Taught by authors
with ink on their hands.
Every instructor at Author Academy is a working, published author. They are appointed for the specific discipline they practice at a professional level, they are present in the forums on the Academy's clock, and they teach the craft they use every morning before class.
The founding faculty is being assembled now.
Instructors for the Spring 2027 term are being appointed through the autumn. Each is a working author with books in the world, selected for one discipline and paid to be present in it. Names are announced as appointments are confirmed.
Who teaches today.
David Viergutz
Founder & Dean
Bestselling author of more than thirty novels. MFA in Creative Writing. Disabled veteran and former law enforcement officer. Founder of Epistolary, an independent publishing house.
The Dean sets the Academy's standard, leads the Novelist Cohort personally, and writes and teaches four courses of the Core himself.
More about the founder →What we look for.
A professional body of work
Published, in any path, with readers who pay for it.
Command of one discipline
A specific thing you do at a level worth teaching.
The teacher's temperament
Rigor delivered with warmth. Notes that build rather than bruise.
Presence
Time in the forums and the live room — paid, scheduled, and real.