Writers are constantly asked “Who is your audience?” But is our audience diminishing? Future readers are glued to their devices. Attention spans are shrinking. Our potential audiences scroll feeds instead of flipping pages.
The traditional publishers only want books for their marketing teams to guarantee big sales. Those publishers insist they want something new and different, but do they really? Because when we submit our manuscripts, we’re asked for comp titles. So… the same story, but told in a different way? Or the same story, but darker, edgier, funnier, more outrageous, pushing the boundaries a little bit more, challenging the readers to consider what was unthinkable two years ago?
With the CEO of Barnes & Noble acknowledging that they may have AI-written novels on their shelves (and he has no qualms about selling AI-written novels), how does a writer find their niche in a market with no goalposts, only an endzone where it doesn’t matter how the ball got there, as long as it scores big? How do we stay focused? What is our drive to continue? Is it the telling of the story? Is it our creative addiction? Or is it something much deeper?
Location: C420 UBC Robson Square
Type: Panel, Crime, Fiction
Sponsored by: Word Vancouver · Crime Writers
Moderator: Erik D’Souza
Authors: Angela Douglas, The Mentor | Tikiri Herath, Her Grisly Grave (Rebel Diva Press) | Niloufar-Lily Soltani, Zulaikha (Inanna Publications) | Rebecca Millar (editor)
About The Moderator
Erik D’Souza
ERIK D’SOUZA is an author and publisher based in Port Moody, BC. Among his works, “Death in Halfmoon Bay” stands out as the first book in the Suzanne Rickson Mystery Series. He is The Marketing and Communications Manager for Crime Writers of Canada. He is the president of the Tri-City Wordsmiths and hosts the popular reading series, Writers in our Midst, at the Port Moody Public Library. Learn more at www.erikdsouza.com
About The Readers
Angela Douglas
Angela Douglas is an award-winning Canadian author of psychological thrillers, based in the Okanagan. Her debut novel, EVERY FALL, has been recognized by the Crime Writers of Canada Excellence Awards, the Canadian Book Club Awards, the Pen Craft Awards, and the National Indie Excellence Awards. She is a member of International Thriller Writers, Crime Writers of Canada, the Women’s Fiction Writers Association and Sisters in Crime. She is also the founder of Eyes on Books, a Book Marketing Hub. When she isn’t working or hanging out with her family, she hides in her studio, writing. Her next psychological thriller, The Mentor, comes out in Fall 2026.
Tikiri Herath
Tikiri Herath is an award-winning Canadian author whose nineteen crime thriller novels and four nonfiction books have earned twelve literary awards. Her books have been placed in the Barnes & Nobles’ top-100 list and Amazon’s national top-100 lists in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. Her work has been featured by Barnes & Noble Press, ABC News, Kobo, Book Riot, Florida Press, and Chanticleer Reviews. Tikiri has been a speaker and panelist at literary conferences, universities, and festivals in North America. Born on a tropical island in Asia, raised in Southern Africa, and educated in Continental Europe and North America, Tikiri founded The Rebel Diva Press to champion books like hers that traditional publishers often overlook. These are stories with diverse female protagonists written by an author with a background and pen name do not fit mainstream templates. Before writing full-time, Tikiri spent nearly two decades as a risk management professional for Canada's intelligence agency in Ottawa, at NATO in Europe, and at Reuters in Asia. Her sojourns and career across four continents are what fuel her fiction. She writes to shine a light on the world’s most vulnerable, particularly young women fighting injustice, that she observed growing up across the globe. Tikiri is a member of Crime Writers of Canada and the Alliance of Independent Authors (UK).
Niloufar-Lily Soltani
Niloufar-Lily (Lily) Soltani is the author of Zulaikha (2023), praised for its exploration of class, gender, and race. Her short story, Pahlavan and the Nightingale, was the second runner-up in the 2025 Raven Short Story Contest (Pulp Literature). A graduate of the Humber Creative Writing Program, Lily is also a poet and translator, and her work has appeared in various literary magazines. She lives in Vancouver, BC, and works in the power and energy sector.
Rebecca Millar
Rebecca Millar is a fiction editor with over a decade of industry experience, including a formative stint at Penguin Random House in the UK. Rebecca now operates from Victoria, BC, where she specialises in crime, thriller, and suspense. As the Watson to her authors' Sherlock, she focuses on the 'invisible' editorial decisions that have readers on the edge of their seats and the authentic human voice that turns a manuscript into a page-turner. She has helped over 150 books make their way onto the global market, including Sunday Times and Amazon bestsellers, picks for Reese's Book Club, and titles nominated for the CWA Gold Dagger, Emerging Author Dagger, and the McDermid Debut Award. Rebecca is passionate about helping authors bridge the gap between creative vision and commercial success, ensuring that every red herring, reveal, and character beat lands exactly where it should.
