What Is Author Nation?

Author Nation is the world’s largest indie author conference, taking place over four days of education, networking, and professional growth in Las Vegas. Founded in 2023 and operated by Author Ventures LLC, the event was built around a simple belief: successful authors are built through community, strategy, and consistent action.

Since launching, Author Nation has grown year after year. In 2025, the conference welcomed over 1,200 attendees, with 1,400 expected for 2026. Alongside the live event, the broader Author Nation community now includes more than 3,000 members, 70+ vendors and service providers, hundreds of speakers and volunteers, and a rapidly growing ecosystem of authors, educators, and publishing professionals.

At its core, Author Nation exists to help authors build sustainable, prosperous creative careers in the golden age of content creation.

Our Story

Author Nation began as an extension of a publishing journey that started at home.

After self-publishing the Stylish Upgrade series for her Wanderlust Style with Suze brand, Suze Solari and her husband Joe Solari became deeply involved in the indie publishing space. What started as helping manage a small author business evolved into years of consulting and operational support for bestselling independent authors.

Since 2016, Joe has worked behind the scenes helping authors build stronger businesses by improving profitability and implementing sustainable systems and practices. As demand for practical publishing education grew, Joe began speaking at industry events and became known as a thought leader on author business strategy.

In 2023, Joe and Suze expanded into the publishing conference world, and Author Nation was born.

Built by working authors in the indie publishing ecosystem, Author Nation was designed to be a conference where creators could gain practical skills, build meaningful relationships, meet trusted service providers, and leave with clear next steps to grow their careers.

Today, the conference team is made up largely of self-published authors who actively work in the industry they teach.

Our Mission

Author Nation empowers authors to build a prosperous future in the golden age of content creation.

We believe the future belongs to creators who are willing to learn, adapt, collaborate, and build direct relationships with readers. Publishing is changing rapidly, and our mission is to help authors not only keep up with those changes, but thrive within them.

That mission shapes everything we do.

Our programming focuses on practical implementation, sustainable business growth, writing craft, marketing, direct sales, and long-term career development.

We believe education should lead to action, not passive consumption.

For example, rather than simply uploading conference recordings and hoping attendees find time to watch them, we build implementation-focused initiatives designed to encourage real action. Programs like our Virtual After Party and CrossWrite help attendees continue learning year-round through live speaker Q&As, community challenges, and accountability. And because education should be fun too, participants can earn rewards, including conference tickets and other community perks.

Continuing to Innovate

Innovation is also central to our philosophy. Author Nation continues to evolve alongside the publishing industry and the needs of our community.

Kickstart Together

In 2025, we launched Kickstart Together, a collaborative initiative helping authors successfully launch crowdfunding campaigns with guidance from Kickstarter’s Head of Publishing, Oriana Leckert. The cohort’s capstone project was the launch of a collaborative anthology campaign on Kickstarter. The success of that 2025 anthology, which funded at more than 230% of its goal, and the cohort itself, whose members raised over $179,068 throughout the year, helped expand the initiative into three anthology projects for 2026, including a graphic novel anthology featuring bestselling author Andy Weir alongside acclaimed comic book artists.

Virtual Industry Expo

This year, we also launched our first Virtual Industry Expo to improve accessibility to publishing vendors and services for authors who cannot attend the live event. The initiative featured more than 40 vendors, over 200 attendees, and $8,000 in raffle prizes.

What’s Next?

Deep Dive Workshops

Beginning at our 2026 live event, we will host five Deep Dive Workshops. These three-hour implementation-focused sessions are designed in response to attendee feedback requesting longer-form educational experiences and deeper tactical instruction.

Author 101

Author 101 is a new foundational educational initiative designed to give both attendees and community members shared baseline publishing knowledge, regardless of ticket status. The goal is to make high-quality publishing education more accessible to authors at every stage of their careers. Content will be made available for everyone in our free community group.

Reader Nation

Reader Nation was created around a core belief: readers are the foundation of every publishing business.

Held at the close of Author Nation, Reader Nation gives participating authors the opportunity to connect directly with readers through live signings, discovery experiences, and community events.

In a world of shrinking attention spans and endless online noise, we believe in-person discovery and human connection matter more than ever.

While Author Nation is designed to help authors gain knowledge and professional connections, Reader Nation is designed to create meaningful opportunities to reach new readers and grow sustainable careers through direct engagement.

Please Note: Although Author Nation attendees receive priority consideration, signing space is limited and curated to ensure a diverse mix of genres, audience experiences, and creators.

While our primary focus is empowering authors, we proudly support creatives of all kinds and actively encourage collaboration across disciplines through initiatives like our Industry Expo, anthology projects, virtual programming, and creator networking opportunities.

Leadership

Author Nation is led by a team of publishing professionals, educators, event organizers, and working authors actively involved in the indie publishing industry.

• Joe Solari: Managing Director, Co-Owner

• Suze Solari: Strategic Partnerships, Co-Owner

• Jen B. Green: Programming Lead, Conference Co-Director

• Jamie Davis: Conference Co-Director

• Isabella Lisak: Reader Nation Coordinator, Media Manager

Conduct Committee

Operated by Author Ventures LLC, Author Nation collaborates closely with the author community to shape programming and uphold professional excellence.

Comprised of authors in the community, the Conduct Committee reviews programming ahead of the show and is available for live support during the event to help ensure a welcoming attendee experience.

Attendees can review our Code of Conduct here.

By the Numbers

• Founded in 2023

• 1,200+ attendees in 2025

• 1,400 expected attendees for 2026

• 3,000+ community members

• 70+ vendors and service providers

• Hundreds of speakers, volunteers, and industry experts

• 80+ educational sessions and workshops

• Multiple live and virtual events throughout the year

Contact Us

Questions about Author Nation or Reader Nation? Interested in partnership or have an idea for a future initiative?

Email us at hello@authorventuresllc.com, and our team will be in touch.