing goals. In addition to storytelling and writing, Malorie loves playing games of any sort, gardening, and woodworking. She shares her home with a wife who also writes, an entrepreneurial teenaged daughter, and far more cats than are strictly necessary.

Miranda Darrow

Presentation: Revisions in Six Easy Steps

Miranda Darrow is an author, freelance fiction editor, and #RevPit online revision contest board member and contributing editor. She's also a frequent presenter to writing groups, conferences, and online writing events. Miranda’s Concise Fiction Academy series of writing craft books and courses combines her experience as a freelance editor and a corporate attorney into an executive summary of complex writing topics with an overview, key recommendations, and sources for more information, all with a dash of humor.

Rebecca Hefner

PANEL: Making Money in Audio

USA Today bestselling author Rebecca Hefner writes sizzling love stories with grumpy heroes and feisty heroines. She also has a passion for helping authors market audiobooks wide and direct, and wants to empower all authors to find success in creative and innovative ways.

Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer

Presentation: How to Dictate Your Novel

Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer is an author and writing instructor who takes authors struggling to master the tools and knowledge of their author journey and helps them become confident in writing their books. She has been featured on Joanna Penn’s The Creative Penn podcast, Jane Friedman’s blog, the Writer’s Digest magazine, and more. She’s published 19 books, 11 of which she wrote solely by dictation. As a tribal member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, her signature course, Fiction Writing: American Indians, is equipping authors to write authentic stories that honor Native American history and culture. Her Fictation™: Dictation 2.0 digital course takes authors through the exact process of mastering dictation to write fiction.

Steff Green

Presentation: Behind the Doors of a 7-Figure Author Business

Under her pen name Steffanie Holmes, Steff Green is the USA Today bestselling author of kooky, spooky paranormal, cozy fantasy, and gothic romance. Legally-blind since birth, Steffanie received the 2017 Attitude Award for Artistic Achievement. She was also a finalist for a 2018 Women of Influence award.
She is the creator of the Rage Against the Manuscript podcast and resources for writers, including the infamous 'skeleton drafting' method for pantsers and discovery writers. Steffanie lives in New Zealand with her husband, a horde of cantankerous cats, and their medieval sword collection.

Dr. Trina Boice

Presentation: Will Your Book Make Any Money?

Dr. Trina Boice is a #1 best-selling author of 33 books and was named the California Young Mother of the Year in 2004, an award which completely amuses her four sons. She’s a university professor and lifelong learner. She has created online courses for professional development and personal enrichment at LifelongLearningEducation.com. She’s a film critic at Movie Review Mom.com and has a daily podcast called “Daily Inspirational Quote Hosted by Trina Boice.” She’s an author coach at FromBook2Business.com She worked as a Legislative Assistant for a Congressman in Washington, D.C., and was given the “Points of Light” Award and Presidential Volunteer Service Award for her domestic and international community service. She was selected by KPBS in San Diego to be a political correspondent. She taught classes at the famous Le Cordon Bleu Culinary College and says she has the weight gain to prove it. She has an identical twin sister and a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. If she told you what she really did she’d have to kill you.

Willow Winters

Presentation: Increasing your Profits through Print Sales

I started writing after having my little girl, Evie, December of 2015. All during my pregnancy with her, I read. I only wanted to read romance novels, and I read everything I could get my hands on. I would read a book a day — sometimes two. In January, I was staying up late with her and just thinking of all these stories. They came to me constantly. I finally sat down and just started writing. I always wanted to do it so I figured, why not? I never thought I would reach this point of success to be honest. It’s insane to me that I have connected with so many readers. And I love each and every one of them for all of their support. I’ll be honest, some days are HARD. I have my littles during the day and I write at night. Some days are just simply exhausting and then I hear from a reader and it motivates me to push through and keep writing. I couldn’t be more grateful for this wonderful career.