As a Christian writer, your work reflects your faith beyond the page. Amid marketing, networking, and publishing pressures, how do you stay true to your calling? Setting goals and achieving success isn’t wrong, but without a firm foundation, everything will crumble. In this keynote, award-winning author Sara Ella will share how to honor God in your writing and invite Christ into your creative journey. Because no matter your genre or publishing path, your character shapes your career more than any bestseller list.

When you’ve spent hours upon hours on a project, you’ll be too close to the story to detect weaknesses. Although friends, family, and beta readers can offer feedback, they may not be familiar with industry standards. Authors need professional editors to polish their work to ensure their intent is communicated clearly and compellingly. In this session, Lora Doncea, Assistant Director of Christian Editors Association, will define the different types of editing needed at each writing stage and provide resources so you can navigate the process with confidence.

Do you wonder what an agent’s job looks like, how the editorial process functions, or why publishers take a year or two to release a book? Curious about who is on the mysterious “team” at a publishing house and how each member touches your book? In this session, Roseanna M. White, bestselling author and small-press owner, will dissect the different parts of publishing and explain why each is important.

Promoting a book in today’s fast-changing landscape can feel overwhelming. In this session, Trissina Kear, Marketing Director for Enclave Publishing, will show you how to recognize and adapt to audience expectations, leverage social media and email campaigns, and create a sustainable marketing plan. Whether you’re indie or traditionally published, you’ll gain the strategies you need to stay ahead of the trends that matter and avoid wasting energy on the ones that don’t.

Are your characters dominating your story? Has your plot gotten out of control? An engaging novel doesn’t rely on one or the other—both components need to work together. In this session, Lynette Eason, literary agent and bestselling author, will show you how character choices drive plot, how external events shape character growth, and how to seamlessly combine the two. Whether you lean toward plot-driven or character-driven storytelling, you’ll walk away with the equilibrium to keep readers invested.

Vivid, immersive settings like Middle-Earth and the Star Wars galaxy are the backbone of unforgettable stories. In this session, Realm Awards finalist Candice Kade will discuss how to create settings that spark readers’ imaginations. Whether you’re writing fantasy, sci-fi, or anything in between, you’ll discover how to brainstorm ideas and fine-tune the details that enable readers to experience your world as if they live in it.

Stories that address difficult topics have the power to shine light into darkness. As an author, you want your fiction to feel real, to feel true, because that is what resonates with readers who struggle and provides understanding to those who don’t. But where is the line between an accurate portrayal and triggering temptation? How do you delve into sensitive subjects without hurting yourself or readers? In this session, award-winning author Erin Phillips will explore how to approach these kind of stories with compassion and care.

You have a thrilling climax, an empathetic protagonist, and a potent theme. But all of that will be pointless if readers get bored before they reach “the good part.” What keeps them turning pages and losing sleep? In this session, Josiah DeGraaf, Program Director for The Young Writer’s Workshop, will explain how asking a series of narrative questions can raise stakes and drastically improve your story’s tension.

What makes characters truly memorable? It’s not just their strengths—it’s their struggles, flaws, and humanity. In this session, award-winning author Joanna Davidson Politano will dive into the essential traits of sympathetic characters. Learn how to develop empathy as a writer, embrace vulnerability, and recognize the difference between writing from the head and writing from the heart so you can create characters that feel deeply relatable, even when they misbehave.

Do you want to invent your own Riley Poole or Reepicheep? Comedic characters tend to be reader favorites, but how do you actually create someone they’ll love to laugh with and not just at? In this fun-filled session, upcoming Enclave author Mariposa Aristeo will teach you how to combine the core elements of humor to deepen your characters and make them endearing—instead of your story combusting in a poof of poorly chosen puns.

You dream of becoming an author, but success seems so far away. How do you continue trying when others are shooting past you and experiencing achievements you yearn for, even though you’ve been writing longer than they have? How do you hold onto hope when obstacles keep falling in your path? In this closing keynote, Brett Harris, co-founder of The Young Writer’s Workshop and The Author Conservatory, will weave together stories and scriptures to help you persevere through the hard times.