author ventures llc

What author ventures llc does

Author Ventures LLC, doing business as Author Nation, is a Las Vegas-based event and community operator serving independent (indie) and crowdfunding authors. Its flagship offering is the annual Author Nation conference, held in-person at the Horseshoe Las Vegas (the 2026 edition is scheduled for November 10-13, 2026, with 80+ sessions and 1,400+ attendees), complemented by a free online community of 3,000+ members organized into genre-based channels, a knowledge library, and a Summer Series of live engagement sessions. The company also runs a paid Kickstarter Cohort mentorship program targeted at crowdfunding authors.

The underlying technology stack is lightweight: ticketing and access are delivered through the Kartra platform, the community is hosted on a dedicated online community platform, and the conference itself is a physical in-person event at a single Las Vegas venue. There is no disclosed proprietary technology, AI/ML capability, or data flywheel; value is delivered primarily through curated programming, peer learning, and live interaction rather than software differentiation.

The business model combines four revenue mechanics: one-time conference ticket sales, one-time Digital Access Passes for remote attendees, paid cohort/professional-services fees from the Kickstarter Cohort program, and community membership (currently free, with a premium tier implied). Go-to-market is event-driven and community-led: the annual conference anchors brand and acquisition, the free community retains members between events, and the cohort program monetizes the higher-engagement subset of crowdfunding authors. The primary customer segment is individual indie authors and crowdfunding authors, predominantly North America-facing despite global ticket availability.

Name

author ventures llc

Legal name

Author Ventures LLC

Website

https://authornation.live

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Author Ventures LLC operates Author Nation, a Las Vegas-based annual conference and online community serving independent and crowdfunding authors. It combines in-person events, a free 3,000+ member community, and a paid Kickstarter mentorship cohort.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Author Events and Publishing Education

NAICS

Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813), Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

Author Service Marketplaces & Aggregators (Vetting, Bundled Services) (MPAJAJAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Self-Publishing & Author Platforms (BPAMAJAF), Author Marketing, PR & Launch Services (Ads, Book Tours, Influencers) (MPAJAJAL)

Keywords

• Indie author conferences
• Author community events
• Publishing education programs
• Crowdfunding author mentorship
• Author business networking

Headquarters

HQ city

Las Vegas

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Conference Tickets: Revenue from in-person conference attendance tickets for Author Nation annual event, including various ticket tiers and access levels.
2. Digital Access Passes: Virtual/digital access passes for those unable to attend in-person, including virtual after-party access.
3. Kickstarter Cohort Program: Paid mentorship and cohort-based program for authors building Kickstarter campaigns, featuring expert mentorship and collaborative promotion.
4. Community Membership: Free community membership with premium paid programs and cohort offerings. The collaborative model claims to help authors reach 4.1x higher revenue and profitability 18 months sooner.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Author Ventures LLC operates the Author Nation brand, organizing what it describes as the world's largest annual conference for independent authors, complemented by an online community platform, a free knowledge library, summer webinar series, and a paid Kickstarter cohort mentorship program. The company sells conference tickets (in-person and digital access passes) and offers free community membership to drive event attendance and paid cohort enrollments.

Product overview

Author Ventures LLC operates Author Nation as a platform-plus-events model. The core offering is the annual Author Nation Live Conference — a large-scale in-person event for indie authors featuring 80+ sessions and exhibitor space. This is augmented by digital access tiers (Digital Access pass, Virtual After Party), a free community platform (Author Nation Community) with interest-based channels, an online Knowledge Library, the Summer Series live session program, and the Kickstarter Cohort mentorship program. Together these form a suite of products spanning in-person events, virtual access, community networking, educational resources, and campaign mentorship for independent authors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Author Nation Live Conference The flagship annual in-person conference for independent authors, featuring 80+ sessions, exhibitor booths, and networking opportunities for business-minded indie authors.
• 2026 Digital Access and Virtual After Party Virtual access tier for the Author Nation conference that allows remote attendees to participate in the event and access the virtual after party.
• Author Nation Community Free online community platform for indie authors offering genre- and interest-based channels, free educational materials, and writing challenges.
• Knowledge Library / Knowledge Base Digital resource repository offering free educational materials and knowledge content for indie authors, hosted at wiki.authornation.live.
• Summer Series A series of 7 live online sessions designed to engage the author community during summer months, with raffle entries for in-person conference attendance as incentives.
• Kickstarter Cohort Structured mentorship and peer accountability program designed to help authors build, launch, and grow a Kickstarter campaign, with expert guidance and collaborative promotion.

Quantifiable outcome

• Authors in the community achieve 4.1x higher revenue and profitability 18 months sooner

Named customers7 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• 20BooksTo50K: 20BooksTo50K is the most direct peer — an annual indie author conference and community founded by Craig Martelle that targets indie authors, exactly matching Author Nation's niche and conference-plus-community model.
• Reedsy: Reedsy is a marketplace and education platform for indie authors, connecting them with editors, designers, and marketers — directly overlapping with the author services and education focus of Author Nation.
• Written Word Media: Written Word Media operates author marketing platforms (BookBub, Chirp, Written Word Media ads) and serves the same indie author base with promotional and educational services comparable to Author Nation's marketing-focused programming.
• Self-Publishing School: Self-Publishing School, founded by Chandler Bolt, offers educational programs and coaching for indie authors; it sells cohort-based courses and targets the same self-publishing audience as Author Nation.
• Kindlepreneur: Kindlepreneur is a content, tools, and education platform for indie authors (Dave Chesson) — adjacent to Author Nation's knowledge library and educational offerings for the same indie author buyer.

Broad incumbents

• BookBub: BookBub is the leading book discovery and marketing platform for indie authors, overlapping with Author Nation's audience and competing for indie author marketing spend and sponsorship.
• Writer's Digest: Writer's Digest is a long-established brand in author education with conferences, workshops, and writing resources — a broader incumbent in the author education space that competes for overlapping programming attention.
• IngramSpark / Ingram Content Group: IngramSpark is a large-scale book distribution and publishing services platform for indie authors; it represents a broad incumbent that competes for the same indie author relationships and sponsorship dollars.

Emerging players

• Draft2Digital: Draft2Digital is an indie author distribution platform that targets the same self-publishing customer base with complementary services and educational content.
• BookFunnel: BookFunnel provides book delivery and author marketing tools for indie authors, overlapping with Author Nation's audience of indie authors and adjacent promotional services.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/author-ventures-llc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

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