Victor LaValle is the author of the short story collection Slapboxing with Jesus, four novels, The Ecstatic, Big Machine, The Devil in Silver, and The Changeling as well as two novellas, Lucretia and the Kroons and The Ballad of Black Tom. He is also the creator and writer of a comic book Victor LaValle's DESTROYER.

He has been the recipient of numerous awards including a Whiting Writers' Award, a United States Artists Ford Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Shirley Jackson Award, an American Book Award, and the key to Southeast Queens.

He was raised in Queens, New York. He now lives in Washington Heights with his wife and kids. He teaches at Columbia University.

Mariko Tamaki is a Canadian writer living in Oakland. Her works include New York Times bestseller This One Summer, and Skim with Jillian Tamaki, Supergirl: Being Super with Joëlle Jones, Emiko Superstar with Steve Rolston, Lumberjanes with Brooklyn Allen, and the YA novel (You) Set Me on Fire. This One Summer was the winner of Printz and Caldecott Honors in 2015 and received the Eisner for Best Graphic Album (New). Her forthcoming YA graphic novel, Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass with Steve Pugh, will be released in September 2019.

Margaret Stohl is a #1 New York Times bestselling young adult author who has been published in fifty countries and thirty-two languages and sold more than ten million books worldwide. Beautiful Creatures debuted as the Amazon #1 Teen book of the year; seven of Margaret's books have reached bestseller lists in the United States and around the world.

After Beautiful Creatures was released as a feature film from Warner Brothers, Margaret began working with Marvel on two "Black Widow" novels, as well as the ongoing "Mighty Captain Marvel" comics. She can now often be seen at a Comicon, or at one of the book festivals she co-founded, YALLFEST (Charleston, SC) and YALLWEST (Santa Monica, CA.) Sometimes you can also find her at a Seattle game studio called Bungie, because it has good snacks. When she commutes to work, she takes her cats with her. You can find out more about her at @mstohl on Twitter or margaret_stohl on Instagram or margaret_stohl on Snapchat or at mstohl.com.

Karen Berger has been a force in the comics industry for over 25 years. Beginning her career at DC Comics, she became the founding editor of DC's mature-reader imprint Vertigo in 1993. She earned critical acclaim and popular success in her 20 years heading Vertigo with legendary titles such as Fables, Hellblazer, The Invisibles, 100 Bullets, Preacher, and V for Vendetta. After stepping down from Vertigo in 2012, Karen Berger joined forces with Dark Horse Comics in 2017 to launch her new imprint Berger Books.

Gwenda Bond is the author of many books, primarily for children and young adults. Her novels include the "Lois Lane and Cirque American" series, and the upcoming Stranger Things: Suspicious Minds, a prequel story to the hit Netflix series. She and her husband, Christopher Rowe, also co-write a middle grade series, "The Supernormal Sleuthing Service." Her nonfiction writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Publishers Weekly, Salon, and many other publications. She lives in a hundred-year-old house in Lexington, Kentucky, with her husband and their unruly pets. Visit her online at gwendabond.com or @gwenda on Twitter.

Amy Chu is the comics writer behind the critically acclaimed queer scientist superhero series "Summit" from Lion Forge, as well as the most recent runs of "Red Sonja and Poison Ivy." Amy has also written stories for "Wonder Woman", "Emma Frost", "Deadpool", and "Ant-Man". She is the first woman to write the "Green Hornet" and "KISS" comics series. Her middle grade graphic novel Sea Sirens, inspired by Oz creator L. Frank Baum, is out Summer 2019 through Viking Press. She is a graduate of Wellesley College, MIT, and Harvard Business School, and a frequent convention speaker.

Rachel Gagnon is the Teen Services Librarian at the Haverhill Public Library in Haverhill, MA. She is the founder and organizer of the Haverhill Public Library Comic Con which has been running since 2015. She is an avid reader of comics, a Star Wars and Marvel fanatic, and a lover of cats.

Since 1989, Brian Hibbs has owned and operated the Eisner Award-nominated Comix Experience in San Francisco. While Hibbs is a leader in the comics retailing business, his Comix Experience stores are lauded as one of the leading stores in the comics industry. As a founding member and current board member of Comics Professional Retailer Organization (ComicsPRO) Hibbs has also sat on the Board of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) as a defender of freedom of speech for retailers, creators, schools, and libraries, and has literally written the book on comic book retailing via his "Tilting at Windmills" column, currently running on the comics industry site The Beat.

Brian Hibbs and Comix Experience support students, educators, and librarians in the Bay Area, championing the effort of comics and literacy. His innovative Graphic Novel Book Clubs (one for adults and one for kids), which sport local Bay Area members as well as national participants, have hosted talent such as Neil Gaiman (Sandman), Marjorie Liu (Monstress), and dozens of the hottest writers and artists in the business, as well as rising stars.

Justin Kontonicolaou received her MLS from Drexel University in 2012. She is a zealous reader of young adult books and a cosplayer at heart. You will often find her nose buried in a book or hands deep in a Pinterest project. She is eagerly awaiting her acceptance letter from Hogwarts but until then she will enjoy her time being a YA librarian.

Sam Maggs is a bestselling writer of books, comics, and video games. She's a Senior Writer for Insomniac Games; the author of The Fangirl's Guide to the Galaxy, Wonder Women, and Girl Squads (Oct. 2018), all published by Quirk Books and distributed by Penguin Random House; a contributor to BioWare's highly-anticipated forthcoming game Anthem; and she's written for comics like "Star Trek" and "Jem & The Holograms." A Canadian in Los Angeles, she misses Coffee Crisp and bagged milk.

Greg Neri is the author of Grand Theft Horse and the Eisner-nominated, Coretta Scott King Honor-winning author of Yummy: the Last Days of a Southside Shorty, which Flavorwire hailed as one of the top 25 essential graphic novels of all time. He has written ten books for young people, including the Lee Bennett Hopkins Promising Poet Award-winner, Chess Rumble, and his books have been translated into multiple languages in more than 25 countries. Mr. Neri lives on the Gulf coast of Florida with his wife and daughter. For more information, visit his website at gneri.com.

Justin Portelli is a Supervising Library Assistant & Technology Supervisor at Fair Lawn Public Library in Fair Lawn, NJ. He has worked there for more than 16 years, and is currently pursuing his MI at Rutgers University. His library threw their first Library Con in 2017, had a blast, and is looking forward to an even better event in April 2019.

Chad Sell grew up in a small town in central Wisconsin. He lived in a neighborhood much like the Cardboard Kingdom, where he and his friends bounded through backyards in imaginative games and outfits. He also drew a lot and came up with all kinds of colorful characters. His favorites were often the villains, because despite being different and misunderstood, they were powerful and confident, and they got the best costumes. Chad lives in Chicago with his husband and two cats.

New York Times bestselling author Dana Claire Simpson grew up in Gig Harbor, Washington, drawing the entire time. She eventually graduated from The Evergreen State College, despite having spent all her time drawing, and not always for credit.

Unicorn Theater is the 8th "Phoebe and Her Unicorn" collection. The "Phoebe and Her Unicorn" comic strip, syndicated by Andrews McMeel Syndication, appears in more than 200 newspapers. Dana is also the creator of the internet comic strip Ozy and Millie, which she drew from 1998–2008. Ozy and Millie, the first "Ozy and Millie" collection, was published in August 2018 by Andrews McMeel Publishing.

She currently lives in Santa Barbara, California, with her tech genius husband and her fairly stupid cat.

Tui T. Sutherland is the author of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling "Wings of Fire" series and the graphic novel adaptation series – Book #2 releases in February. She has also written the "Menagerie" trilogy, and the "Pet Trouble" series, and is a contributing author to the bestselling "Spirit Animals and Seekers" series.

Mark Tatulli is an internationally syndicated cartoonist, best known for his popular, comic strips Heart of the City and Lio, which appear in over 400 newspapers around the world. Mark is an accomplished filmmaker and animator and is the recipient of three Emmy Awards for his prior work in television. He has also written the "Desmond Pucket" series of middle grade novels and currently lives in Washington Township, New Jersey. We invite you to visit him online at marktatulli.com.

Jackie Watkins is the Electronic Resources Collection Development Librarian at Kennesaw State University Library System (GA).

Jeremy Whitley is a comic book and fiction writer from Durham, North Carolina. He is the writer and creator of "Princeless" and "Raven the Pirate Princess" as well as the writer for Marvel's "Unstoppable Wasp", Dynamite's "Rainbow Brite", Titan's "Sea of Thieves", and IDW's "My Little Pony: Nightmare Knights". He has also written for Marvel's "Avengers," "Champions," "All-New X-Men," and "Iron Man." He is passionate about telling great diverse stories and bringing new audiences to comics.

Jo Whittemore is the author of Supergirl middle-grade novels based on the CW series of the same name along with many other middle-grade humor and fantasy novels. She's a member of the SCBWI and is part of the Texas Sweethearts & Scoundrels. She writes from a secret lair in Austin, Texas, that she shares with her husband. Visit her online at jowhittemore.com.

F. C. Yee grew up in New Jersey and went to school in New England. His young adult book The Epic Crush of Genie Lo released in 2017 to critical acclaim and four starred reviews. He is working on a new young adult series set in the Avatar, The Last Airbender universe. The Rise of Kyoshi (coming July 2019) delves into the story of the Earth Kingdom–born Avatar and maps her journey from a girl of humble origins to the merciless pursuer of justice who is still feared and admired centuries later. F.C. currently lives and writes in Denver, Colorado. Visit him online at fcyee.com.