Todd Adkins

Director of LifeWay Leadership and Co-Host of 5 Leadership Questions Podcast

Todd Adkins is the Director of Leadership Development at LifeWay Christian Resources in Nashville, TN. Prior to joining LifeWay, Todd worked in the local church in student ministry and as an executive pastor. He has a background in launching strategic initiatives and web-based leadership development, and he’s passionate about helping churches create cultures of leadership development and training pathways for every role in the church. Since joining LifeWay, Todd has spearheaded the development of Ministry Grid, LifeWay’s dynamic leadership development platform, and written Developing Your Leadership Pipeline, a tool to aid church leaders in developing their people. He also hosts the 5 Leadership Questions podcast and tweets #Leadership incessantly at @ToddAdkins.

Chad R. Allen

Editorial Director, Baker Books

Chad R. Allen (@chadrallen) is editorial director of Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, where he has worked for fifteen years. He has been honored to work with such authors as Mark Batterson, Kyle Idleman, Caroline Leaf, Michael Hyatt, John Burke, Phyllis Tickle, and Chip Ingram. He blogs for writers and other creatives at chadrallen.com and has been published in such online places as LifeHacker, The Accidental Creative, MichaelHyatt.com, Goinswriter.com, and The Good Men Project. He’s also the creator of Book Proposal Academy, an online course designed to help nonfiction writers build compelling book proposals.

Jim Baird

Director of B&H Academic and WORDsearch Bible

After graduating from Dallas Theological Seminary, Jim Baird spent ten years serving in two churches. He went to work for WORD Publishing in 1994 and has been in Christian publishing ever since. Jim currently serves as the Director of B&H Academic and WORDsearch Bible. Jim and his wife Shelley have five children and three grandchildren.

David Bennett

Managing editor of HomeLife and Open Windows

David Bennett is managing editor of HomeLife and Open Windows. Prior to his work with HomeLife, David was responsible for the ideation, design, and production of student ministry resources and programs. He is author of Critical Decisions: Clarity in the Journey, co-author of Share Jesus Without Fear Student Edition, and for the past twelve years has been a contributor for FCA’S The Athlete’s Bible.

He edited the first Beth Moore student resource, co-hosted the Experiencing God Youth Video Series with Henry Blackaby, and coordinated the First Place youth health program. David also led out in the production of youth Vacation Bible School resources, the Positive Impact Teen Violence Intervention Campaign, and new Christian assimilation.

David has also served as camp pastor for CentriKid Camps, taught creative dramatics, Bible, and mixed woodwinds. He has served church staffs in Tennessee and South Carolina. He has also directed regional and national youth events.

He attended Clemson University and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He will never forget meeting his wife, Kimberly, at 2:10pm CT on his fifth day in Nashville. He and his wife have three daughters: Mary Claire, Caroline, and Sarah Kate.

Amy Cerra

Creative Director, Discovery House, Our Daily Bread Ministries

Amy Cerra is a designer, artist, gardener, and food enthusiast who has worked in Christian publishing for 18 years. She is currently Creative Director for Our Daily Bread Ministries, a global, non-denominational ministry. In addition to her work in book publishing, Amy has experience in brand development, team management, and global operations. Amy lives in Grand Rapids, MI with her husband and son.

Leah Chabai

Content and Social Media Manager for Proverbs 31

Leah Chabai is the Content Director for Lysa TerKeurst at Proverbs 31 Ministries. In the last 5 years she’s had the opportunity to launch two New York Times bestselling books, The Best Yes and Uninvited, with Lysa. Additionally, she manages content that reaches hundreds of thousands of women daily through Lysa’s social media platforms, devotions, First 5 teachings, and more. Leah is a big fan of iced coffee, thrifting, and checking things off her bucket list—which consists of seeing the world. She and her husband, Paul, live in Charlotte, NC.

Richard Clark

Director of Editorial Development for CT Pastors

Richard Clark is the Director of Editorial Development for CT Pastors. He helped create and produce the podcasts Quick to Listen and The Calling (which he hosts) for Christianity Today. Before he started his role with CT Pastors, he was the Online Managing Editor for Christianity Today. He got his start in online media when he co-founded Christ and Pop Culture, where he started a podcast network and a reader’s membership program.

Sam Curphey

Entertainment Law Attorney

Sam Curphey is an attorney with a solo practice in entertainment law. He represents rights holders, producers, writers, directors, actors and new media talent in a variety of matters running the gamut from film finance to distribution deals.

Sam prides himself on the breadth of scope in his practice and especially his work in independent film. His experience includes: drafting and negotiating option purchase agreements with authors and publishers for motion picture and television rights; drafting PPMs and advising producers on securities law compliance; providing production legal services on feature and documentary films and new media productions; completing rights acquisition agreements for film and television; and negotiating sales agent and distribution deals. Sample projects he has provided legal services in connection with include the following: Moms Night Out, Woodlawn, Beyond the Mask, Four Blood Moons, The Drop Box, Ragamuffin, The Hollywood Shorties, The River Thief, and The Dude Perfect Show.

Sam serves on the board of Director’s for Act One, a non-profit dedicating to cultivating the craft of Christian storytellers, and speaks at Azusa Pacifica and Biola on the topic of entertainment law. In addition to loving his job and his messy industry, Sam is blessed to live in Pasadena, CA with his wife of 12 years, Mary, and their 4 children: Bridget (8.5 going on 17), Charley (5 going on 3), Josephine (actually 3) and John (1.5 and named after the beloved Apostle).

Karen Davis

Vice President and Corporate Counsel at David C Cook/Integrity Music

Karen Davis is Vice President and Corporate Counsel at David C Cook/Integrity Music, where she has worked for the past two years, during which time she oversaw the acquisitions of Standard Publishing and Gospel Light. For over two decades prior to that, Karen was in private practice in the Pacific Northwest (Seattle and Portland), working exclusively in the areas of intellectual property, new technologies/digital products, and the creative industries (music, film, publishing, design, graphic arts, etc.). She graduated from Stanford Law School and Syracuse University (Bachelor of Music), and has been actively involved in legislation and initiatives involving creative rights. Karen and her husband Dan have seven children (including daughters-in-law and two sons in full-time church ministry) and three grandchildren with two more on the way.

Josh Dennis

Executive Vice President of Creative, Crossway

Josh Dennis is the Executive Vice President of Creative at Crossway. Josh studied Business and Art and received his B.A. from Taylor University in 2002. Josh has worked in a variety of creative roles including Production Designer, Designer, Art Director, and Creative Director. He works with an award winning and talented team at Crossway. In his career he has been able to collaborate with a diverse group of talented creatives including, designers, illustrators, film directors, developers and more.

Tom DeVries

Subsidiary Rights Manager, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Tom DeVries has been working with subsidiary rights, permissions, and contracts for ten years. Additionally, Tom has worked on international sales, eBook sales & metadata management, and royalties. Having lived overseas in the Philippines and Guam while growing up with missionary parents, Tom developed an intense interest and love for all things international, especially faith communities. Tom and his wife have two children and live in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Robert Downs

Director of Licensing & Subsidiary Rights, HarperCollins Christian Publishing

Rob Downs is Director of Licensing & Subsidiary Rights at HarperCollins Christian Publishing. Rob has been in the publishing industry for nearly 30 years, working in areas from warehousing and distribution management, HR, Contracts, and now Licensing of domestic and international rights. Rob spent 10 years with Spanish-language publisher Editorial Unilit working in acquisitions before joining the HCCP licensing team in 2005.

Dwayne Ewers

Manager of Institutional Relations for B&H Academic

Before coming to LifeWay, Dwayne completed his education at Boyce College and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. With a background in technology, over ten years of pastoral experience, and almost ten years of service in higher education, Dwayne enjoys his current role in working with institutions to deliver digital content to students who will impact front line ministry. Dwayne and his wife Jennifer have three kids and live in the Nashville area.

Olimpiu Filip

General Manager of Scriptum Publishing House

Olimpiu Filip is the General Manager of Scriptum Publishing House. Scriptum Publishing House started in 1993 to influence and educate people in Romania, after more than 40 years of darkness. Their roots began with Lydia Magazine, the first Christian women's magazine in Romania, which this year celebrates 25 years in print. Lydia is a now a biannual publication with 6,000 Romanian and 10,000 Hungarian copies printed. They publish an average of 30 new titles per year, with a wide-range of books and Bibles. Scriptum owns 2 Christian bookstores and is involved in wholesale Christian literature and gifts all over Romania. Although there is little profit in their country, under the direction of Olimpiu Filip they have become one of the top Christian organizations in Romania.

Nathan Finn

Author and Dean of the School of Theology & Missions and Professor of Theological Studies, Union University

Nathan A. Finn is Dean of the School of Theology & Missions and Professor of Theological Studies at Union University (Jackson, TN). He is author of The Baptist Story: From English Sect to Global Movement (B&H Academic) and History: A Student’s Guide (Crossway). He is an ordained minister and serves as a research fellow for the Ethics and Religious Liberty of the Southern Baptist Convention, a fellow for the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a fellow for the L. Russ Bush Center for Faith and Culture at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Paul Franklyn

Associate Publisher for Bibles and Leadership, United Methodist Publishing House

Nadiyka Gerbish

Eastern Europe Rights Manager at Riggins International Rights Service

Nadiyka Gerbish is a bestselling and award-winning Ukrainian author of children’s books, inspirational short stories, and Christian non-fiction. She is also a translator of numerous high-profile titles (English to Ukrainian) such as Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson; Decision Points, by George W. Bush; Psychology & Christianity: Five Views, ed. by Eric L. Johnson; On the Marriage You’ve Always Wanted, by Gary Chapman; Developing the Leader Within You, by John Maxwell; Once an Arafat Man, by Tass Saada with Dean Merrill, and others. Nadiyka has an MA degree in English Language and Literature (Kyiv National Linguistic University, Ukraine), and an MA in American Studies and Mass Media (University of Lodz, Poland). Nadiyka’s journey in the publishing world began more than a decade ago when as a student of English Language and World Literature, she started contributing to major national Ukrainian newspapers as a journalist and a book reviewer. She also worked as an editor-in-chief of a Christian publishing house and taught college-level courses on PR in Publishing in Ukraine. Her photography has been used in book illustrations produced by European, American, and Canadian publishers. Nadiyka is also Eastern European Rights Manager for Riggins International Rights Services. She is Ukrainian, currently based in Poland.

Tim Green

Senior Art Director, Faceout Studio

Tim Green is a senior art director at Faceout Studio, but he prefers the term “seasoned” art director. Tim’s covers have been recognized by the AIGA 50 Books / 50 Covers Show, the New York Book Show, Print magazine, Graphis, Top Shelf, and have received national recognition from the American Advertising Federation. Tim also enjoys speaking at university design programs along the west coast. Tim graduated from Northern Arizona University in 2002, and he has been designing books and brand identity ever since. When he is not at his desk designing, he is most likely to be found at home, with his lovely wife and 3 children. If he's not with them, it's a safe bet you'll find him at a coffee shop, probably designing something. Be sure to say "hi" for me.

Sean Harrison

Founder and Chief Problem-Solver for Book Genesis

Sean Harrison is the founder and chief problem-solver for Book Genesis, a publishing services consultancy that focuses on making complex book production simple. Sean has been developing complex publications, designing and implementing better publishing processes and systems, and training people to use them since 1997. Sean loves publishing, he loves the technologies of publishing, and he loves helping his colleagues learn to enjoy doing their work better. He also enjoys photography, writing, teaching, and playing music with family and friends. @saharrison

Dr. Kornel Herjeczki

CEO of Harmat Publishing

Dr Herjeczki grew up during the socialist-communist years of Eastern Europe. As a son of a Baptist Pastor his first acquaintance with Christian books was packing out smuggled Bibles and Christian books from unexpectedly arrived vans to the family garage in a remote village. Years later the content of these books became also important to him and he felt God’s calling to serve Him through serving people. He wanted to serve the whole person, body-mind-spirit. When the political climate changed in 1989, he established the Hungarian Fellowship of Evangelical Students, than with the help of Christian brothers and sisters from the west, founded the HARMAT [Dew] Publishing Foundation to be able to spiritually feed the Christian students. Later their horizon broadened, and Harmat developed a nationwide book ministry of helping people in general, in their relationships in all three dimensions: their relationship with God, relationships with their fellow people, and relationship with themselves. Over the years, God provided the gift of growth with all of its struggles and joy. Harmat by now is the leading Evangelical publishing activity in Hungary playing a middle-size role at the secular book industry, too.

Daisy Hutton

Sr VP and Publisher of W Books, HarperCollins Christian Publishing

Korea Christian Publishers Association

Korea Christian Publishers Association (KCPA) is the primary organization for Evangelical Christian Publishers in South Korea. KCPA was founded in 1975 and currently represents 150 publishers. They support Korean publishing and the church by cultivating new readers and markets, promote sales of Korean books, providing training and market information, and leading international exchanges. They are committed to doing missionary work through books and serve as a vital resource to international publishers who license translation rights.

Klaus Krogh

Founder and CEO, 2K/DENMARK

Klaus E. Krogh, together with his wife Liv, founded 2K/DENMARK (then named 2Krogh), back in 1987 after his 7-year employment at the Norwegian Bible Society. Since then he has been partner and CEO of the graphic design company, that today offers a range of services, both digital and in printed media. His company works with publishers around the world and have over the years specialized in font-design, design and typesetting of highly complex texts, among which the Bible holds a prominent and prestigious position. “My greatest achievement is that the company survives by insisting on delivering the highest quality possible. That also tells a story about our customers."

Pete Larson

Owner and President, Bethany Press International

Pete Larson is the owner and President/CEO of Bethany Press International Inc., and has been in the book printing industry for over 17 years. Prior to book manufacturing, he held management roles in advertising and customer service in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. He is a graduate from the Michigan Technological University School of Business with a degree in Personnel and Industrial Relations.

Anna LeBaron

“Book Launch Guru”, annalebaron.com

Anna LeBaron is an author, book launch expert, and social media strategist who is blazing new trails for the publishing industry. With the help of #the4500, a national network of readers and bloggers, Anna rogue-launched Jen Hatmaker’s For the Love (a New York Times bestseller) in 2015. Since For the Love, she has employed her enthusiastic and intuitive approach to social media to successfully launch other titles from a long list of publishers, as well as her own memoir, The Polygamist’s Daughter (Tyndale, 2017). In addition to For the Love, these titles were also catapulted to the New York Times bestseller list: Ruth Wariner’s The Sound of Gravel (Flatiron, 2016) and Jen Hatmaker’s Of Mess and Moxie (Thomas Nelson, 2017).

Anna is also a speaker, an author coach, and personal growth activist. She refers to herself—and is affectionately known—as the Cat Herder and has the endorsements on LinkedIn to prove it. Anna is a friend to many, mom of five grown children, and lives in the DFW metroplex.

Brittyne Lewis

Head of Product, LibreDigital

Brittyne has worked in the publishing industry since graduating from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelors degree in English. She has worked directly with global publishers in various capacities at LibreDigital over the past 8 years. She has a diverse background in managing software engineering projects, book publishing accounts and relationships with major retailers, and product development. Prior to LibreDigital Brittyne worked as a copywriter and editor for an imprint distributed by Elsevier.

In her role as Head of Product, Brittyne drives the development of products and solutions to meet publishers’ needs by anticipating market requirements, listening to publishers, and monitoring the industry and trends. She maintains the product roadmap for the company across solution sets for both Books and Magazines and manages the entire product line life cycle.

Apart from work, Brittyne enjoys spending time with her family, golfing, reading books to her daughter, and eating tacos and BBQ daily in Austin, Texas.

Jennifer Lyell

Sr. VP and Publisher, B&H Books, LifeWay Christian Resources

Gabe Lyons

Author, speaker, and Q founder

Gabe Lyons is the co-author of Good Faith (2016), unChristian (2007) and authored The Next Christians (2010), as a manifesto for how Christians can faithfully lead in a changing culture. He is the founder of Q, a learning community of Christian leaders where they are equipped to engage our cultural moment. Their Q Conference (www.Q2018.com) annually convenes thousands of leaders from all industries while Q Commons, their global event simultaneously unites 140 cities and over 10,000 people on an October evening (www.QCommons.com). Called "sophisticated and orthodox" by The New York Times, Q equips Christians apply their faith to daily life by addressing some of the most difficult and controversial issues of our time. Gabe speaks to over 100,000 people each year on topics of equipping the next generation, cultural issues and research related to the intersection of faith and public life. He lives in Nashville with his wife, Rebekah, and their three children.

David McKay

Producer and Creative Director

David McKay is both a Producer and Creative Director fueled by a personal mission to reflect the great and the good wherever it’s seen. After working at non-profits, marketing agencies, and production companies, David made the jump to independent work and has since produced films and video for brands like B&H Publishing, Chevrolet, Bentley Motors, Weebly, HCA, Southwestern Consulting, and Google. His experience ranges from animation and editing to directing and creative strategy; he’s even embarked on solo documentary filmmaking in Siberia. In business, he’s a firm believer that it’s not just content that’s king, but rather, great content is king. Today David continues to pursue dynamic projects while empowering brands to share their message and their story through brave, thoughtful, and creative video content.

Kristen McLean

Executive Director of Business Development, NPD Book

Kristen McLean is the Executive Director of Business Development at NPD Book, a part of The NPD Group. With more than 20 years of experience in the publishing industry in roles including retailing, sales, marketing, and industry advocacy, she oversees research into the consumer behavior of readers, and she is NPD Books' in-house specialist on both the Children's and the Christian markets. She is the editor of the recent ECPA Landscape Survey of Book Buying Trends in the Christian Market. As part of her role as an industry strategist, Kristen speaks extensively on issues facing the publishing world including the effect of technology and culture on books and reading, and evolving models for publishing. Kristen is deeply interested in the confluence of consumer behavior, technology, literacy, and global information in the Digital Age.

Jonathan Merkh

Former VP and Publisher, Howard Books a division of Simon & Schuster

Jonathan’s career in Christian publishing encompassed roles in ministry, agenting, and sales through work at Thomas Nelson, Guideposts, William Morris and Simon & Schuster. His extensive and varied experience gives him a well-rounded and unique perspective on most every area of the business.

Merkh spent fourteen years with Thomas Nelson Publishers in various roles including a post as senior vice president and publisher of the Nelson Books division, the company’s flagship imprint. While there he published more than twenty New York Times bestsellers, including works by Dave Ramsey, John and Stasi Eldredge, Dr. John C. Maxwell, and Donald Miller. Jonathan, a graduate of Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management, also launched the Nelson Business imprint.

In his eight plus years at the helm of Howard Books/Simon and Schuster, Jonathan has overseen the publication of over 40 New York Times bestsellers from authors like Dave Ramsey and Brad Paisley to fiction best-sellers William Paul Young and Karen Kingsbury. Most notably Howard books made publishing history with the Duck Dynasty franchise of books that dominated the bestseller lists for most of 2013 and sold nearly 7 million copies. Of those 40 bestsellers, five hit the #1 spot on the lists. Publishers Weekly noted that for 2014, Howard Books had more hardcover bestsellers than any other Christian publishing company in the country.

Jonathan is presently on sabbatical, consulting with several firms and studying trends in the industry that may lead to hints about the future of the publishing landscape.

Jonathan is the father of three beautiful daughters and the grandfather of one little boy who has a little sister on the way in late 2017.

Holly Meyer

Religion reporter for The Tennessean

Holly Meyer is The Tennessean's religion reporter, finding stories where faith intersects with politics, social issues and everything else. She joined The Tennessean in 2014 as a crime and breaking news reporter. Holly is a 2009 graduate of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and began her professional journalism career at the Rapid City Journal in South Dakota. She moved to Appleton, Wis. in 2012 to work at The Post-Crescent where her faith reporting earned her a national religion reporting award.

Emily McFarlan Miller

National reporter for RNS

Emily McFarlan Miller is a national reporter for RNS based in Chicago, Illinois. She covers evangelical and mainline Protestant Christianity. Before joining RNS in 2016, she won awards for her work as education reporter at The Courier-News in Elgin, Illinois, and social media manager at the Chicago Sun-Times. Her writing also has appeared in Relevant Magazine, Her.meneutics, Acts of Faith, Crux and more. Connect with her everywhere on social media as @emmillerwrites.

Russell Moore

President, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, SBC

Russell Moore is president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, the moral concerns and public policy entity of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. He is a frequent cultural commentator, an ethicist and theologian by background, and an ordained Southern Baptist minister. Moore is the author of several books, including Onward (B&H Publishing Group). A native Mississippian, he and his wife Maria are the parents of five sons.

Ryan Myers

Creative Director, She Reads Truth and He Reads Truth

Ryan Myers is Creative Director for She Reads Truth and He Reads Truth. Every day, he seeks to lend the inherently beautiful gospel the aesthetic beauty it deserves.

Camille Nordby

Manager of Content Services, Ingram Content Group

Camille Nordby manages Content Services for the Ingram Content Group, with a focus on customization and direct to consumer e-commerce. She previously lived in Beijing, where she managed Ingram’s Asia-Pacific markets. Camille graduated from Oxford University with a degree in English Literature and Language in 2010 and currently lives in New York City.

Jade Novak

Managing Art Director, B&H Publishing Group, an imprint of LifeWay Resources

Jade is an art director and product designer for B&H Publishing with a background in advertising and graphic design. She has worked on an array of products including (from smallest to largest) business cards, pencils, CDs, menus, magazines, catalogues, books and Bibles, t-shirts, displays, and billboards (plus a tv commercial circa 1995, but we're trying to forget about that). Her personal favorite: the Worm Dirt bag. Having survived the age of amberlithe and attended press checks from Chicago to Shenzhen, Jade will share a bit of designer wisdom with anyone who wants to add a little color to their vocabulary.

Holly O’Harra

Events Manager, HarperCollins Christian Publishing

Holly O’Harra is a strategic communications and events professional with experience across several avenues including global business, small business, nonprofits and academia – focused on supporting the mission of companies and clients to cultivate events as an extension of their brand, purpose and style.

She is an alumna of The University of Alabama, where she earned a degree in Communication and Information Sciences. Holly began her event management career at Bell Helicopter, an industry-leading innovation and rotorcraft company, where she planned events ranging from international Embassy gatherings to the Paris Air Show supporting a Military aviation portfolio.

Holly was recently named events manager for HarperCollins Christian Publishing, based in Nashville, Tennessee, where she oversees all large-scale trade shows, conferences and events for HCCP’s various imprints.

Jackie Hill Perry

Writer, speaker, and artist

Jackie Hill Perry is a writer, speaker, and artist whose work has been featured on the Washington Times, the 700 Club, Desiring God, The Gospel Coalition, and other publications. Since being saved from a lifestyle of homosexual sin and the like, Jackie has been compelled to share the light of the gospel truth through poems that have reached over one million views on YouTube. She is becoming an influential voice on various topics influencing culture. She is signed to Humble Beast Records, and released her debut album “The Art of Joy” in 2014. At home, she is known as wife to Preston and mommy to Eden.

Barnabas Piper

Marketing Manager, B&H Academic and Word Search, LifeWay; speaker, author

Barnabas Piper is a speaker and the author of The Curious Christian (B&H Publishing Group), The Pastor’s Kid (David C. Cook) and Help My Unbelief (David C. Cook) and a contributor to several websites. He blogs regularly at BarnabasPiper.com and co-hosts The Happy Rant Podcast. Barnabas has worked in publishing since 2005 and currently serves as the marketing manager for B&H Academic and Word Search at LifeWay.

Russ Ramsey

Author, pastor, speaker

Russ Ramsey is an author, pastor, and speaker who loves making the Word of God come alive for his readers and listeners. He is the author of Struck (IVP), Behold the King of Glory (Crossway), and Behold the Lamb of God (Rabbit Room Press).

Rod Schumacher

Vice President of Export Sales

Rod joined the Export Sales team at HarperCollins Christian Publishing in 2004 after 8 years at WaterBrook Press and 10 years in retail management with Joshua’s Christian Stores. During his time in publishing, Rod has had the privilege of selling to a wide variety of accounts, including Christian Indies, Key Accounts, Ministries, and Foreign Language Licensing Partners. The HCCP Export team partners with local retailers, distributors, and the HarperCollins global offices to make HCCP product available around the world.

Marcos Simas

Acquisition Editor, Managing Editor, and Consultant

Marcos Simas has acquired Portuguese rights for over 500 titles for major general trade and Christian publishers in Brazil. He has served as both Acquisition Editor and Managing Editor on key books and Bible projects for several major publishers and also as an editorial consultant for both Christian and general trade publishers who want to acquire rights to translate into the Portuguese language from the American market. He currently works for Thomas Nelson Brazil, Geográfica Editora and Editora Planeta. Marcos is currently studying towards a Ph.D. in the field of Religious Studies.

Bob Smietana

Veteran religion reporter and frequent contributor to national publications; senior writer for Facts&Trends magazine

Bob Smietana is a veteran religion reporter, based in Nashville. For six years he was religion writer for the Tennessean and is the former senior news editor for Christianity Today. He is now senior writer for Facts&Trends magazine.

Smietana is a frequent contributor to national publications like the Washington Post, Sojourners, and Christianity Today, and a longtime correspondent for Religion News Service (RNS). He is the immediate past president of the Religion Newswriters Association, the chair of the managing board for RNS, and co-author of three books.

Janet Stapleton

Rights & Licensing Manager for Nazarene Publishing House

Janet Stapleton is the Rights & Licensing Manager for Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City and its parent organization, Nazarene Publishing House, where she has worked for 23 years. Previously she worked as a para legal. In addition to Rights and Licensing, she also manages contracts and the protection of intellectual property for the company. Janet serves on the steering committee of the International Rights Managers Association which is a part of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA). She has 3 adult children and resides in Overland Park, Kansas.

Allyson Sutton

Founder/CEO of Loop Events

Allyson Sutton is the Owner/CEO of Loop, LLC. Taking her previous work in the music industry, passion for live events, and heart for serving others, she launched Loop in 2015 to provide people with an opportunity to serve. To date, Loop has worked with over 42,000 volunteers and staffed over 1,000 events all over the country. Through Allyson’s leadership, Loop continues to grow and dreams of providing unique ways for individuals to partner with live events to love, serve, and impact their communities.

Joshua Tallent

Director of Outreach and Education, Firebrand Technologies

Joshua Tallent, the Director of Outreach and Education at Firebrand Technologies, has been an eBook developer since 2002 and is a well-known eBook expert and teacher. He serves on multiple industry committees and working groups and teaches at publishing conferences year-round. Joshua provides consulting and training services, helping publishers understand their content better and figure out how to sell it more effectively. He and his team are also the creators of FlightDeck, the most robust EPUB quality assurance tool available. Visit him on Twitter at @jtallent or www.ebookarchitects.com.

Andrew Tebbe

VP of Marketing & Communications, Crossway

Andrew Tebbe is Vice President of Marketing & Communications at Crossway, where he has served for eight years in a number of marketing and sales roles. Andrew has a passion for seeing the Word of God and Bible-centered books equip and edify the church. He and his wife Laura live in Wheaton, Illinois with their son Caleb.

Matt Tully

Marketing Director, Crossway

Matt Tully serves as Director of Marketing at Crossway. He holds an MA in Historical Theology from Wheaton College Graduate School and lives in Wheaton, IL, with his wife and two kids.

Phil Warner

VP of Video Production, RightNow Media

Phil Warner serves as the Vice President of Video Production for RightNow Media where he leads the creative team that produces all of the video resources for the ministry. Throughout his 18-year career Phil has helped create over 100 video-based Bible study projects, partnering with key authors and teachers like Francis Chan, Matt Chandler, Max Lucado, Mark Batterson, Chip Igram, Tim Tebow, Dr. Tony Evans, John Ortberg, Kyle Idleman, and David Platt. Phil lives in the Dallas area with his wife Becky and his two sons Hayden and Andrew.

Gabe Wicks

VP of Creative Services, HarperCollins Christian Publishing

Gabe Wicks has been part of Nashville’s creative workforce for almost twenty years, first in the film and video community, and then in the book world. He’s worked for Thomas Nelson/HarperCollins Christian Publishing since 2002, serving as VP of Creative Services since 2004. Gabe and his wife have three kids, an old house that needs constant upkeep and a couple of antique cars that require frequent prayer to stay running. In his free time he mourns the fact that he has no free time.

Byron Williamson

CEO and Publisher, Worthy Publishing

Jennifer Willingham

Co-Founder of Icon Media Group

Jennifer Willingham is a 23-year veteran of media, having served as Vice President & Associate Publisher of an imprint of Simon & Schuster, one of the top publishing companies in the world. Prior roles include leading the book division of DeMoss, one of the nation’s largest faith-based public relations firms and as Vice President of Marketing and Publicity for Thomas Nelson Publishers. Jennifer now serves as co-President of Icon’s film division and has worked on films including War Room, God's Not Dead, All Saints, and I Can Only Imagine (coming 2018).

Andrew Wolgemuth

Literary Agent, Wolgemuth & Associates

Andrew Wolgemuth is a literary agent at Wolgemuth & Associates. Andrew has been surrounded, challenged, taught, and blessed by books and great authors for his entire life, and he’s had the privilege of working with them as a literary agent since 2005. His first official paycheck came from Wolgemuth & Hyatt Publishers a couple of decades ago. Though far less relevant to his current occupation—albeit, far more conducive to puns—his second employer was Can-Do Trash and Recycling Service. Andrew is a reader, a jogger, a sports fan, the lucky husband of Chrissy, a dad of three girls and a son, and a foster care and adoption advocate. He and his family have lived in Colorado since 2008.