Dayton Ward is the New York Times bestselling author of the science fiction novels The Last World War, Counterstrike: The Last World War—Book II, and The Genesis Protocol, and the Star Trek novels Legacies: Purgatory’s Key, Elusive Salvation, Armageddon’s Arrow, The Fall: Peaceable Kingdom, Seekers: Point of Divergence (with Kevin Dilmore), From History’s Shadow, That Which Divides, In the Name of Honor, Open Secrets, and Paths of Disharmony. He lives in Kansas City, Missouri, with his wife and daughters. 

Julia Phillips lives in Brooklyn. Her debut novel, Disappearing Earth, will be publishedby Knopf in the US and Scribner in the UK, as well as publishers in France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and China. Her Pushcart-nominated fiction appears in literary journals including Glimmer Train and The Antioch Review.

Her nonfiction appears in such publications as The Atlantic, Slate, and BuzzFeed News, and was named notable in Best American Travel Writing. She spent a year as a Fulbright fellow in Russia's Kamchatka peninsula, where Disappearing Earth is set.

Scott Pearson graduated with a Bachelor of Media Arts and has won a LIANZA Te Kura Pounamu award in 2015. He has spent his career collaborating with a number of clients both local and international, producing work for graphic novels, children's books, school journals, animation and more.

After being exposed to Tintin and Asterix books as a young child, Scott was inspired to be an illustrator himself. He lives in Hamilton, New Zealand with his wife, four daughters and a busy at-home illustration & design business.

Editor Bryan Thomas Schmidt is an author of novels and short fiction, and Hugo-nominated editor. He has edited Alan Dean Foster, Tracy Hickman, Frank Herbert, was the first editor on Andy Weir's The Martian.

His anthologies include Infinite Stars, Predator: If it Bleeds, Shattered Shields (with Jennifer Brozek), Beyond the Sun, Raygun Chronicles, and Mission: Tomorrow.