Last week, our second group of fifty-four students graduated from The Author Conservatory.
For the last three years, they have taken the first of many big steps that have led them to crafting publication-worthy novels, marketing themselves and their writing, inviting editors into the earliest stages of the story creation process, and running their own entrepreneurial ventures.
We were thrilled to celebrate these students with a formal graduation ceremony, as well as hosting our first official Author Conservatory conference alongside graduation.
Our Second Class of Graduates
On September 5th, fifty-four of our students walked across a beautiful stage and shook hands with our program founders and faculty, celebrating three years of hard work and accomplishment as a graduate of The Author Conservatory.
Attendees of the Author Conservatory conference and graduation ceremony got to hear speeches from Brett Harris and Kara Swanson, our program founders; Katie Phillips, our fiction department director; Jaquelle Crowe, our nonfiction department director; and Brian O’Rear, our head business instructor.
The graduation ceremony also featured speeches from student speakers Ruth Nguyen, Marybeth Davis, and Amber Ginter-Johnson, who shared about their personal experiences and how The Author Conservatory has impacted them.
The Author Conservatory Conference and Graduation
In addition to a formal graduation ceremony, The Author Conservatory also hosted its first ever conference.
The Author Conservatory conference and graduation served as a way for students to connect in person, a highlight of the year for many of our online students. Thirteen of our instructors attended in addition to many other staff members, facilitating graduation events and teaching sessions.
Students also were treated with sessions and appointments with six industry professionals, including a New York City literary agent and acquisitions editor for a publishing house.
Panels and sessions covered a wide range of topics, from a branding workshop to a business panel to writing craft.
The Author Conservatory conference and graduation also celebrated the launch of our seventh student anthology, Voices of the Future: Stories of Strength & Sacrifice.
A Celebration of The Author Conservatory
We designed our Author Conservatory conference and graduation ceremony to celebrate our students, staff, and the overall mission of The Author Conservatory.
We exist to help our students write publication-worthy novels and have the business skills they need to financially support their writing careers. But we also aim to develop each one of our students as an individual.
That’s why we love celebrating not only the achievements of our graduates, but who they have become as people thanks to the holistic support, care, mentorship, and guidance from Author Conservatory instructors over these past three years.
Join us in celebrating the wonderful achievements of our second graduating class, and learn more about The Author Conservatory and if it would be a good fit for you.
