David Barclay Moore, an author and filmmaker, won a John Steptoe New Talent Author Award for his debut novel, The Stars Beneath Our Feet, which was optioned as a film by Michael B. Jordan. Born and raised in Missouri, he has done work with Sony, Harlem Children's Zone, and Quality Services for the Autism Community. David Barclay Moore is based in Brooklyn.

John Holyfield is a renowned fine artist and illustrator of numerous books for young readers, including Belle, the Last Mule at Gee's Bend by Calvin Alexander Ramsey and Bettye Stroud, Meet Miss Fancy by Irene Latham, Mahalia Jackson: Walking with Kings and Queens by Nina Noland, and The Hallelujah Flight by Phil Bildner. John Holyfield lives in Virginia.