2020 LDSPMA Annual Conference Sessions

Inner Workings of a Publisher Panel: How Publishers Decide What to Publish

Marci Monson, Angela Johnson, Emma Hogan, Dave Kimball, Ashley Gebert, Chris Schoebinger

In this session, you’ll get an inside look at what goes on behind the publishing curtain, including the basic financials of a book publisher, how manuscripts go through the acceptance/rejection process, the publishing business model, what makes books and proposals attractive to publishers, how agents play into the process, and what happens to your book once a contract and offer are in place. You’ll be publisher savvy before you know it!

Bio: Marci Monson is the marketing and publicity specialist at Gibbs Smith Publisher. She earned a BS in English (professional and technical communications) from Utah State University and a graduate certificate from the Denver Publishing Institute at the University of Denver. By day, she markets the company’s eighty-plus books and gift products each year from their 1908 barn office surrounded by sheep, chickens, and cats. She is from Smithfield, Utah, and loves bright colors, traveling, and cross-stitching.

Bio: Angela Johnson has lived in Utah her entire life. Raised in Provo, she is the third of six children. Johnson has a love of literature and writing. After working in the world of accounting for nineteen years, Johnson decided it wasn’t creative enough, so she followed her dreams and changed course. She now works as the talent acquisitions manager at Cedar Fort Publishing. Johnson served a mission to the Czech Republic (Prague), after which she earned a BS in English from Utah Valley University, a master of professional communications from Weber State University, and an MA in publishing from Western Colorado University. Her debut novel, set for release in June 2020, is a Regency Romance titled The Earl of Arundel. Traveling and reading are favorite pastimes and help her form ideas for writing.

Bio: Emma Hoggan is the managing editor for Future House Publishing, a family-friendly speculative fiction publishing house. She specializes in content editing but is involved in every step of the publishing process, from acquisitions to layout to marketing. When she’s not editing, she attends writers’ conferences to take pitches, give critiques, and talk to aspiring writers about the mysterious world of publishing.

Bio: Dave Kimball worked in sports marketing and nonprofit PR before he joined Deseret Book in 2011 as a publicist. He’s currently the product 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.

Bio: Since Ashley Gebert graduated from BYU, where she served on the staff of four student magazines, Ashley has worked with Covenant Communications in various positions within the editorial department. She loves all things story and is the founder and president of a local writing critique group. When she isn’t editing, she’s crafting her own stories, dabbling in everything from fantasy to suspense to historical romance.

Bio: Chris Schoebinger has worked in publishing for more than thirty 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 best-selling 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/young adult fiction, general fiction, nonfiction historical, and memoir.

Transparent Horizons: Church History Department Publishing Today

Angela Hallstrom, , Spencer McBride, Ryan W. Saltzgiver

Since the beginning of the Joseph Smith Papers Project nearly two decades ago, the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has undertaken a bold initiative to foster greater transparency about the Church’s past. In recent years, these efforts have led CHD staff to explore new media including online-first publication, podcasting, and narrative nonfiction to bring new insights and transparency to difficult topics. Spencer McBride (Joseph Smith Papers and The First Vision podcast), Angela Hallstrom (Saints) and Ryan Saltzgiver (Global Histories) will discuss these efforts at both transparency and accessibility. This panel will demonstrate the Church History Department’s use of innovative publishing strategies to tell new stories as well as familiar stories in fresh ways.

Bio: Angela Hallstrom works for the Church History Department as a writer and literary editor on the Saints project. Previously, she taught writing at the University of Wisconsin–River Falls, BYU, and other institutions. She is the author of the novel Bound on Earth, has served on the editorial boards of several periodicals, and edited a collection of short fiction by Latter-day Saint writers. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Hamline University in Minnesota, where she lived with her husband and children for sixteen years before moving back to her home state of Utah in 2019.

Bio: Spencer W. McBride, PhD, is a historian at the Joseph Smith Papers Project and is the author of Pulpit and Nation: Clergymen and the Politics of Revolutionary America. He is the co-editor of Contingent Citizens: Shifting Perceptions of Latter-day Saints in American Political Culture and is completing a book on Joseph Smith’s 1844 presidential campaign to be published by Oxford University Press in 2021. Spencer recently created and hosted a podcast mini-series for the church on Joseph Smith’s First Vision.

Bio: Ryan W. Saltzgiver is a historian and writer with the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Brother Saltzgiver writes on the archaeology of Latter-day Saint communities and the globalization of the Church. For the past five years, he has led the “Global Histories” project, publishing brief histories of the places where Church members live, worship, and serve. Brother Saltzgiver holds degrees in literature and anthropology from Brigham Young University. He and his wife, Kristie, live in Layton, Utah, with their four children.

Publishing Contracts Panel: Three Perspectives—Publisher, Author, IP Lawyer

Chris Schoebinger, Annette Lyon, David Vandagriff

As publishers evolve and many authors turn to self- or hybrid publishing, the world of contracts is in flux. What do authors need to know about contracts, given all the publishing options available? What do they need to understand about the publisher’s perspective? And where should publishers and authors meet in the middle so both can comfortably invest in a great product? Become informed regarding common contract terms and industry-wide conventions, as well as rights to be aware of and decide on. With three expert perspectives—hybrid author, traditional publisher, and IP lawyer—you’ll be sure to walk away with the knowledge and tools you need to develop strong relationships with a publisher and wise decisions about future contracts.

Bio: Annette Lyon is a USA Today best-selling author, a six-time Best of State medalist for fiction in Utah, and a Whitney Award winner. She’s had success writing technical scripts and magazine articles and working as a professional editor, but her first love will always be fiction writing. She published more than a dozen books, even more novellas, a chocolate cookbook, and a popular grammar guide. She’s a founder of and regular contributor to the RONE Award-winning Timeless Romance Anthology series and one of the four coauthors of The Newport Ladies Book Club series. She has received five publication awards from the League of Utah Writers, including the Silver Quill for The Newport Ladies Book Club: Paige. Annette is represented by Heather Karpas at ICM Partners.

Bio: Chris Schoebinger has worked in publishing for more than thirty 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 best-selling 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/young adult fiction, general fiction, nonfiction historical, and memoir.

Bio: David P. Vandagriff is an attorney who focuses on contract negotiation and drafting. His current clients are primarily authors but also include small publishers and literary agents. He has represented authors from around the world in negotiations with large and small traditional publishers, including Amazon Publishing. David has also worked as an executive with several high-tech companies, negotiating complex IP licensing agreements with Apple, Intel, Hewlett-Packard, American Express, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Fidelity Investments, Disney, Hallmark and others. David also operates The Passive Voice blog as the semi-mysterious Passive Guy, also known as PG at www.thepassivevoice.com.

Including More Diverse Voices in Publishing Panel

Margaret Young, Madeleine Dresden, Tarienne Mitchell, Camlyn Giddens, Marci Monson, Chris Schoebinger

Join an exciting panel of publishing professionals for a discussion of international publishing, negotiating issues of appropriation, and supporting the efforts of diverse populations to have their voices heard. Discover how representation is more than just about skin color or race, but about human experience (eating disorders, divorce, body image, betrayal, physical illness, classism, and so forth) and why we, especially as members of the Church, need to encourage more stories from our less-represented sisters and brothers. Be informed, as these issues especially affect our youth, and publishers are paying attention—especially in the kids’ market. So come learn how to more effectively write and share your work, support others’ stories, help our youth, and how publishing can make a greater impact in this field.

Bio: Since 2014, Margaret Young has worked in the Democratic Republic of Congo to help start the film industry there. Her Congolese team recently released its first feature—Heart of Africa—in both the Congo and the USA. Margaret worked for twenty years with Darius Gray telling stories of black Latter-day Saint pioneers. She taught creative writing at BYU for thirty years and is a much-published author.

Bio: Madeleine Dresden grew up in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and wrote her first novel in the fifth grade—complete with a “dude in distress,” a heroine named Macaroni Pizza, and a dragon that is allergic to men. She has an MFA in creative writing and teaches rhetoric at BYU. Having passed through the fires of the highly competitive Pitch Wars process, Madeleine is excited to pull back the curtain on how her #ownvoices Korean-inspired novel gathered attention and momentum through various online opportunities. Madeleine is represented by Holly Root, literary agent and founder of Root Literary.

Bio: Tarienne Mitchell is a certified archivist at the Church History Library in Salt Lake City and is the subject matter expert for blacks in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Tarienne currently serves as the vice chair on the Society of American Archivists’ Archives and Archivists of Color Section and on the Mormon Women’s History Initiative.

Bio: Camlyn Giddins’s favorite titles are friend, sister, gatherer, teacher, artist, and creator. She’s been a producer, cinematographer, and editor. One documentary project,The Coal Minority, won best documentary short at the NYC Workers Unite Film Festival. You can also view some of her work on Welcome Table Productions YouTube channel. Camlyn’s passion for teaching expanded when she worked in the Washington, D.C., school system. Now at a high school in Provo’s Walden School of Liberal Arts, she teaches film, photography, and race and culture. Camlyn also enjoys serving on Encircle’s Community Outreach committee, plus singing, reading, storytelling, and practicing mindfulness.

Bio: Marci Monson is the marketing and publicity specialist at Gibbs Smith Publisher. She earned a BS in English (professional and technical communications) from Utah State University and a graduate certificate from the Denver Publishing Institute at the University of Denver. By day, she markets the company’s eighty-plus books and gift products each year from their 1908 barn office surrounded by sheep, chickens, and cats. She is from Smithfield, Utah, and loves bright colors, traveling, and cross-stitching.

Bio: Chris Schoebinger has worked in publishing for more than thirty 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 best-selling 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/young adult fiction, general fiction, nonfiction historical, and memoir.

Special Sales and Other Ways to Diversify Sales Beyond Amazon Panel

Dave Kimball, Adam Sidwell, Melissa Dalton Martinez, Marci Monson

Distribution and special sales beyond Amazon are more and more important for finding your global—and local!—audience. Discover what publishers and authors can do to diversify their sales beyond Amazon.com. Among the topics to explore are Barnes and Noble, indie strategies, Kickstarter, and special event sales from the author or publisher website, as well as localized events. Find out what hand-selling and face-to-face interactions offer that Amazon can’t. Join this panel for a walk through the what and how of expanding your sales channels.

Bio: Dave Kimball worked in sports marketing and nonprofit PR before he joined Deseret Book in 2011 as a publicist. He’s currently the product 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.

Bio: In between writing books, Adam Glendon Sidwell uses the power of computers to make monsters, robots and zombies come to life for blockbuster movies such as Pirates of the Caribbean, King Kong, Pacific Rim, Transformers, and Tron. After spending countless hours in front of a keyboard meticulously adjusting tentacles, calibrating hydraulics, and brushing monkey fur, he is delighted at the prospect of modifying his creations with the flick of a few deftly placed adjectives. Adam wrote every single word in the Evertaster series, the picture book Fetch, and the unfathomable Chum. He is also responsible for the multiauthor Super Dungeon series.

Bio: Melissa Dalton Martinez has worked in the publishing industry on and off as a public relations and marketing manager and consultant since 2000. After graduating from college in 2003, Melissa has helped others grow their careers, started businesses of her own, spoken at countless conferences, helped plan and coordinate many events, worked with radio, TV, newspapers, and movies, and even become the host of her own TV show, The Book Break. Melissa now works with Eschler Editing as a marketing expert; as a private marketing, branding, and media consultant for authors; as a producer, show host, and book reviewer for The Book Break; and as a book reviewer on various TV and radio stations across Utah.

Bio: Marci Monson is the marketing and publicity specialist at Gibbs Smith Publisher. She earned a BS in English (professional and technical communications) from Utah State University and a graduate certificate from the Denver Publishing Institute at the University of Denver. By day, she markets the company’s eighty-plus books and gift products each year from their 1908 barn office surrounded by sheep, chickens, and cats. She is from Smithfield, Utah, and loves bright colors, traveling, and cross-stitching.

Telling the Stories of Blacks in the Church

Tarienne Mitchell

To tell the complete history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is to share the stories of black members of the Church. The general Church population isn’t aware that blacks have been members since the beginning and that they served in leadership roles and even held the priesthood. Publishing the experiences of blacks in the Church means sharing the stories of a people whose faith endured despite facing opposition.

• How having a historical perspective can help when discussing difficult subjects
• The history of blacks in the Church
• The inspiring stories of individuals like Lucille Bankhead, Green Flake, Jane Manning James, and other members
• Open conversations about difficult subjects can help in fighting the spread of incorrect information.

Bio: Tarienne Mitchell works as an archivist in the Church History Library in Salt Lake City. She earned a master’s degree in library science from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 2013. She’s also a certified archivist. Tarienne is the subject matter expert for blacks in the Church and actively seeks out collections that provide insight on the black Church experience. To achieve her goal of educating the greater Church membership about this topic, Tarienne has created a research guide and often presents and teaches classes.

Publishing Paths Panel: Pros and Cons of Big Publishers, Small Ones, and Self-Publishing

Dave Butler, Kami Hancock, Rob Wells, Annette Lyon

Learn to determine which publishing path—large or small traditional publishers, self-publishing, or hybrid publishing—is best for you or for each individual project. Learn the difference between hybrid publishers versus hybrid authors, how to have a plan A, B, and C for each book, and when the problem is timing versus the work itself. You’ll walk away with clarity on the pros and cons of each publishing path in relation to your work, what you can and can’t control in your own career, and a better understanding of the publishing industry at large.

Bio: D. J. (Dave) Butler has been a lawyer, a consultant, an editor, a corporate trainer, and a registered investment banking representative. His novels include Witchy Eye, Witchy Winter, and Witchy Kingdom from Baen Books, as well as The Cunning Man, cowritten with Aaron Michael Ritchey, and the forthcoming pseudofantasy thriller In the Palace of Shadow and Joy. He also writes for children. The steampunk fantasy adventure tales The Kidnap Plot, the Giant’s Seat, and The Library Machine are published by Knopf. Other novels include City of the Saints from WordFire Press. Dave also organizes writing retreats. He plays guitar and banjo whenever he can, and he likes to hang out in Utah with his children.

Bio: With fifteen years of editing experience, Kami Hancock has worked on everything from college dissertations to résumés to veterinary journals to books. After earning her bachelor of arts inEnglish and working as a veterinary technician, Kami collaborated with a select team of editors to launch a veterinary journal publication and an online therapeutics database. She then joinedCovenant Communications, where she has been for five years. She loves being a book editor and immersing herself in stories on a daily basis.

Bio: Robison Wells is the New York Times best-selling author of fifteen novels, including Variant and The Warning. He has won numerous awards, including Publishers Weekly’s Best Book of the Year, the Whitney Outstanding Achievement Award, and the SSYRA trophy. He writes modern young adult thrillers with a science fiction twist. He has schizophrenia and writes and speaks extensively on the topic. He lives with his wife and three kids in North Salt Lake.

Bio: Annette Lyon is a USA Today best-selling author, a six-time Best of State medalist for fiction in Utah, and a Whitney Award winner. She’s had success writing technical scripts and magazine articles and working as a professional editor, but her first love will always be fiction writing. She published more than a dozen books, even more novellas, a chocolate cookbook, and a popular grammar guide. She’s a founder of and regular contributor to the RONE Award-winning Timeless Romance Anthology series and one of the four coauthors of The Newport Ladies Book Club series. She has received five publication awards from the League of Utah Writers, including the Silver Quill for The Newport Ladies Book Club: Paige. Annette is represented by Heather Karpas at ICM Partners.

Expanding into Audio and Video Publishing Panel

Adam Sidwell, Melissa Dalton Martinez

With an ever-changing publishing landscape and more intense competition to be seen and heard, finding new ways to build a platform are increasingly important. Learn what publishers and authors are doing to stand out and keep their bottom line healthy through publishing in multiple media formats: audio and video publishing, films, book spin-offs (for example, graphic novels from novels), games, and cross-branded licensing. Discover the what, when, and how from this exciting panel of trailblazers.

Bio: In between writing books, Adam Glendon Sidwell uses the power of computers to make monsters, robots and zombies come to life for blockbuster movies such as Pirates of the Caribbean, King Kong, Pacific Rim, Transformers, and Tron. After spending countless hours in front of a keyboard meticulously adjusting tentacles, calibrating hydraulics, and brushing monkey fur, he is delighted at the prospect of modifying his creations with the flick of a few deftly placed adjectives. Adam wrote every single word in the Evertaster series, the picture book Fetch, and the unfathomable Chum. He is also responsible for the multiauthor Super Dungeon series.

Bio: Melissa Dalton Martinez has worked in the publishing industry on and off as a public relations and marketing manager and consultant since 2000. After graduating from college in 2003, Melissa has helped others grow their careers, started businesses of her own, spoken at countless conferences, helped plan and coordinate many events, worked with radio, TV, newspapers, and movies, and even become the host of her own TV show, The Book Break. Melissa now works with Eschler Editing as a marketing expert; as a private marketing, branding, and media consultant for authors; as a producer, show host, and book reviewer for The Book Break; and as a book reviewer on various TV and radio stations across Utah.

International Filmmaker Panel: Working to “Sweep the Earth as with a Flood”

Margaret Young, Tshoper Kabambi, Ramy Adly, Si Lai 

Latter-day Saint filmmaking is expanding across the globe, creating new possibilities for values-based cinema worldwide. Come meet and interact with a panel of international filmmakers and artists from Africa to Asia to Europe and the Middle East. Learn how Latter-day Saint cinema is helping to inspire, enlighten, and transform the film arts industry in new, exciting, and diverse ways. Discover how you can participate in and support this growing area of Latter-day Saint influence. Gain a better appreciation for the challenges and needs of cross-cultural filmmaking.

Bio: Since 2014, Margaret Young has worked in the Democratic Republic of Congo to help start the film industry there. Her Congolese team recently released its first feature—Heart of Africa—in both the Congo and the USA. Margaret worked for twenty years with Darius Gray telling stories of black Latter-day Saint pioneers. She taught creative writing at BYU for thirty years and is a much-published author. of bees, and a gecko.

Bio: Tshoper Kabambi—director, producer and cowriter of Heart of Africa, a joint effort between the USA and the Democratic Republic of Congo—is among the pioneers of film in the Democratic Republic of Congo, having initiated a filmmaking program in Kinshasa, forming a production company, training potential filmmakers free of charge, and organizing an annual film festival. He has not only made award-winning films (several “Best Picture” awards in festivals) but has trained many other Congolese, whose films have also won prizes. Heart of Africa won awards throughout the world, including in several U.S. festivals. It premiered in Kinshasa on February 15. It premiered in the USA on March 11 and was the number 1 foreign film when theaters closed due to COVID-19.

Bio: American-Egyptian artist Ramy Adly is one of the world’s premiere masters of the Arabic Oud. He has performed across the globe from Alexandria to the Kennedy Center and has composed scores for television, Netflix, and major motion pictures such as Day of War, The Siege, Sahara, and Alexandria. Creator of the online School of Oud and the Musician Marketplace, he has helped countless musicians and composers fulfill their dreams of performing and commercializing their music. Ramy has also been featured by the BBC, Washington Post, and the Economist, among others. He currently lives with his family in Utah.

Bio: After working for sixteen years in Silicon Valley intellectual property law and as a filmmaker, Si Lai moved to Taiwan, where he cofounded Panda House Productions in 2019 with filmmaker Paul Kwong. He currently makes short films for the Church’s Southeast Asia Area and also serves as short film group leader for his stake. In 2018, Si founded Joy International Film Festival in Taiwan, which highlights uplifting, positive films from around the world. He has also assisted in the production of an eight-episode children’s educational television sitcom for CW/ABN that was highly successful in the Philippines, among other geographies.

Latter-day Saint Cinema: The Year in Review, What’s Hot, and What’s Not!

Kels Goodman

Filmmaking in the Church is constantly evolving with new innovations, artists, and productions. Join us for the latest birds-eye view of the growing Latter-day Saint filmmaking industry. Learn about emerging trends and directions from the organizer of the LDS Film Festival. Find out how to get your writing project shown on the silver screen. Target the right audience(s), whether Latter-day Saint, Christian, or the general population at-large. Gain a better appreciation for how Church-made and faith-based media are beginning to powerfully impact pop culture. Discover how you, too, can successfully ride the wave of transformation as traditional publishing converges with new media.

Bio: Kels Goodman is owner of the LDS Film Festival held annually at the SCERA Center for the Arts in Orem, UT. Born in Virginia and raised in Texas, he graduated from BYU and worked in technical roles for many Hollywood films like Touched by an Angel. From there, he became producer of Handcart and Hidden in the Heartland. He also produced one of YouTube’s first viral marketing hits: Will it Blend? Kels recently released The Jets: Making It Real, featuring the Tongan Wolfgramm family, who became an American pop sensation with 8 Top 40 hits and 3 gold records.

Are You Ready to Make Some Noise? Get Your Songwriting Recorded and Released

Kristen R. Bromley

You don’t need to be a seasoned Hollywood producer to succeed in recording your own music. You do need to start today by arming yourself with the right knowledge, team, and tools for the journey. In this session, join two highly successful recording artists who will cover, from start to finish, how to get your music recorded, edited, mixed, mastered, and distributed. Come learn about the fun and exciting opportunity you have to record and release your own music in today’s world.

Bio: Kristen Bromley earned a bachelor’s degree in music and in genealogy from BYU, a master’s in jazz performance from Jacobs School of Music, and a doctorate in musical arts from Boston University. She’s toured at jazz festivals in countries such as Scotland, England, Portugal, and Spain, and she loves creating interactive educational environments that foster whole-person learning. She’s been named the Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festivals outstanding guitar soloist multiple times, she teaches at BYU, and she authored a guitar method book. Her latest album, Simply Miraculous, was released in June.

Learn from My Mistakes: What I Wish I’d Known Before Making My First Movie

Jesse Ranney

This jam-packed session for writers, dreamers, and other empowered visionaries will cover the essentials of what you need to know to effectively and successfully produce your indie film, enroll others, and manage your project to fruition. From networking, contracts, rights management, finances, casting locations, development, scripting, scoring, shooting, editing, marketing, and successful distribution, learn step-by-step from an expert who has done it all many times over. You’ve heard the saying: whatever one can conceive, one can achieve! Producing for independent film is all about taking action on your vision. It’s about creatively turning your dreams into reality by working smart. Discover how to avoid pitfalls in creating that masterful feature film you’ve always wanted to.

Bio: Jesse Ranney is a film producer, director, and writer. He grew up on a pig farm, where he learned the value of hard work. While his work in advertising keeps him busy, what he really loves are feature films. Within the Latter-day Saint genre, he has produced content for Excel Entertainment (Peculiar People) and Covenant Communications (Find Your Happy). He is also the producer of Behind You, as well as Green Flake, and he has helped to produce the popular comedy We Love You, Sally Carmichael, among others.

Lessons Learned as an Actor

Joel Bishop

With nearly twenty-five years’ experience as a professional actor and voiceover artist, Joel Bishop has learned a few things on the job. In this enjoyable presentation, he’ll share through personal stories and experience what his time as an actor has taught him about being an artist, a professional, and how to live life as a faithful Latter-day Saint. This presentation is sure to educate and inspire the aspiring student, artist, or actor among you and provide some fun along the way. Learn why it’s important to know who you are, how to define success, the power of “yes, and . . .”, that it’s not about you, and that rejection is normal, but so is acceptance.

Bio: Joel Bishop is a professional actor and voice-over artist with over twenty years’ experience working in film and television, commercials and industrials, theatre and live performances. Currently, he can be seen as Jacob in the Book of Mormon videos on YouTube and Dr. Fredericks in Prescription for Love on Amazon. Favorite past projects include movies Trek, and Saints and Soldiers: The Void, TV shows Touched by an Angel and Disney Channel’s Life Is Ruff, and the commercial campaigns he’s done with each of the other panel members. Joel also sings, does audiobooks, and is a professional speaker and trainer. But what keeps him the busiest and brings him the most joy is spending time with his wonderful wife, five children, and their spouses. 

One voice, Many Characters: The Art of Performing Audiobooks How Narrators Make Magic with your Words

Nancy Peterson and Joseph Batzel

Come and join professional audiobook narrators as they go through the process from beginning to end. Learn how they prepare their texts, perform their characters, and produce the final product. The breakout will also include live narrator performances and an opportunity to listen to a recording sample of their published work.

Bio: Nancy Peterson, Audio Publishers Association Audie Award winner, a multiple Voice Arts Award and Independent Audiobook Award nominee, began her career in audiobooks with petty theft. Her dad’s brand-new tape recorder was too tempting. Sneaking the device, she and her friends recreated worlds from favorite chapter books, reading aloud and listening back. She could never have dreamed that this would be the beginning of a career she loves. A twenty-five-year veteran actor of stage, screen, and recording studio, Nancy has a penchant for dialects, diving deep into the study of language. Her narration style, summed up by AudioFile Magazine, “creates the sense of listening to a play instead of a straightforward reading.” Nancy resides near the foothills of Salt Lake City with her husband and children, two dogs, five fish, one turtle, two snakes, a hive of bees, and a gecko.

Bio: Joseph Batzel has over a hundred voice credits in his career, including radio, TV, and film. He has narrated for the independent producer Lee Groberg. A few of his titles include Trail of Hope, American Prophet, Sacred Stone, and America’s Choir. He has narrated such notable voices of Heber C. Kimball, Wilford Woodruff, and his recent project Saints of Tonga as the voices of Joseph F. Smith and Gordon B. Hinckley. He is also an audiobook narrator of numerous genres of children’s books, self-help, and Christian romance. Joseph is the current director of education for LDSPMA. He is married to Alice, a published writer, and has two sons and five grandchildren.

The Art of Curating Conversations: Live Podcast of a Conversation with LDSPMA President-Elect Devan Jensen

Christine Baird and Devan Jensen

In this session, you will witness a podcast take place live as Devan Jensen, vice president of LDSPMA, is interviewed by host Christine Baird about his insights into the future of Latter-day Saint publishing and media. This session is designed to show you the method and impact of hosting strategic podcast interviews.

Bio: Christine Baird is a professional podcast producer and consultant who has worked with a variety of top wellness and business influencers, growing their shows from initial launch to millions of downloads. She has been working in podcasting, event production, and influencer branding since 2014. She worked on Lewis Howes’s brand, The School of Greatness, for four years, where she got to grow his top-ranked podcast from less than one million downloads to over eighty million. Now she’s pivoted to supporting more influencers create and build their shows and impact. She consults, strategizes, and launches top podcasts in wellness, business, and lifestyle.

Bio: Devan Jensen is the LDSPMA president-elect and the executive editor at the BYU Religious Studies Center. He has presented and published papers on Church history topics throughout the world. He once appeared as an airline pilot in the BYUtv series Granite Flats. He enjoys cycling, singing, and performing magic tricks.

Tips from the Trenches: Guiding Your Career as a Latter-day Saint Media Professional

Jodi Reynosa

As the broadcast industry continues to consolidate, large conglomerates are competing more fiercely than ever for greater viewership. Meanwhile, social media is making publishers of us all. How does one build or guide a successful career in this ever-changing media and publishing landscape? Join us for an open and candid conversation about the challenges, joys, risks, and rewards of navigating the broadcast media industry in today’s tumultuous marketplace. How do you establish value, differentiate, and thrive amid the politics? What questions should you ask when considering potential opportunities? How should you decide what path(s) to follow? Whether you’re a student looking to break into broadcasting, a seasoned maven in search of your next gig, re-entering the workforce after raising a family, or transitioning mid-career, this session will help you gain the edge in achieving your dream and fulfilling your passion. Participants will learn from each other the realities of what works and what doesn’t in bringing their talent and light to an industry where everyone is ‘above average’ – facilitated by a seasoned insider who has pretty-much seen it all!

Bio: Jodi Reynosa, a TV-Personality, has worked at NBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox, interviewing presidential hopefuls such as John Kerry, Ted Cruz, Rudy Giuliani, Hillary Clinton, and Dick Cheney, as well as notables such as Judge Jeanine Pirro, space shuttle commander Eileen Collins, and pop band ZZ Top. She’s hosted talk shows, and she launched the YouTube series Guided. She studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and at First Take. She earned a bachelor’s in broadcasting, a master’s in education, and an executive MBA.

How to Be a Better Host and Guest on TV, YouTube, and Podcasts to Grow Your Audience Panel

Jodi Reynosa, Melissa Dalton Martinez, Tamara Anderson, Trina Boice

One of the most effective ways to grow your audience is to be a guest on podcasts, on YouTube channels, at conferences, and on local TV and radio shows. This panel of experts will teach you how and where to find speaking gigs, how to draft a compelling pitch, the importance of offering a free gift (your lead magnet), what to prepare for the interview, and steps to take after. You’ll hear their inspiring experiences, as well as their checklist of dos and don’ts in the industry.

Bio: Jodi Reynosa, a TV-Anchor, has worked at NBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox, interviewing presidential hopefuls such as John Kerry, Ted Cruz, Rudy Giuliani, Hillary Clinton, and Dick Cheney, as well as notables such as Judge Jeanine Pirro, space shuttle commander Eileen Collins, and pop band ZZ Top. She’s hosted talk shows, and she launched the YouTube series Guided. She studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and at First Take. She earned a bachelor’s in broadcasting, a master’s in education, and an executive MBA.

Bio: Melissa Dalton Martinez has worked in the publishing industry on and off as a public relations and marketing manager and consultant since 2000. After graduating from college in 2003, Melissa has helped others grow their careers, started businesses of her own, spoken at countless conferences, helped plan and coordinate many events, worked with radio, TV, newspapers, and movies, and even become the host of her own TV show, The Book Break. Melissa now works with Eschler Editing as a marketing expert; as a private marketing, branding, and media consultant for authors; as a producer, show host, and book reviewer for The Book Break; and as a book reviewer on various TV and radio stations across Utah.

Bio: Tamara enjoys reading stories with happy endings, gardening, writing, singing, chocolate, and going on dates with her husband, Justin. She is the mother of three sons (two on the autism spectrum) and one daughter. Tamara loves learning—both in and out of the classroom—but prefers reading books for fun. She has lived in the East, South, and West and even in Argentina for three years as a young girl. She is the author of Normal for Me and the podcaster of Stories of Hope in Hard Times. She can be found on social media and on her website, tamarakanderson.com.

Bio: Trina Boice is the author of twenty-nine 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.

How to Build a Career and Life as a Latter-day Saint Influencer

Dr. Benjamin Hardy

Dr. Benjamin Hardy teaches the principles and methods he used to have his blog read by over one hundred million people, grow his email list to four hundred thousand people without paid ads, and develop collaborations with his heroes. Specifically, you will learn how to get your work featured and published on big platforms, get highly paid speaking gigs, and work with the best collaborators in the world.

Bio: Dr. Benjamin Hardy is an organizational psychologist and best-selling author of Willpower Doesn’t Work. From 2015 to 2018, he was the number-one writer in the world on Medium.com. During that time, he grew his email list from zero to 400,000 without paid advertising. Ben and his wife, Lauren, adopted three children from the foster system in February 2018, and one month later Lauren got pregnant with twins, who were born in December 2018. They live in Orlando. Ben’s blogs are read by millions monthly.

Increasing Your Online Presence

Karlene Browning

“It’s not your reader’s job to find you. It’s your job to be where your readers are,” says Kimberley Grabas. A successful author finds ways to be where their readers are. But how do you find them? This class is all about WHERE to be and HOW to present yourself online so your target readers can find you and your books. We will cover: finding readers; their top four questions; creating and managing a consistent online image and message; what you must have on your website; a review of social media; the various author profiles you need (and why); and more. Although focused on authors, the principles of this class apply to other artists as well. Beginner to Intermediate level.

Bio: Karlene Browning has been working online since the mid-1990s, watching the internet grow to become the fabulous networking opportunity that it is today. She has learned the ins and outs of establishing and promoting an effective online presence for authors and other businesses. She specializes in creating self-hosted WordPress sites and setting up social media accounts for authors and others. In addition to websites and other online activities, she has thirty-plus years of experience in the publishing field and currently offers a variety of freelance services to authors and small presses. You can learn more about her at www.inksplasher.com.

Sales Funnel = Sales Success

Tiffany Peterson

If you want to have an online presence for your books, CDs, products, or other services, you need to have a marketing funnel. Rather than hunting for buyers, a properly built funnel will easily attract your target audience to you! Learn about lead magnets, the nurture sequence of an email newsletter campaign, and how to effortlessly convert your traffic into happy purchasers.

Bio: Tiffany Peterson is a seasoned speaker and international coach guiding individuals, teams, and audiences in creating thriving lives and business results. Before founding her own company, The Lighthouse Principles, Tiffany worked with many popular brands: Franklin Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, the world-famous Rich Dad, Poor Dad series, and Jack Canfield’s Chicken Soup for the Soul series. Tiffany has been responsible for achieving sales budgets that range upwards of forty million dollars in annual revenue. She loves sharing her sales secrets and strategies with others to help them create a sustainable income living their business dreams. For more information about creating your ideal life and results, visit her website at www.TiffanySpeaks.com

Blogging Tips to Grow Your Audience

Brad McBride

Do you find yourself searching for that one idea that will give meaning to your story, blog, or talk but can’t quite put your finger on it? Maybe it is already on your finger. This will be an unpredictable class about finding details in everyday life to enhance your writing, speaking, and teaching. Finding content can be one of the easiest parts of nonfiction writing and blogging. Come, give it a try!

Bio: Bradley McBride: Brad has been blogging for nearly a decade, writing well over a million words. Initially he blogged as Middle-aged Mormon Man, but he dropped the “Mormon” label and created ThusWeSee.com. Bradley’s talent is taking complex doctrine and breaking it down to present it in a way that is understandable and entertaining, making you want to read more. He calls Gilbert, Arizona, home with one wife, five kids, five grands, one dog, two books published, and one well-worn laptop.

Creating Viral Video Content on YouTube, IGTV, and TikTok Panel

Jesse Espinoza, Mimi Bascom, Monica Moore Smith, Trina Boice

Bio: Jesse Espinosa is the creator of the YouTube channel SundayJess. She graduated from UVU with a bachelor’s degree in journalism earlier this year. In 2017, after completing her mission in Lima, Peru, Jesse started her platform. Even though she didn’t have a high-quality camera, a professional microphone, or any editing skills, she quickly gained a following. Her channel is aimed at providing wholesome content and advice for Latter-day Saint girls. The topics she covers include sister missionary prep, modest fashion tips, and big sister advice. In just two years SundayJess has accumulated over 10,000 followers across her blog, Instagram, and YouTube channel. Her videos have attracted over half a million views. In 2018 she was selected as a Top 10 Mormon YouTube channel of the year. Now, she has become a big sister for thousands of girls all over the world who are striving to come closer to Christ. Jesse is on a mission to help young women live their values with confidence.

Bio: Kwaku El is a former host of “Saints Unscripted” and current writer and cohost of FairMormon’s “This Is the Show.” He also produces Latter-day Saint themed videos on the Kwaku YouTube channel and StoneXVI. He is a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Bio: Mimi Bascom is an influencer and freelance social media manager/strategist. She enjoys creating content for her personal brand to show people that religion is still relevant, and she helps brands organically build an audience online and increase revenue (you can view her work at mimibascom.com). She is a recent BYU graduate with a bachelor’s degree in communications, and she has been working in the social media industry for the past three years. Although now a resident of Arizona, as a native Utahn she loves indulging in a Dirty Diet Coke from Sodalicious and the classic Chocolate Chip Cookie from Crumbl.

Bio: A former competitive Kenpo karate kid turned full-time film actress and content creator, Monica Moore Smith has a passion for storytelling. She caught the film bug with her start in the viral Mormon Message Bullying—Stop It. Recently, she premiered in theaters in Romance in the Outfield (soon headed to Pureflix), starred and sang in Twice the Dream (now selling at Walmart), and appeared in the cult classic Saturday’s Warrior as Julie Flinders. Balancing an entertainment career and Latter-day Saint beliefs isn’t easy, but it has never been a question for her. She hopes to pave a way for others to see that they can fully be themselves and follow their dreams. 

Bio: Trina Boice is the author of twenty-nine 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.

Creating a Brand That Attracts Fans Panel

Melissa Dalton Martinez, April Hiatt, Trina Boice

Bio: Melissa Dalton Martinez has worked in the publishing industry on and off as a public relations and marketing manager and consultant since 2000. After graduating from college in 2003, Melissa has helped others grow their careers, started businesses of her own, spoken at countless conferences, helped plan and coordinate many events, worked with radio, TV, newspapers, and movies, and even become the host of her own TV show, The Book Break. Melissa now works with Eschler Editing as a marketing expert; as a private marketing, branding, and media consultant for authors; as a producer, show host, and book reviewer for The Book Break; and as a book reviewer on various TV and radio stations across Utah.

Bio: Brian Halley is the founder of Book Creatives, a company dedicated to helping authors access professionally designed book covers. With twenty years of design experience, he helps authors understand that designing a cover is more than just something to check off a list. He’s shared his expertise at events all over the country, addressing topics such as the power of branding and key principles for an award-winning book cover design. His desire for authors to succeed fuels his desire to share his knowledge with all.

Bio: April Hiatt is a website designer, trainer, and owner of Powered By You Websites. She specializes in working with authors and small businesses to carry their branding through to their websites. Her passion is for the author or small business to have a memorable online presence. After graduating from BYU, April worked for the Applied Technology Center, training adults to succeed in business. She then ran her own business as a software trainer and virtual project manager for several years and worked as a manuscript evaluator for Covenant Communications while raising her kids. In 2014 April began working with “Mothers Who Know” to help build their branding in podcasts, videos and websites. There she found her passion—customized website design. April has created websites for authors in various genres from middle grade, fantasy, memoirs, and more. She loves to see others’ visions brought to life on their websites.

Bio: Trina Boice is the author of twenty-nine 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.

Build a Better Website

Brett Oliver Parson

You will learn what the most important elements are of an effective website that attracts traffic and converts it into sales. You’ll look at important design features, helpful tools, branding, and the features that work in today’s online market.

Bio: Brett Parson has been telling stories for as long as he can remember.  He is the author of several children’s books, including the award-winning The Twelve Hats of Christmas.  He is also the creator of several successful businesses.  His expertise in branding and online marketing are aimed at improving client image and increasing revenues, working with clients like Jetsetter Magazine, duPont Registry, and SkyWest Magazine. He lives in Utah with his gorgeous wife and four children. You can find him spending way too much time with his family at Disneyland.

Editing for Magazines Panel: The How, When, What, and Why

Josh Perkey and Jannalee Sandau

Interested in working for a magazine? Come discover the difference between printed magazine content and online content writing styles, how magazine work is similar to or different from news writing, how to find and pitch stand-out contributor articles, and how to recycle content effectively and productively between platforms (video, podcast, print and web articles, and so forth). Plus, learn how to get your foot in the door of the magazine industry by excelling as an intern or intern applicant and discover the challenges and advantages with a niche magazine audience (like Latter-day Saints).

Bio: Josh Perkey is the assistant managing editor for the New Era magazine. Before joining the New Era team, where all the hip action happens, he was a senior editor at the Ensign, working on spiritual, family, and academic articles. Prior to working for the Church, he was an associate editor with Glencoe/McGraw-Hill for seven years. He loves epic stories, humorous tales, swashbuckling movies, and playing with his family. In his spare time, he is a success coach and trainer.

Bio: Jannalee Sandau is the senior editor at LDS Living. She started as an intern there in 2013 and now manages the printed bimonthly magazine while also regularly editing and writing the publication’s daily online content. She enjoyed mentoring editorial interns up until the birth of her son last year, when she became a work-from-home mom. She has a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Utah and likes to scrapbook, play the piano, and upcycle things around the house.

So You Want to Format a Book: How to Make It Professional

Marny Parkin

For beginners: A software-independent discussion of the basics of book design, audience considerations, and typesetting choices for creating a professional-looking print book. Bring a New York–published book or two in the genre you are working in to analyze it. We will look at different types of pages as well as the formatting and positioning of paragraph types.

• What are the basic page types within books?
• Where are specific elements placed on the page?
• How do different audiences affect design choices?
• How does a reader’s eye move across a page?
• How do type size, leading, and line length interact to make a comfortable reading experience?
• How should different paragraph types be formatted?

Bio: Marny K. Parkin is the production editor for BYU Studies. She began at BYU Studies as an undergraduate intern and has been on the staff off and on (with breaks for babies) ever since. Marny has extended her experience with BYU Studies into a freelance book design business, a bibliography project for fun, and a side job teaching print publishing design. She received her bachelor’s degree in math education and enjoys reading science fiction and fantasy and collecting Oriental dragons.

How to Nail Nonfiction: Developmental Approaches to Make That Story Stand Out

Angie Fenimore

For all writing levels

Discover what lights up top literary agents, publishers, and film producers. Learn what all successful stories have in common and how a writer-editor team can make its own magic. Find out how to produce and edit a compelling and marketable nonfiction manuscript that captures the attention of industry professionals without sacrificing voice, style, or the writer’s soul.

Covering:

• How to structure self-help, memoir, biography, or narrative nonfiction so that your project appeals to gatekeepers and readers
• Oak Leaf story structure
• What sets a nonfiction writer apart in an oversaturated market
• The backdoors for successful branding
• How to take the cringe out of creating a qualified audience 
• How to stand out in a veritable ocean of new authors and old dogs who release nearly a million books every year when readership is declining
• How to support a writer in keeping the creativity alive while also elevating the work

Bio: Angie Fenimore is a New York Times best-selling author. She’s landed six-figure book deals with the big five publishers and signed with top deal-making literary agents. Her inspirational nonfiction, Beyond the Darkness, was published in multiple languages with Random House, Simon & Schuster, Pocket Books, and others, and has sold hundreds of thousands of copies worldwide. Her current project is in negotiation for an HBO longform TV series. But coaching writers to success is her superpower. Her students are on the USA Today best-sellers list, #1 on Walmart’s list, and #1 bestsellers on Amazon and have signed big-budget movie deals starring Hollywood A-listers. As the CEO of Calliope Writing Coach, Angie runs the most effective pitch conference in the industry. She is also the cohost of the Parsec Award-winning Calliope Writing Coach Podcast.

Business 101 for Freelancers: Entities, Legal Issues, and Taxes

Suzy Bills

To be a successful freelancer, you need to know more than just your craft—you also need to understand the business side of the profession. If you’re wondering where to start, this session is for you. You’ll learn about different types of business entities, legal issues, taxes, and other business topics that will help you feel empowered, not cowered, as a freelancer.

Bio: 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 Project, 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.

Build a Website? Yes, You Can: WordPress Makes Building a Dynamic Website Accessible to Anyone

Michael Sheen

Beginning to intermediate: During the course of this class, you will learn how to set up a WordPress website, customize it with the appearance and functionality you want, upload photos and text to create pages and posts, and get tips on security and best practices. Attendees will also receive free access to the course posted online after the class.

• What WordPress is and why you want to use it
• Set up WordPress in six easy steps
• Choosing and installing a theme
• Plug-ins and add-ons
• Basics of website design
• What you need on your WordPress website
• Pages, posts, menus, and sidebars
• Best practices, troubleshooting, and help

Bio: Michael Sheen is a web designer with more than twenty years of experience in the field. He’s created an online presence for hundreds of companies and individuals, and he’s worked with top Hollywood producers, New York Times best-selling authors and multimillion-dollar companies. Michael currently works primarily with up-and-coming authors to build their online platform in preparation for launching their next book. Michael is also a cofounder of the Kyngdom Organizer, a life management company, alongside #1 New York Times best-selling author Richard Paul Evans.

So You Want to Be an Editor: Important Must-Knows about Types of Editing and What an Editor Really Does

Lindsay Flanagan

When you begin offering your services as an editor, don’t make the mistake of thinking it’s just about the technical stuff, like grammar, punctuation, spelling. That’s only one slice of the editing pie. We will not only explain what each kind of editing entails, we’ll talk about the skills and approach needed for them as well. This class will benefit both beginning and intermediate editors who want to make a career out of editing.

• The different kinds of editing—developmental, substantive, line, copy, proofreading, and post-design quality control—and how they differ 
• The temperament and skills needed for each type of editing 
• Suggestions for learning how to become that type of editor 
• How to evaluate a manuscript for determining the type/level of editing needed
• The need to be uber-familiar with The Chicago Manual of Style and Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary and some insight about various online grammar and editing tools

Bio: Lindsay Flanagan is a senior editor and project manager at Eschler Editing. She earned her Master of Arts in English and creative writing and spent over a decade working in higher education before joining the Eschler team. When she’s not editing manuscripts, she’s writing young adult and middle grade fantasy novels, poetry, and articles about her favorite rock bands. She and her husband are the proud parents of two brilliant daughters and make their home in Heber, Utah. 

Understanding, Editing, and Publishing Children’s Nonfiction

Hannah VanVels

Beginners: We will take a brief look at the children’s nonfiction space. We’ll examine what publishers are looking for when it comes to nonfiction, what topics and trends are on the rise, and what makes a nonfiction book a children’s book. We will also take a look at the editorial side of children’s nonfiction. In addition to sharing a few tips for those looking to become children’s book editors, we will also go through a sample edit of a children’s nonfiction book.

• What is the children’s nonfiction market like?
• What are some recent trends in the children’s nonfiction space?
• What are publishers looking for in children’s nonfiction?
• How do you edit a children’s nonfiction book?
• How do you become a children’s book editor?

Bio: Hannah VanVels is an editor, writer, and literary agent at Corvisiero Literary Agency. She has worked various bookish jobs including a stint as a bookseller at Barnes & Noble, a freelance editor for scholarly and academic essays and journals, and most recently as the acquiring editor at a young adult imprint with HarperCollins Publishing. Hannah lives in West Michigan with her partner, two German Shepherds, and two cats.

Creating Book Covers That Sell!

Karlene Browning

Unfortunately, people do judge a book by its cover—so how can you turn that into an advantage? In this session, a professional book cover designer will walk you through the tricky marriage of commanding a viewer’s attention while conveying your message in the blink of an eye. She’ll explore what you must know about stand-out cover design: branding and marketing concepts, how properly applied design principles balance the weight of visual elements and elicit an emotional response in your reader, and what to do about typography, colors, genre promises, and more!

Bio: Karlene Browning has been working online since the mid-1990s, watching the internet grow to become the fabulous networking opportunity that it is today. She has learned the ins and outs of establishing and promoting an effective online presence for authors and other businesses. She specializes in creating self-hosted WordPress sites and setting up social media accounts for authors and others. In addition to websites and other online activities, she has thirty-plus years of experience in the publishing field and currently offers a variety of freelance services to authors and small presses. You can learn more about her at www.inksplasher.com.

Getting an Agent’s Attention in 2020: How to Get Noticed Using Popular Platforms Like Pitch Wars or Twitter Pitch Parties

Madeleine Dresden

So you wrote a book. It’s the Next Big Thing, the Korean-inspired Hamlet we’ve all been waiting for. But it seems as though the passing years have left you with a severe case of Rip Van Writer: What on earth are Twitter Pitch Parties, and are they actually any better than sending out cold queries? From Pitch Wars to #PitMad, this workshop will be an overview of current, online opportunities that can help you get an agent’s attention. Whatever your social media experience, anyone can upgrade from “slush-pile hostage” to “hashtagging pitch ninja.”

Bio: Madeleine Dresden grew up in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and wrote her first novel in the fifth grade—complete with a “dude in distress,” a heroine named Macaroni Pizza, and a dragon that is allergic to men. She has an MFA in creative writing and teaches rhetoric at BYU. Having passed through the fires of the highly competitive Pitch Wars process, Madeleine is excited to pull back the curtain on how her #ownvoices Korean-inspired novel gathered attention and momentum through various online opportunities. Madeleine is represented by Holly Root, literary agent and founder of Root Literary.

Representation and Responsibility in Fiction: Writing about Mental Health Issues with Hope and a Proper Point of View

Spencer Hyde

This session will focus on the responsibility of an author to properly represent characters in fiction when confronted with specific mental health issues. The main focus of this seminar will be point of view, and how to engage with characters in the most charitable way possible. Point of view decisions are critical to the success of any work of fiction, and with mental health in question, the decision can be even more fraught. We will discuss how to remove that writerly point of view anxiety and replace it with hope.

Bio: Spencer Hyde’s first novel, Waiting for Fitz, released in March 2019. His second novel, What The Other Three Don’t Know, released in March 2020. His stories and essays have appeared in Glimmer Train, Bellevue Literary Review, Five Points, and elsewhere. He teaches creative writing and literature at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and is currently at work on his third novel about the unexploded bombs of WWII.

Historical Fiction: History or Fiction?

Chris Crowe and Dean Hughes

Historical fiction ranges from plots “based on a true story” to carefully researched accounts of actual people and events.  The session  will explore this range of approaches and suggest techniques for choosing subjects, researching, and creating compelling historical narratives.

Bio: Chris Crowe is a professor of English at BYU, where he teaches courses in creative writing and young adult literature. He’s published hundreds of short works—newspaper columns and magazine and journal articles—and sixteen books, including Getting Away with Murder, From the Outside Looking In, and Death Coming Up the Hill. He has a particular interest in history, and most of his recent books have been historical fiction and nonfiction for young adults. Chris has taught writing workshops at Storymakers, at Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers, and at various schools since 1993.

Bio: Dean Hughes has published more than one hundred books. He has written fiction as well as nonfiction for all ages: children, young adults, and adults. He is best known for Children of the Promise, a series of historical novels about World War II. His young adult novel Soldier Boys has received national critical acclaim, as has his newest book, Four-Four-Two. Dean has taught creative writing at Central Missouri University and Brigham Young University. He has presented workshops on many occasions during his forty-year writing career.

Picture Perfect Writing: Creating a Memorable Picture Book

Linda Bethers, K.F. Ripley, Kevin Klein

Panelists will discuss how to write picture books editors are asking for. We’ll cover picture book basics, with plenty of examples, and conclude with a section specific to writing LDS picture books.

Bio: K. F. Ripley grew up in Tri-Cities, Washington. She has an MFA from Vermont College of the Fine Arts in writing for children and young adults. Love, God, and Mexican Pastries, published in 2019, is her first novel. 

Bio: Linda Bethers has been a preschool teacher and daycare supervisor, worked at a public library for almost twenty-five years and is currently an elementary school librarian. Of course, she likes children, books and reading. She also likes dark chocolate, watermelons, toast, mashed potatoes, the USA, Australia, and mannerly people of all sizes. She is the author of Christmas Oranges, Long May It Wave, and a Be a Friend, a Troll Patrol book.

Bio: Kevin Klein earned degrees in English at Brigham Young University and education at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia. After various roles in education and instructional design, he loves his current position as a sixth-grade teacher. His poetry has appeared in Irreantum, Mothering Magazine, and Dialogue; he’s written articles on parenting and family life for Babyzone.com and LDS Living, and he collaborated with Covenant Communications on the recent picture book Oh, How Lovely Was the Morning. Kevin and his family live in Orem, Utah.

Getting God out of the Machine: Making Religion and Spirituality Work in Your Writing

James Goldberg

Writers are also told to “write what you know,” but not everything we know is easy to express. It’s especially challenging to get something as deep as religious and spiritual experience to work on the page. Drawing on fifteen years of experience writing and editing writing about the Latter-day Saint experience, James Goldberg discusses some techniques that can help religion and spirituality work in literature. 

Bio: James Goldberg is a poet, novelist, nonfiction writer, playwright, documentary filmmaker, and translator who specializes in Mormon literature. He won the Association for Mormon Letters Awards for Drama (2008, for Prodigal Son) and Novel (2012, for The Five Books of Jesus). Goldberg leads the Mormon Lit Lab, which runs annual contests for short-form Mormon writing, and serves on the advisory board of the Center for Latter-day Saint Arts. From 2013 to 2019, he worked for the Church History Department, developing new ways to share history with Church members. He now works as the one of the managing editors for Studies Weekly, an elementary school curriculum company.

How to Point of View: The Ins and Outs of First Person vs. Third Person Narratives

Kessia Robinson

Ever wondered whether a particular story should be told in first person or third person? Ever wished your third-person prose felt more lyrical and personal? Or that your first-person voice felt more authentic? Come learn the ins and outs of point of view. Discover which one works best for your story and get tips for how to make your chosen point of view sharpen your characters, bringing them into vivid focus.

Bio: Kessia Robinson writes young adult fantasy novels and personal essays. She received her MFA from Brigham Young University in 2019. Currently, she lives and works in Utah County, teaching secondary language arts and creative writing. She’s working toward publishing a young adult novel and has had several essays published in, among other places, Inscape and Segullah.

Writing Characters from the Inside Out: Getting to Authenticity

Kristen Chandler

Bio: Kristen Chandler is the author of the award-winning Girls Don’t Fly and Wolves, Boys, and Other Things That Might Kill Me. Kristen became a writer after being paid in cookies to tell stories to a crying toddler. The crying toddler liked Kristen’s stories enough to stop crying, and Kristen liked cookies enough to keep telling stories. Kristen has also been a ranch hand, waitress, salesperson, ice cream store manager, secretary, and freelance journalist. She is a college writing instructor at Brigham Young University.

Poetry 101: Imagery, Metaphor, Repetition, Form

Lance Larsen

In this hands-on session, participants will review building blocks of poetry, try their hand at a few poems, and take home a handout of prompts directing them how to practice on their own. No previous experience needed.  Useful not just for would-be poets but writers of other genres hoping to improve their writing skills.

Bio: Lance Larsen, professor of English at Brigham Young University, currently serves as department chair. He teaches American literature and creative writing, especially poetry. He is the author of five collections of poems, most recently What the Body Knows (Tampa 2018). He has received a number of awards, including a Pushcart prize and fellowships from Sewanee, Ragdale, and the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2017, he completed a five-year term as poet laureate of Utah.

Rummaging through Our Attics: Using Grief, Trauma, and Personal Experience to Enrich Our Literary Efforts

Shelli Spotts

What turns a personal experience into a compelling story? How do we use art to create something beautiful out of hardship? Words can help us reframe our lives to aid in building stronger relationships, more creative outlooks, and better writing. In this hands-on session, you’ll learn techniques and tools to build on personal experience and connect with a reader quickly and authentically.  

Bio: Shelli Spotts, adjunct English instructor at BYU and graduate of its MFA program, believes that everyone has a story that needs to be told. She celebrates the work of others in her teaching. Her creative work has appeared in Inscape, American Academy of Poets, and Big Ocean Journal. She is working on a novel and a collection of women’s stories collected at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, which she attended as an advocacy writer in NYC in March.

Playwriting: A Focus on Dialogue and Character

Tony Gunn and Lesley Hart Gunn

Playwriting differs from other writing forms because it is dialogue driven, using what a person says to shape plot, character and tone. We will engage in discussion and writing exercises that help us look at the way people express themselves, to create characters with a unique and distinctive voice. 

Bio: Tony Gunn has a BA in theatre studies and an MA in theatre history from BYU. He also has  a PhD in theatre studies from Florida State University. His writing has been produced by BYU, Provo Fringe, and Theatre Odyssey in Sarasota, Florida. He has directed for BYU, UVU, New Play Project, and other grassroot theatre organizations that you probably haven’t heard of. He has taught playwriting for BYU and FSU. He lives in Provo with Lesley and their three daughters.  

Bio: Lesley Hart Gunn has a BA from the Film and Theatre Department and an MFA in creative writing from BYU. She’s had plays produced at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, BYU, Provo Fringe Festival, and the Provo Fringe 10-Minute Play Festival. She’s won awards in the Vera Hinckley Mayhew writing competition for Screenwriting, Playwriting, and Fiction and Nonfiction. She has taught dramatic writing for BYU and currently teaches advanced academic writing for BYU–Idaho Online. She is from Nova Scotia but has agreed to live in Utah with her husband and children because she likes them. 

Facts into Truths: Making the Most of Research in Creative Nonfiction

Joey Franklin

Henry David Thoreau once wrote, “Let us not underrate the value of a fact; it will one day flower in a truth.” During this session, we will discuss strategies for helping raw facts of research, data collection, and even memory blossom into vital truths that can be discovered only in the writing process. 

Bio: Joey Franklin is the author of two essay collections, Delusions of Grandeur (University of Nebraska, 2020) and My Wife Wants You to Know I’m Happily Married (University of Nebraska, 2015). His essays and articles have appeared in Writer’s Chronicle, Poets & Writers Magazine, Gettysburg Review, Brevity, and elsewhere. He currently directs the MFA program at Brigham Young University, and serves with Patrick Madden as coeditor of the literary magazine Fourth Genre: Explorations in Nonfiction. He lives in Provo with his wife, Melissa, their three sons, and a dog named Virginia Woof.

Writing with Power: Clarity, Concision, and Variation

Brian Jackson

In this session we’ll talk about three fundamental principles of an effective writing style: clarity, concision, and variation. We will look at examples, do exercises, and work on our own writing. 

Bio: Brian Jackson is a popular teacher as well as the coordinator of the Writing Across the Curriculum program and associate professor of English at Brigham Young University. Jackson has won several campus awards for his teaching, research, and citizenship. He’s written several books about writing, including Mindful Writing and his new Teaching Mindful Writers. Students particularly enjoy his collection of “Dear John” stories.

Writing Is Reverence: A Latter-day Saint Christian Perspective

Gideon Burton

For Latter-day Saint Christians, the act of writing—even when not writing anything overtly religious—can be sacred, a pathway to wonder and reverence. Writing can itself be an act of faith that parallels and even performs part of our working out our salvation with fear and trembling. If we view language the way Joseph Smith did (as weak, yet capable of wonders), we can suffuse our writing and the writing life with holiness. Latter-day Saint belief about the proximity of the everyday to the transcendent can turn even the most prosaic writing tasks into moments of creative faith. We can re-vision revision as repentance; we can rewrite our lives as we rewrite our paragraphs.

Bio: Gideon Burton has been an English professor at BYU since 1994 where he teaches the “Writing with Style” course. A specialist in rhetoric and in professional writing, he also teaches courses in Renaissance literature, Latter-day Saint literature, history, and new media (including blogging, social media, and podcasting). Gideon has coauthored a book on adoption, For the Love of a Child: The Journey of Adoption, a project that grew out of a student’s personal essay. He enjoys helping others find their literary voice and the right medium for their stories. He and his wife, Karen Burton, reside in Springville, Utah. They are the parents of four sons

Double Vision in Travel Essays: Something Old and Something New

John Bennion

Participants in this workshop will practice several skills necessary to write personal travel essays—writing that is not merely informative travel guides nor anecdotes strung together without thematic connection. We will learn and practice recording detail, discovering the meaning of an experience, splitting perspective, combining past and present experiences in a weaved essay, interviewing locals, researching culture, and finding places to publish.

Bio: A native of the Utah desert, John Bennion writes essays and fiction about people struggling with that forbidding landscape: Breeding Leah and Other Stories (Signature Books, 1991), Falling Toward Heaven (Signature Books, 2000), An Unarmed Woman (Signature Books, 2019), and Ezekiel’s Third Wife (Roundfire Books, 2019). He has published in Hotel Amerika, Southwest Review, Hobart, Utah Historical Quarterly, Dialogue, Best of the West II, Journal of Mormon History, and others. He is an associate professor in the English Department at Brigham Young University, where he teaches writing fiction and creative nonfiction. He leads outdoor writing programs that promote student growth.

The Creative Essentialist: How to Up-Level Your Creative Competency

Mel Luthy Henderson

Drawing on new research in play theory, creativity, innovation, and even conflict resolution, this class offers a structured approach to mining and leveraging creativity as a developable skill set—whatever your work may be. Creativity as a competency has evolved from its status as “delightful but unimportant” to become one of the most valuable and sought-after competencies across sectors and disciplines. Whether your object is to access more creative power for your own projects or to become a more valuable resource in your field, this class will help you become the creator of the results you want—instead of simply a reactor to the circumstances you don’t. 

Bio: Mel Luthy Henderson teaches writing at BYU and is a compulsive researcher of creativity and human potential. She earned her MFA in 2016, but long before that, it was clear that her curiosity might be a liability in a world that values specialization over multipotentiality. She became a writer, teacher, massage therapist, caterer, and owner/producer of an annual chocolate expo, and she tried her hand at screenwriting, among other things. Now at last, Mel’s favorite thing is researching creativity theory and helping others—specialists and multipotentialites alike—discover their hidden powers.