Jane Yolen has been called the Hans Christian Andersen of America. She is the author of more than four hundred books, including children's fiction, poetry, short stories, graphic novels, nonfiction, fantasy, and science fiction. Her publications include Owl Moon, The Devil's Arithmetic, Briar Rose, Sister Emily's Starship, and Sister Light, Sister Dark. Among her many honors are the Caldecott and Christopher Medals, multiple Nebula, World Fantasy, Mythopoeic, Golden Kite, and Jewish Book awards; as well as the World Fantasy Association's Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Science Fiction Poetry Grand Master Award. Yolen is also a teacher of writing and a book reviewer. She lives in Western Massachusetts and St Andrews, Scotland.

Brandon Sanderson is the fifteen-time New York Times best-selling author of adult and young adult fantasy, including the Mistborn Trilogy, the Stormlight Archive, the Cosmere novels, and the Rithmatist series. In 2007, he was chosen by Robert Jordan's widow to complete Jordan's epic Wheel of Time series, published in three novels. He participates in the weekly podcast Writing Excuses. Sanderson's 2022 Kickstarter, for his four new entries in the Cosmere series, received finding of forty-one million dollars, the most in crowdfunding history. He currently resides in Utah with his family.