Word for Word is proud to welcome award-winning author Courtney Milan. Ms. Milan began her career with a starred review in Publisher's Weekly and has never looked back. A self-publishing pioneer, she has gone on to become one of the top-selling and best-reviewed Romance authors writing today. Her bestselling historical romances are known for their wit, characterization, and plot. Ms. Milan's background in law—she clerked for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor—has made her a leading authority on copyright, contracts, and intellectual property. She has been a steadfast champion of author rights, as well as a staunch advocate for women and diversity in publishing.

For this year's Publishing Panel, Word for Word is proud to welcome two industry experts! Jane Friedman needs no introduction to aspiring writers. Her book "The Business of Becoming a Writer" is used as a class text in the Online MFA and in many other degree programs. Her long-running newsletter "The Bottom Line" provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals. In 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World. Laura Stanfill is an author, editor and the publisher of Forest Avenue Press. Her book "A Writer’s Guide to Unlocking Your Story, Choosing a Publishing Path and Honoring Your Creative Journey" appeared in 2025.

Word for Word is proud to welcome New York Times bestselling author Malinda Lo. Malinda's novel Last Night at the Telegraph Club won the National Book Award, the Stonewall Book Award, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, a Printz Honor, and was an LA Times Book Prize finalist. Join us as she reads from Telegraph Club and answers questions about her writing journey!

Join Word for Word as we honor the winners of the 11th Annual Penmen Review Fall Fiction Contest with readings of their winning stories and a Q&A with the writers!

Word for Word proudly welcomes horror master Paul Tremblay! Paul has won the Bram Stoker, British Fantasy, Sheridan Le Fanu, and Massachusetts Book awards and is the New York Times bestselling author of "Horror Movie: A Novel," "The Beast You Are," "The Pallbearers Club," "Survivor Song," "Growing Things and Other Stories," "Disappearance at Devil's Rock," "A Head Full of Ghosts," and the crime novels "The Little Sleep" and "No Sleep Till Wonderland." His novel "The Cabin at the End of the World" was adapted into the Universal Pictures film “Knock at the Cabin.” Tune in as Paul reads from "Horror Movie" and answers questions from the audience about horror, the differences between movies and fiction, and AI.

Word for Word opens a new season with our annual Instructor Spotlight event! We are thrilled to welcome MA instructor Dan Gleason and Online MFA instructor Tracy Crow as our special guests! Dan is a graduate of the famed Iowa Writers' Workshop who has worked as a journalist for an array of top national magazines. His new true-crime book, "Life Without: The Wrongful Conviction of Sandy Shaw," was just published from Bloomsbury. Tracy is an author of fiction and nonfiction, a literary agent, an editor, a publisher, and a veteran. She is the president and CEO of the MilSpeak Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting creative writing in the military community. Her award-winning memoir "Eyes Right" provided an uncensored look at the Marines from a woman’s perspective.

Word for Word honors five recent graduates of SNHU's online  BA, MA, and  MFA creative writing programs. Recommended by instructors and selected by Associate Deans Jacob Powers and Paul Witcover for their high literary achievement, these five  outstanding writers read from their work, representing all the graduates of their respective programs. 

Word for Word welcomes two of the top literary agents in the business, Joshua Bilmes and Lucienne Diver, for a discussion of the role agents play in the publishing world and what the career of a literary agent requires in an age of seismic changes to the literary landscape. 

Word for Word proudly welcomes award-winning author Tananarive Due! A leading voice in Black speculative fiction, Due has won an American Book Award, an NAACP Image Award and a British Fantasy Award. Join us as she reads from and discusses her latest novel, The Reformatory, a searing work of history, resilience, and the supernatural. 

Word for Word is proud to welcome award-winning author Jeffrey Ford! Ford’s fiction has garnered World Fantasy, Edgar Allan Poe, Shirley Jackson, and Nebula awards. Join us as Jeff reads a new story, "Plunged in the Years," discusses his writing apprenticeship with John Gardner, and shares his wisdom about workshopping, the writer's subconscious, and more!