Writers & Illustrators of the Future Workshop Week
2026 – Day 8

One Last Day in Outer Space: Writers & Illustrators Workshop Highlights

Contributed by Leah Ning

Preparing for Launch: Volume 42 Promotion

The winners got to sleep in a little after their night of gala festivities, but they jumped right back in for one final day of talks before they return home tomorrow. First, Galaxy Press Vice President of Public Affairs Emily Goodwin talked to the writers about the release date of Volume 42—how it’ll be promoted and how the winners can help. They’ll get sent home with promotional materials and social media graphics they can use to advertise their anthology.

A Visit from Astronaut Jannicke Mikkelsen

Next, last night’s keynote speaker, commercial astronaut and cinematographer Jannicke Mikkelsen, returned to talk to the winners about the realities of going to space. She talked about training at 9 g and preparing for crises, and about the dose of radiation received by astronauts on the ISS vs. by those who were on her mission, which saw completely different “space weather,” as well as answering questions from the winners about her experience.

Getting Found with DawnRay Ammon

In a return to Earth, Fyrecon co-founder DawnRay Ammon spoke about marketing, SEO, and becoming an easy and loved guest for convention runners. She talked about the importance of file naming, meta page descriptions, post timing, and content creation, along with other strategies to ensure you show up in the right places to get noticed.

Handling Interviews and Public Presence with Joe Montaldo and John Goodwin

Joe Montaldo and Galaxy Press President John Goodwin then talked to the winners about creating a platform and how to conduct themselves in interviews, ranging anywhere from friendly interviews to hostile ones. John spoke about the importance of discoverability and how to pack more information into your interview answers. Joe spoke about doing your research on anyone who asks you to interview them and effectively defending your boundaries when necessary.

Tools for Success: Promotion and Preparation

Emily Goodwin returned to the stage next. She handed out winner handbooks with instructions for how to do everything they’ll need to connect with the anthology release, including things like setting up an author page on Amazon. She showed the winners the promotional kits they’ll bring home, which contain bookmarks, standees, posters, and print copies of the illustrations that will help them sell books at signings and conventions. Lastly, she and John worked with the winners to develop elevator pitches for themselves before hearing about licensing rights from writer judge Tim Powers.

The winners rounded off their whirlwind week by receiving T-shirts and certificates of achievement for their awards, then being released for their final night in Hollywood.