2019 LDSPMA Annual Conference

What do all the best books have in common? Conflict, character, goals, motivation, adversity, and voice. What can you have in your book? The exact same things. In this session, which is perfect for the novice writer and the seasoned author looking for a simple overview, you’ll walk through the basics of each element on the list and learn how to incorporate them into your toolbox so that you can write a great story whatever your genre.

Lisa Mangum has worked in the publishing department of Deseret Book since 1997. She’s been the managing editor for Shadow Mountain since 2014 and has worked with New York Times bestselling authors such as Brandon Mull, Ally Condie, and Jason F. Wright. While fiction is her first love, she also has experience working with nonfiction projects and children’s picture books. She’s also the author of four national bestselling YA novels, as well as several short stories and novellas. She’s also edited four anthologies based on magical creatures.

Successful artists know that they need a team to achieve results. In this session, you’ll learn tips and strategies from the mastermind behind renowned dancing violinist Lindsey Stirling’s music publishing and social media presence. You’ll discover what works and what doesn’t work in building an effective online brand, explore challenges in music publishing and social media marketing, gain insights on how to infuse Latter-day Saint values into your craft, and learn how to build a winning team.

Jennifer Stirling was the first “employee” of her sister Lindsey Stirling. Jennifer initiated and manages Lindsey’s sheet music publishing, oversees various projects, and leverages Lindsey’s social media marketing. Jennifer received a bachelor’s in trumpet performance; teaches private lessons; and is principal trumpet for the East Valley Millennial Orchestra, which has released several top-selling albums. She’s also a property manager and a ramp agent and has been a USDA wildland firefighter. When not working, she enjoys traveling, barefoot running, yoga, good food, personal development, and spending time with friends and family.

Movie theaters are the temples of popular culture, the place where heroes are created and values are formed. As members of the Church, we are duty bound to propel our own heroes, stories, and values into the movie marketplace, and God will help us do so. In this session, screenwriter and director Mitch Davis will tell the stories behind the making of films such as The Other Side of Heaven , share his filmmaking approach, and provide guidance for aspiring filmmakers and screenwriters.

Mitch Davis grew up in Southern California. He received a bachelor’s degree in English a master’s degree in film production at the University of Southern California. He’s written, directed, and produced six feature films, including The Other Side of Heaven; Christmas Eve; The Stray; and, most recently, The Other Side of Heaven 2, which tells the story of Elder Groberg’s return to Tonga as a young mission president, accompanied by his wife and five daughters.

In this session, Shirley S. Ricks will share her experiences editing many of the volumes in the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley. She learned many lessons about bringing a manuscript to final book form, as well as how to work with a brilliant, rather eccentric author. Beginning with rough typescripts, her team created electronic versions, source checked thousands of footnotes, had personal encounters with the author, brainstormed titles, produced accompanying illustrations and captions, and even learned the purpose of life.

Shirley S. Ricks is the recipient of LDSPMA’s Lifetime Achievement Award in Editing and Design. Her extended bio is below.

The Center for Animation at BYU is consistently ranked as one of the top animation programs in the US. Students have won numerous prestigious awards, and alumni have become heads of story, directors, and producers. How can a small university program compete with large private art schools? This session will reveal the secrets of the students’ success. The center’s director will also show clips from award-winning films—including Kites, Owned, and Sheriff’s a Chicken—and distribute copies of a DVD containing 24 of the center’s films.

Brent Adams is director of the Center for Animation at BYU. He’s been a professor at BYU for nearly 40 years. His first career was in architecture, and he helped design the Cliff Lodge at Snowbird, the Delta Center, and the BYU Jerusalem Center. He’s completed work for Kodak, Coleman, Adobe, the Pentagon, and Major League Baseball. After years of teaching computer graphics in BYU’s Design Department, he proposed an animation major, and his students have won 18 Student Emmys and 5 Student Academy Awards.

Writing can be hard. In order to do it well, you have to be brutally honest with yourself. In this session, Deseret Book’s product marketing director, Dave Kimball, will present six hard questions that all authors need to answer—and that publishers and agents need to ask authors—as they set out to write a successful book or evaluate the marketability of a current project.

Dave Kimball worked in sports marketing and nonprofit PR before he joined Deseret Book in 2011 as a publicist. He’s currently the marketing director, overseeing all product and retail marketing responsibilities (mass media, social media, digital marketing, catalog, merchandising, etc.). He also serves on various product-development committees, participating from concept to market. He received a bachelor’s degree in communications from BYU and an MBA from the University of Utah. He loves books, sports, and jokes.

The Association for Mormon Letters (AML) was founded in 1976 by scholars who agreed that the time had come for the literature of Latter-day Saints to be taken seriously. Since then, AML has studied, commemorated, and published some of the finest work in the field. President Eric W Jepson will talk about the foundational principles of AML, why serious consideration of a people’s own art is both difficult and necessary, and lessons for Latter-day Saint writers, editors, and publishers.

Eric W Jepson is the president of the Association for Mormon Letters and lives in the Bay Area, where he teaches both high school and early-morning seminary because some people don’t know when to say when. He has published more than 100 short stories, essays, comics, and poems (usually under the name Theric Jepson) and is the co-founder of an innovative publishing company, Peculiar Pages. His novel Byuck has been called the best funny book about Latter-day Saints of the new millennium, and he’s preached the gospel of Latter-day Saint lit and comics in Berkeley, at Stanford, at San Diego Comic-Con, and in the living rooms and parlors of polite/annoyed people.

According to Inc. and Forbes, purpose- and mission-driven companies have higher employee satisfaction, productivity, and retention; higher customer satisfaction and word-of-mouth marketing; and higher profitability than profit-driven competitors. Why and how do publishing companies identify their purpose and weave it into their organizations? In this session, veteran entrepreneur Christopher Robbins will draw on his three decades of experience leading book-publishing, digital, and wholesale companies to explain how publishing companies can make purpose foundational in their leadership and incorporate it throughout their organizations to maximize sustainable profitability.

Christopher Robbins is the owner and CEO of American West Books, the founder and president of Familius (a top-five fastest-growing independent publisher), and the cofounder of Hummingbird Digital Medial. He advises the technology company Papertrell on opportunities in the publishing industry and was instrumental in providing initial vision with Steve Piersanti on the purposes behind LDSPMA. He received undergraduate and graduate degrees from BYU. He’s married to his Familius partner and acquisitions editor, Michele Robbins.

The publishing industry is constantly evolving. In this session, you’ll learn to see the trends that can help you turn the heads of literary agents and publishers. You’ll also gain insight into what publishers are looking for—information that will help you craft your content so it’s timely and marketable. In particular, you’ll learn what publishers want in a pitch letter and how your submission can stand out from others. Finally, you’ll learn what Shadow Mountain Publishing in particular is looking for.  

Chris Schoebinger has worked in publishing for more than 30 years. For many years, he was a product director for Deseret Book, developing such authors as John Bytheway, Timothy Ballard, and Emily Freeman. He’s currently the publishing director for Shadow Mountain. He’s published award-winning and New York Times bestselling authors, such as Brandon Mull, Jason F. Wright, and Ally Condie. As a developmental editor, he’s worked with authors to create bestsellers in many genres, including children’s/YA fiction, general fiction, nonfiction historical, and memoirs.

Tyler Castleton is a Utah-based songwriter, music producer, and composer. His songs and arrangements have been recorded and performed by hundreds of music artists all over the world. He’s been involved with the Especially for Youth music albums for over 25 years as an arranger, songwriter, and producer. He’s also served twice as the director of music at Deseret Book and Shadow Mountain Records. Additionally, he’s an adjunct faculty member in UVU’s Commercial Music program.

Marj Desius earned a bachelor’s in social media marketing at LDS Business College and is now a singer, vocal coach, life coach, speaker, and host. She’s the founder of the Art of Blooming Mindset, the host of the Marj Drop Talk self-growth podcast, and the author of The Be Still Workbook. Her parodies and covers of popular pop music in Creole and French have become viral hits, with millions of views. She’s trained with Gladys Knight; sung with Wyclef Jean; and performed for Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple.

Joseph Batzel earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in speech communications and in theater and cinema. He’s been an educator for 40+ years at the university level and in secondary schools. He’s a national workshop presenter in film auditioning, stage acting, and voice-over acting. He also is a voice-over artist for audiobooks, films, commercials, and radio broadcasting. He has a rich background as a professional actor, director, casting director, associate producer, and writer for stage and film.

Michelle Witte is a literary agent with Mansion Street Literary Management, specializing in children’s fiction and nonfiction. As an agent, her tastes vary widely and she represents authors across the spectrum of kids’ books, from board and picture books to middle grade and young adult. She’s always on the lookout for fascinating stories that are well told, especially those with a distinct voice. Her own published work includes Happy Little Accidents: The Wit and Wisdom of Bob Ross and The Craptastic Guide to Pseudo-Swearing.

Val Johnson, now retired, worked at Church headquarters for 38 years, 34 of which were with the Church magazines. For the final 10 years of his career, he served as managing editor, first at the New Era, then at the Liahona, and finally at both the Liahona and Ensign. During his time at the Church magazines, he edited thousands of articles, working with both new and experienced writers. He also wrote dozens of articles for the magazines. He earned a bachelor’s in English and a master’s in public administration from Brigham Young University.

Samantha Millburn has loved books her entire life. She’s the managing editor of Covenant Communications and has been with the company for almost a decade. She collaborates with extremely talented writers and cherishes not only her friendships with them but also the honor it is to help them polish their manuscripts. She’s helped over 70 authors turn more than 300 books into masterpieces. She graduated from BYU–Idaho with a bachelor’s degree in English, and she lives in Draper, Utah, with her husband and their four beautiful children.

Matt, CEO of Living Scriptures, is leading the charge to bring stories into the digital age with a new video streaming service especially for Church members. His deep passion to provide families with awesome films through Living Scriptures Streaming, which offers 1,500+ films, has attracted 200,000+ viewers around the world and 50+ producers and distributors in the US. He connects with many content producers and has seen how many succeed in finding fulfilling careers in film and other media.

Bridget is a bestselling author, a transformational speaker/trainer, a writing coach, a leader of writing retreats and workshops, and a human potential expert. Her books have been showcased on Oprah, Dateline, Good Morning America, and the Today Show, as well as in People Magazine. She’s owned and operated several successful businesses, including PR, publishing, and trucking companies. She’s delighted to help people realize their possibilities and use every experience as a stepping-stone to a glorious life. She’s a founding member and director of SHEROES United, a nonprofit organization that highlights the stories of female role models.

James Goldberg is the author of The Five Books of Jesus, Let Me Drown with Moses, and Phoenix Song. He’s a two-time Association for Mormon Letters Award winner. As a cofounder of the Mormon Lit Lab, he’s helped run eleven writing contests focused on Latter-day Saint motifs and themes since 2011, including the first international contest, in 2018–2019. Professionally, he’s a writer for the Church History Department, where he specializes in narrative projects.

Gabriel González Núñez is originally from Montevideo, Uruguay. He’s lived in various countries and now teaches at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. He’s a translation scholar and also a literary enthusiast. His love of literature has led him to become instrumental in the publishing of El Pregonero de Deseret, a newsletter about Latter-day Saint literature in Spanish. He’s also the author of Estampas del Libro de Mormón. In addition, he’s authored several children’s books in his home country.

Mario R. Montani was born in Bahía Blanca, Argentina. He studied literature at Universidad Nacional del Sur, and in 2009 he published El Castillo Gris y Otros Cuentos, a short story collection. In 2012, he launched Mormosofia, a blog intended to be a dialogue about art, theology, and religious philosophy in the context of Latter-day Saint culture. He was part of the choir Coro Estable Provincial of Bahía Blanca, and he currently is the director of public affairs in the Bahía Blanca Stake.

R. de la Lanza (pen name for Rafael Vázquez Velázquez) earned a bachelor’s degree in classics from the National Autonomous University of Mexico and completed the coursework for a master’s in teaching literature and communications. He’s an experienced high school and college teacher. In addition to his love for literature and music, he’s fascinated by mythology and philosophy and is enthusiastic about psychoanalysis. He authored the novel Eleusis (subtitled “The Long and Winding Road”), which tells the story of two four-generation Latter-day Saint families in Mexico.

Luis Zegarra Jiménez was born in Piura, Peru. He eventually moved to Lima, where he currently resides. A psychologist by training, he spent many years in business and construction. He was part of the Ascender NGO and is currently a manager at Industrias Ale. He’s the founder of the AdESUD Perú (the Association of LDS Writers of Peru), an organization aimed at disseminating information about Church doctrine and history.

Frequently, the content we create as media and publishing professionals isn’t completely of our own choosing. Still, we can always ask the vital question “Where is the voice of authenticity?” Whether writing or producing narrative or documentary stories—our own or someone else’s—we can infuse light and truth into every project we tackle. In this session, you’ll learn how to apply effective ontological framing to achieve greater reach and connection with your audiences.

Justin Cook is a producer, writer, and director in the Film Division of Latter-day Saint Publishing Services. Originally from New Mexico, he grew up with a passion for theatre and classic cinema. His adventures in media began as a performer and local DJ for public radio. He later completed a bachelor’s in media arts studies at BYU, followed by a master’s in directing and screenwriting at Columbia University. He’s worked in all aspects of production, from independent features to creative advertising. His favorite pastime is reading stories to his four sons.

Writer and producer Jenn enjoys highlighting less-told Latter-day Saint stories. Her graduate-school research focused on race and gender discourses in religion, ethnography, and sex ratio at birth in China and India. She received funding from the Asia Institute and the Social Science Research Council. Her first film, Faithful, was short-listed for an award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Her films Long Haul and Jane and Emma won Audience Choice Awards at the 2019 LDS Film Festival.

Chantelle is the owner of Clearstone Films. She directed and produced Jane and Emma, a historical drama about Jane Manning and Emma Smith’s friendship in the aftermath of Joseph Smith’s martyrdom. She also directed and produced Reserved to Fight, a feature-length documentary that received finishing funds from ITVS and aired nationally on PBS. Additionally, she produced the Emmy Award–winning third season of The Generations Project for BYUtv. She founded the production company MirrorLake Films, developing, directing, and producing documentaries and nonscripted TV content for 10 years.

Melissa is a playwright and screenwriter whose work has been seen on four continents. Her latest production is Sweetheart Come, and her stage adaptation of The Girl Who Drank the Moon will premiere in November. Other plays she’s written include Little Happy Secrets, Pilot Program, Pride and Prejudice, The Edible Complex, Martyrs’ Crossing, and Mountain Law. Screenplays she’s produced include Jane and Emma and Freetown. She’s the winner of numerous industry awards and is the Dramatists Guild Utah Representative. She earned an MFA from the Iowa Playwrights Workshop.

This session on structure is for those who have written a novel, are trying to write a novel, or can’t seem to sell the novel they’ve written. Come ready with book ideas and maybe a character or two. You’ll receive help in brainstorming, and you’ll be challenged to write and work fast. Intermediate to Advanced level.

Carol Lynch Williams is an award-winning novelist of more than 30 books. She has an MFA from Vermont College, runs the workshop Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers, and teaches creative writing at BYU. She won the prestigious PEN/ Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship for Glimpse; her novel The Chosen One was nominated for the Carnegie Medal; and Never That Far was released in 2018 by Shadow Mountain.

What stops you from writing the story of your life? Fear? It’s easy to feel afraid or overwhelmed—after all, you’ve lived a full life, so where do you even start? (Hint: It doesn’t have to be at the beginning.) This session is designed to help you overcome your fear by showing you how to capture the moments of your life in small, manageable essays. Come ready to have a good time—and to write, because there will be writing involved. Oh, yes, there will be writing!

Ann Cannon is the advice columnist for The Salt Lake Tribune and is the author of a number of award-winning books for young readers, including Charlotte’s Rose, a pioneer handcart story. She, along with her friend and fellow writer Louise Plummer, has also published a guide to writing memoir: You Are Boring, but You Are Uniquely Boring. (Okay, she doesn’t really think you’re boring.) She and her husband, Ken, have five sons and five grandchildren.

In this session, author Heather B. Moore will explain how to find your voice as a writer so you can bring uniqueness to your works, whether fiction or nonfiction. Voice isn’t as vague as you might think, and this session will provide clear ideas on how to bring out your best. You’ll learn how to incorporate tone, rhythm, and style, as well as other techniques, to create an engaging, marketable book. Beginner to Intermediate level.

Heather B. Moore is a USA Today bestselling author of more than 50 publications. Her historical novels and thrillers are written under pen name H. B. Moore. She writes women’s fiction, romance, and inspirational nonfiction under Heather B. Moore. The different names can be confusing, so her kids just call her Mom. Heather attended Cairo American College, the Anglican School of Jerusalem, and BYU. She’s a six-time recipient of Best of State for Best in Literary Arts, a four-time Whitney Award winner, and a two-time Golden Quill Award winner.

Tara Creel is a Utah native and mother of four boys. She is an editor at Month9Books, reviews books for the Deseret News, and is a PitchWars mentor. She also writes children’s books, always including a bit of magic, and is represented by Samantha Bagood.

Michelle Millet has a degree in art history and still holds a ridiculously soft spot for all things Russian. She is an editor for Month9Books and reviews and discusses books in her spare time at See Michelle Read.

What is a literary agent, and why do you need one? How do you find the right agent to represent your manuscript? When should you begin querying, and how do you write a winning query letter? In this session, literary agent Amy Jameson will teach you everything you need to know about getting published through an agent. Intermediate level.

Amy Jameson began her career in publishing at Janklow & Nesbit Associates in New York City, where she launched the career of Shannon Hale, a Newbery Award winner. Amy started her own agency, A + B Works, with her husband in 2004 to provide literary representation, editorial coaching, brand development, and design services. She currently represents New York Times bestselling author Jessica Day George and a select crop of up-and-coming picture book, middle grade, and young adult book authors.

In this session, you’ll explore the building blocks of great magazine writing. You’ll also learn how to use outlining strategies to pound out powerful drafts, as well as how to catch an editor’s eye with an article proposal.

The most important thing to know about Peter Gardner is that he got his big start in 1998 as an intern with BYU Magazine (then called Brigham Young Magazine). That led to an internship with the Church’s international magazines, which led to a job as an editor for Deseret Book, which led Peter back to BYU Magazine, where he has worked since 2001. He’s served as the editor since 2013. Aside from editing, he likes to run and draw (but not at the same time).

Often when we think of editing, we think of finding errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation. And while those are important, it’s pointless to focus on them until after we’ve fixed the big picture stuff–plot structure and pacing, character arcs, and thematic development. This session will walk you through how a professional editor approaches a manuscript, will provide tips for undertaking a developmental edit, and will present techniques for strengthening the story as you go. Advanced level.

Lisa Mangum has worked in the publishing department of Deseret Book since 1997. She’s been the managing editor for Shadow Mountain since 2014 and has worked with New York Times bestselling authors such as Brandon Mull, Ally Condie, and Jason F. Wright. While fiction is her first love, she also has experience working with nonfiction projects and children’s picture books. She’s also the author of four national bestselling YA novels, as well as several short stories and novellas. She’s also edited four anthologies based on magical creatures.

Lisa Mangum has worked in the publishing department of Deseret Book since 1997. She’s been the managing editor for Shadow Mountain since 2014 and has worked with New York Times bestselling authors such as Brandon Mull, Ally Condie, and Jason F. Wright. While fiction is her first love, she also has experience working with nonfiction projects and children’s picture books. She’s also the author of four national bestselling YA novels, as well as several short stories and novellas. She’s also edited four anthologies based on magical creatures.

Brad is the CEO at Gibbs Smith, an employee-owned independent publisher of illustrated children’s, architecture, interior design, and cooking books, along with award-winning state-history programs. He’s worked in all aspects of publishing, from acquisitions and production to sales, marketing, and distribution. He loves to explore the world in books and in person. He’s served as an officer for and on the board of PubWest and LDSPMA. He’s also advised numerous publishing startups on strategy and operations.

Samantha has loved books her entire life. She’s the managing editor of Covenant Communications and has been with the company for almost a decade. She collaborates with extremely talented writers and cherishes not only her friendships with them but also the honor it is to help them polish their manuscripts. She’s helped over 70 authors turn more than 300 books into masterpieces. She graduated from BYU–Idaho with a bachelor’s degree in English, and she lives in Draper, Utah, with her husband and their four beautiful children.

Terri Baranowski is a literary agent, writer, and teacher, as well as a stand-up comedian in an alternate universe. With over 20 years of experience working with writers, she has prepared numerous manuscripts for publication and is currently looking for stories with a quirky, witty, and deeply authentic voice. She is a lover of all things Shih Tzu and embraces life in the Salt Lake Valley with a mountainous slush pile she calls the Pile of Possibility, as well as with an indomitable Polish spirit.

Michele Preisendorf is the owner of Preisendorf Professional Editing, a managing editor for Eschler Editing, and a freelance editor for Covenant Communications and Deseret Book. She earned a bachelor’s in English, with an emphasis in editing, and has been working in publishing for nearly twenty years. Since 2002, she’s been helping authors polish their writing, and she specializes in line editing, copyediting, proofreading, and galley proofreading. For Michele, there’s no greater satisfaction than knowing she’s helped someone clarify their message so others can benefit from it.

Freelance book designer Kimberly has worked in the publishing industry for the last five years in a variety of positions. She’s taken college courses in design, explored the ins and outs of the print industry, and worked with some of the greatest publishing houses in Utah. She’s taken the best of all these experiences to create a unique and flexible way to consistently design lovely books for a variety of clients.

In this session, you’ll learn how to set up your own WordPress website, customize it with the look and functionality you want, upload photos and text to create pages and posts, and apply tips about security and best practices. You’ll also receive free access to the session content, which will be posted online after the conference. Beginner to Intermediate level.

Karlene Browning has been designing and customizing websites and blogs since 2005. She specializes in creating self-hosted WordPress sites for authors and others. Among her dozens of clients are Hearthaven Publishing, Doll Stuff by Jana, and Storytellers in Zion. In addition to creating websites, she has more than 30 years of experience in the publishing field and currently offers a variety freelance services to authors and small presses.

Melissa Dalton has worked as a PR and marketing manager and consultant for nearly 15 years. She’s run several businesses; helped authors and entertainers grow their careers; helped plan and coordinate events; worked with radio, TV, newspapers, and film; and even become the host of her own TV show. She’s currently the marketing director for Eschler Editing; a publishing panelist for FanX in Salt Lake City; a private marketing and media consultant for authors; and a producer and show host for The Book Break and The Music Break.

Melissa Dalton has worked as a PR and marketing manager and consultant for nearly 15 years. She’s run several businesses; helped authors and entertainers grow their careers; helped plan and coordinate events; worked with radio, TV, newspapers, and film; and even become the host of her own TV show. She’s currently the marketing director for Eschler Editing; a publishing panelist for FanX in Salt Lake City; a private marketing and media consultant for authors; and a producer and show host for The Book Break and The Music Break.

Freelance book designer Kimberly Kay Durtschi has worked in the publishing industry for the last five years in a variety of positions. She’s taken college courses in design, explored the ins and outs of the print industry, and worked with some of the greatest publishing houses in Utah. She’s taken the best of all these experiences to create a unique and flexible way to consistently design lovely books for a variety of clients.

Michelle Branson is a senior editor and the contract administrator at Gibbs Smith. She heads cookbook acquisitions and is on the children’s acquisitions team. She’s been the project editor for numerous cookbooks, children’s board and picture books, and a variety of history projects. Prior to joining Gibbs Smith in 2006, she worked for the Associated Press and taught a world civilizations course to college freshman. She has a bachelor’s in history and minors in English and dance, as well as a master’s in Russian history. She’s also the author of Texas Doodles.

Suzy Bills is an author, editor, and faculty member in the editing and publishing program at BYU. She was previously a lead editor for the Joseph Smith Papers, and she’s owned a writing and editing business for a decade, working with individuals and companies to publish everything from books to dissertations, video scripts, technical manuals, marketing materials, and cookbooks. Her first book, Visions of Heaven, was published in 2018. She loves sharing her skills with others, whether through teaching, mentoring, helping authors get their thoughts on paper, or fine-tuning their writing.

Don L. Brugger has more than thirty years of professional editing experience, from being a proofreader at the Los Angeles Times to working as an editor of one kind or another at Deseret Book, the Ensign, FARMS/Maxwell Institute, and the Religious Studies Center at BYU, where he taught editing classes for nine years. He studied English and journalism at Utah State University, taught high school English for two years, and earned a master’s degree in English at BYU.

Marianna Richardson received a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University and a doctorate degree from Seattle Pacific University. She’s published three books and many scholarly journal articles. She was the assistant to the editor for the American Counseling Association’s journal Counseling and Values and is currently the editor in chief of the peer-reviewed student journal Marriott Student Review. She teaches management communication in BYU’s Marriott School of Business and is the mother of 12 children.

David Bradford, FluentWorlds CEO, is revolutionizing language training in 3D virtual worlds. He was previously CEO and chairman of HireVue and Fusion-io; both reached the Forbes list of America’s 50 fastest-growing tech companies. He received the prestigious 2018 BYU Emeriti Distinguished Service Award, was general counsel of Novell, served twice as chairman of the Business Software Alliance, was honored as Alumnus of the Year by BYU’s J. Reuben Clark Law School, and was inducted into Utah’s Technology and Business Hall of Fame.

Trina Boice is the author of 29 nonfiction books and teaches for BYU–Idaho online.

She founded LifelongLearningEducation.com and is a doctoral candidate at Colorado Technical University. She writes movie reviews at MovieReviewMom.com and is a popular host on Volley FM. She received the California Young Mother of the Year Award, which completely amuses her four sons. She’s gone on speaking tours in China, Colombia, Mexico, and Puerto Rico and was a political correspondent for KPBS in San Diego. If she told you what she really does, she’d have to kill you.

Abel Keogh has worked for the last two decades in digital marketing for tech and finance companies. He’s the author of seven books, and his relationship guides have been steady sellers on Amazon for the last seven years. He’s currently deciding whether to traditionally or self-publish his next memoir, Happily Living with Eternal Polygamy.

Christopher Cunningham is the managing editor of Public Square magazine. He was the content director for LDS.net for three years. He’s broken stories published in more than 100 national and international outlets, and his articles have been read more than 18 million times. He earned a degree in English from BYU–Idaho.

Gary Norris is a sought-after speaker and the author of The ABCs of Success. He also hosts the Rebel Entrepreneur talk show on Radio WC4Y, during which he’s interviewed some of the world’s most successful business leaders. With his wife, Gary founded a multimillion-dollar real estate investment and success education company, connecting people to purpose and awakening the rebel within to make incredible differences in the world.

Michelle Moore, founder of Moore PR Group, is a tenacious and experienced publicist who uses her many years of industry experience to build reliable media relationships. She’s focused on developing and implementing targeted PR campaigns. She embraces each new campaign with enthusiasm and total commitment to achieve the highest quality of service and results.

Zack Nelson has the largest mobile phone repair channel on the internet, with 3.6 million subscribers and 600 million views. He’s an avid entrepreneur and online marketer, and he has a to-the-point style of teaching.

Rachel Grant has worked for the More Good Foundation for the past six years, creating Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube pages that have accumulated millions of followers and subscribers. Following the launch of her first YouTube project, Saints Unscripted, viewers in almost 120 countries spent more than three million minutes watching the videos within the first six months. She graduated from BYU with a degree in philosophy, which she believes goes hand in hand with social media.

Trina Boice is the author of 29 nonfiction books and teaches for BYU–Idaho online.

She founded LifelongLearningEducation.com and is a doctoral candidate at Colorado Technical University. She writes movie reviews at MovieReviewMom.com and is a popular host on Volley FM. She received the California Young Mother of the Year Award, which completely amuses her four sons. She’s gone on speaking tours in China, Colombia, Mexico, and Puerto Rico and was a political correspondent for KPBS in San Diego. If she told you what she really does, she’d have to kill you.

Abel Keogh has worked for the last two decades in digital marketing for tech and finance companies. He’s the author of seven books, and his relationship guides have been steady sellers on Amazon for the last seven years. He’s currently deciding whether to traditionally or self-publish his next memoir, Happily Living with Eternal Polygamy.

Shirley S. Ricks is a senior editor at BYU’s Religious Studies Center, having transferred in 2017 from the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. Her career in publishing started during her undergraduate years, when she received on-the-job training in proofreading and editing at the BYU Press. Later, she did freelance work and then was hired in 1989 as an editor at the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS).

While at FARMS, she edited and prepared for publication half of the 19 volumes in the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, thirty other volumes, and hundreds of articles. She served as the first production editor for the FARMS Review, the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, and Studies in the Bible and Antiquity. As an editor, she enjoys working with other team members, tidying up footnotes, indexing, organizing myriad details, mentoring interns, and seeing publications come off the press.

She’s also published articles in various festschrift volumes, the Ensign, the Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture, the FARMS Review, and the Encyclopedia of Mormonism. She’s presented papers at BYU Women’s Conference and the FAIRMormon conference, among others. A native of Provo, Shirley also lived in Jerusalem for three years and has assisted with BYU Study Abroad programs in Vienna and London.

Shirley served a mission in the Germany South Mission (Munich), after which she completed her bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees at Brigham Young University in home economics education and family studies. She’s taught home economics, algebra, and geometry, and she enjoys embroidering, reading, spending time with family, and traveling with her husband, Stephen D. Ricks. She’s reached the highest elevation in thirty-three states, and she and her husband have attended sessions in over one hundred temples, including all the temples in the United States and Canada. Their 6 children and 19 grandchildren bring her great joy—and many travel opportunities.

Janice Kapp Perry was born in Ogden, Utah, and currently lives in Provo, Utah. She and her husband Douglas Perry have 5 children, 13 grandchildren, and 9 great-grandchildren. The Perrys also had numerous foster children in their home through the years. Janice received formal musical training at BYU, where she played percussion instruments in the concert band and orchestra.

In 1979, she released her first album of original songs, Where Is Heaven. Since that first album, she’s produced an impressive number of works: more than 2,000 songs; 105 recorded albums; 2 full-length musicals; 8 sacred cantatas; and albums in Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese, Korean, and Chinese. She composed the hymn “As Sisters in Zion,” published in the Church hymnbook and has 10 songs in the Primary songbook. She cowrote six albums of songs with Senator Orrin G. Hatch. One of those songs, “Heal Our Land,” was performed in Washington, DC, at the National Prayer Breakfast in 2001, at the presidential inauguration in 2005, and at the Kennedy Center in 2018. She published the book Songs from My Heart: The Stories behind the Songs, 7 volumes of Inspirational New Hymns for Choir and Home (containing 227 hymns), A Songbook for LDS Families, and Book of Mormon Heroes.

Janice’s works have been performed by the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, the Mormon Youth Symphony and Chorus, country duo Brooks and Dunn, Gladys Knight, and the Osmonds–Second Generation; at Robert Schuller’s Hour of Power from the Crystal Cathedral; on the Oprah Winfrey Show; and by countless other choirs and soloists at events around the world. What began as a simple home hobby has spread throughout the world and has involved the entire family. Author Joy Saunders Lundberg says, “Janice has been hailed by some as the most prolific composer in the history of the Church—she is the musical phenomenon of our time.”

In 1994, Janice received the Exemplary Woman award from Ricks College. In 1997, she received the BYU Alumni Distinguished Service Award. In 1998, she and Senator Hatch were awarded the National George Washington Medal of Honor by the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge for the album Freedom’s Light. In 1999, the LDS Booksellers Association honored her with the Exceptional Merit Award. In 1999, the Utah/California Women presented her with the Heritage Award, and in 2001 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Faith Centered Music Association.

Janice sang in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir from 1993 to 1999. She and her husband served a full-time mission in Santiago Chile from 2002 to 2003 and, later, a three-year Church service mission in a Spanish ward in Provo. She continues writing, publishing, and recording new music. In 2009, BYU-TV produced a 60-minute documentary entitled Janice Kapp Perry: A Life of Service and Song. In a poll published in LDS Living in January 2013, Janice’s song “A Child’s Prayer” received the top spot in the list of “100 Greatest LDS Songs of All Time.”. Seven of her other songs were in the top 27.

Orson Scott Card is the author of the novels Ender’s Game, Ender’s Shadow, and Speaker for the Dead, which are widely read by adults and younger readers and are increasingly used in schools. His most recent series—the young adult Pathfinder series (Pathfinder, Ruins, Visitors) and the fantasy Mithermages series (Lost Gate, Gate Thief, Gatefather)—are taking readers in new directions.

 Besides these and other science fiction novels, Card has written contemporary fantasy (Magic Street, Enchantment, Lost Boys), biblical novels (Stone Tables, Rachel and Leah); the American frontier fantasy series The Tales of Alvin Maker (beginning with Seventh Son); poetry (An Open Book); and many plays and scripts, including his “freshened” Shakespeare scripts for Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, and The Merchant of Venice.

Seventeen of Card’s novels have won prestigious awards, and many have won multiple awards, including for the best novel of the year. Card’s novels have been published in 34 languages besides English.

 Card was born in Washington and grew up in California, Arizona, and Utah. He served a mission in Brazil in the early 1970s. Besides his writing, he teaches occasional classes and workshops and directs plays. He frequently teaches writing and literature courses at Southern Virginia University. 

 Card and his wife, Kristine, currently live in Greensboro, North Carolina, where his activities include feeding birds, squirrels, chipmunks, possums, and raccoons on the patio.