2022 Conference Sessions

The Work and the Joy: Creating Historical Fiction

Elder Gerald N. Lund

Get answers to questions about the nuts and bolts of writing historical fiction. How do you create characters that matter to readers? How much time do you spend researching? How do you adapt the storyline to work into historical events? How can you incorporate drama and gospel principles into the lives of your characters? How much does history influence the way the plot develops and characters behave?

Bio: As a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Elder Lund helped administer the worldwide operations of the Church. He is the author of forty books, including the best-selling Work and the Glory series and the Kingdom and the Crown series. His nonfiction works include Hearing the Voice of the Lord and The Second Coming of the Lord.

The Power of Stories: Having the Courage to Share Yours

Jane Clayson Johnson

Nationally recognized journalist Jane Clayson Johnson has spent her career reporting the biggest news stories of the day, first at KSL-TV in Salt Lake City, then at the networks: ABC News in Los Angeles, CBS News in New York City and now at NPR in Boston. She’s traveled the world, interviewing presidents and prime ministers, authors, movie stars and regular folks doing extraordinary things. Every story is important, but telling her own story changed Jane’s life. 

In her best-selling book, Silent Souls Weeping, Jane’s frank exploration of her devastating experience with depression opened a much needed conversation and a new level of honesty, compassion and understanding for countless members of our faith community.  

Jane will share her professional journey in journalism and publishing and explain how, through the power of story, she turned a painful personal tragedy into a transformative journey of hope.

Bio: Jane Clayson Johnson has won numerous journalism awards, including an Emmy and the prestigious Edward R. Murrow award. She was co-host with Bryant Gumbel of the CBS Morning show and was on the air on 9/11. These days, she is a frequent host on Here & Now, which reaches 5 million weekly listeners on over 450 NPR stations across the country. She received the LDSPMA Best Self-Help/Resource award in 2019 for her best-selling book, Silent Souls Weeping. Her first best-selling book, I Am a Mother, was published in 2007 by Deseret Book.

If You Believe It, You Can Achieve It!

Mauli Junior Bonner

Learn how to do what you’ve never done before. Envision your goal—and get moving! The path will reveal itself as you begin your journey. Mauli Junior Bonner tells how he has lived this advice in becoming an award-winning songwriter, vocal director for platinum-selling and Grammy-award-winning artists, and, most recently, creator, producer, writer, and director of the award-winning film His Name Is Green Flake. Everyone who aspires to tell inspirational stories through music, songs, books, videos, movies, and other arts will be inspired and guided by how Mauli has pioneered in many ways.

Bio: Mauli Junior Bonner is one of the most sought-after vocal directors in the music industry. He writes for or develops some of the biggest names in Pop music, including Ariana Grande, Camila Cabello, Stevie Wonder, and others. He recently focused his talents towards cinema as the writer and director of the award-winning film His Name is Green Flake, which follows the lives of free and enslaved Black pioneers in the early Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Mauli also recently authored with his wife Chantel the children’s book A Child of God.  His favorite thing to do is read to his children Geo and Ari.

The Art or the Artist: Finding the Balance between Your Personal Priorities and Your Art

Jennifer Nielsen

All art is story, and our ability to tell the best stories largely depends on our focus. If the lens of our life is held too close to ourselves and our personal priorities, we become myopic. If it’s held too far, we become discouraged. Jennifer Nielsen will share how to keep a clear lens, properly focused and filled with enough light to create art powerful enough to change lives for the better.

Bio: Jennifer Nielsen is a New York Times best-selling author of several books for young readers, including fantasy novels such as the Ascendance series and historical novels such as A Night Divided, Resistance, Words on Fire, Lines of Courage, and other titles. Jennifer lives in the mountains of Northern Utah with her family. She enjoys collecting old books and spending time in the mountains, and she has no intention whatsoever of kicking her chocolate habit.

What It Means to be Indie: Exploring Independent Book Publishing Today

Angela Bole

Intended Audience: Publishing professionals, self-published authors, and anyone who wants to stay informed on industry trends

As traditional publishing routes continue to consolidate and focus on “Big Names” that require big advances, savvy authors are turning to more direct ways to reach readers. This had led to a boom in independent publishing of all shapes, sizes, and business models, along with new questions (and opinions!) about what it means to be “indie” in the book publishing sense. During this session, join Independent Book Publishers Association CEO Angela Bole to explore what’s really going on under independent publishing’s rather large tent—the good, the bad, and the sometimes ugly.

Bio: Angela Bole has been CEO of the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) since 2013. She holds a Master of Science degree in Book Publishing from New York University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a minor in Gender Studies from Indiana University Bloomington. In 2018, she was awarded the Book Industry Study Group’s Community Builder Award, given to an individual in recognition of significant work done to engage a representative set of book industry stakeholders. In 2019, she was named a Publishers Weekly notable person of the year.

Think Differently: Expanding Revenue Beyond Traditional Book Sales

Adam Sidwell

Intended Audience: Publishers, author-preneurs, and anyone else interested in expanding revenue options.

There are many ways to make revenue beyond traditional publishing models. One example is well-known author Brandon Sanderson, who just rocked the publishing world by making $41,700,000 on his Kickstarter. In this class, we will discuss options such as Kickstarter, direct sales, online sales, in-person events, and even the Metaverse.

Bio: Adam Sidwell is the founder of Future House Studios and Future House Publishing, which work together to develop content for books, film, animation, television, games, virtual reality, and XR. As Head of Studio at Future House Studios, Adam directs animated projects in multiple mediums with a world-class team of alumni from Lucasfilm, Disney, Pixar, Within, and more. As CEO of Future House Publishing, Adam built the company from the ground up, crafting the vision for Future House’s unique blend of titles in science fiction, fantasy, and children’s books.

Publishing as a Career? The Amazing Job Opportunities Publishing Offers

Christopher Robbins

Intended Audience: Anyone interested in a career in publishing, including college students and freelance editors

Publishing is one of the most diverse job opportunities in the world. Join publishing veteran Christopher Robbins to explore all the unique career paths in the publishing industry, from editorial and design to marketing and sales, to IP acquisitions and licensing, and even to accounting, finance, logistics and more. You thought publishing was about editing? The truth is editorial covers only a small part of what some consider the best job in the world!

Bio: Christopher Robbins is the founder and CEO of Familius, a trade book publishing company founded in 2012 with a mission to help families be happy. He is the author of various books and has served as the editorial director and marketing director for Northwest Publishing, the CEO of Gibbs Smith publishing company, the cofounder of Hummingbird Digital Media, and the CEO of American West Books.

How to Succeed in Children’s Publishing

David Miles

Intended Audience: Authors, illustrators, and publishers interested in creating children’s books.

Children’s books are a world entirely their own. F&G? Dummy book? Bologna? And with over 20,000 new children’s books published every year, how do you even begin to compete? In this class, you’ll learn modern trends, what’s selling, techniques for winning over a children’s press, noteworthy book formats, opportunities unique to children’s sub-rights, secrets to working with the publishing establishment, creative marketing strategies, and more.

Bio: David Miles is an award-winning author and veteran of two publishing startups. He and his wife, Stephanie, founded Bushel & Peck Books, the award-winning kid’s press behind such notable books as My Little Prayer by David Archuleta. B&P’s books have been featured in Good Morning America, NBC Nightly News: Kids Edition, the Parents magazine, and Junior Scholastic. His own books have sold nearly 300,000 copies, and he’s been named a Publishers Weekly Star Watch honoree.

Why I Still Believe in Mormon Literature

James Goldberg

Intended Audience: General interest

In a year when Brandon Sanderson shattered previous Kickstarter records and J.D. Payne served as a showrunner on Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series, the highest-profile depiction of Mormon culture will still likely be the TV adaptation of Under the Banner of Heaven, an esposé of religiously-sanctioned violence in fundamentalist Mormon groups. Should we care? In this presentation, James Goldberg explores what it means and what it takes for members of the Church of Jesus Christ to tell stories of our own.

Bio: James Goldberg won the Association for Mormon Letters awards for drama (2008, Prodigal Son) and novel (2012, The Five Books of Jesus) and was a finalist in poetry and creative nonfiction. Through the Mormon Lit Lab, he’s helped mentor writers as they tell our culture’s stories. His recent books include The Bollywood Lovers’ Club (with Janci Patterson), The Burning Book (with Jason Olson), and Song of Names (with Ardis Parshall).

Self-Publishing, Traditional Publishing, Hybrid Publishing, and Agents: How Can I Get My Book Published?

Panelists: Angela Bole, Angela Johnson, and Elana Johnson

Intended Audience: Unpublished authors unsure of their publishing path

So, you’ve completed your book. Congratulations! Now what? This panel explores how to navigate the book publishing industry, from traditional publishing to hybrid publishing to self-publishing—and all the publishing in between. If you’re ready to clear the clouds and plot a course toward publication, this panel is for you. Those thinking to self-publish will find advice on how to start; those who prefer a more traditional track will learn how to become an informed partner in the publishing process. And if you have absolutely no idea, well, you’re welcome, too!

Bio: Angela Bole has been CEO of the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) since 2013. She holds a Master of Science degree in Book Publishing from New York University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a minor in Gender Studies from Indiana University Bloomington. In 2018, she was awarded the Book Industry Study Group’s Community Builder Award, given to an individual in recognition of significant work done to engage a representative set of book industry stakeholders. In 2019, she was named a Publishers Weekly notable person of the year.

Bio: Angela Johnson is an award-winning editor of the 2021 Colorado Book Awards for her work on Monsters, Movies & Mayhem. She has a BS in English literature, an MA in professional communications, and an MA in creative writing with a publishing emphasis. She is the author of several sweet Regency-era romances.

Bio: Elana Johnson, a USA Today bestselling author and Top 50 Kindle Unlimited All-Star Author, writes clean and wholesome contemporary romance, usually set on the beach. Unfortunately, she lives in a landlocked state and must travel to the beach to get her fix, which her husband gladly accompanies her to do a few times each year. She also writes (and is a USA Today bestselling author and top-selling author in Kindle Unlimited) under the pen names of Liz Isaacson and Jessie Newton. See all her books and names at feelgoodfictionbooks.com.

From Script to Screen: Basics in Filmmaking

Tom Laughlin and Dennis Lisonbee

Intended Audience: Anyone interested in the writing or creation of films.

Learn how to transform your basic fiction or non-fiction books or writings into a meaningful film, from the initial ideas to the post-production process. Visually communicate your masterpiece through a compelling cinematic story that engages and captivates. This session will not teach pie-in-the-sky creative theory. You will learn easy and practical techniques on how to turn your film vision into a reality!

Bio: Tom Laughlin is a director, editor, educator, screenwriter, and award-winning documentary producer. He has worked in film and multimedia production for over 25 years and is a four-time winner of the prestigious Utah Best-of-State documentary award. He has worked on several documentary films such as Reel Legacy (2013), Pathway to Heaven (2015), Inside Room 3 (2016), Stripling (2019), and the theatrically released Remembering Heaven (2022).

Bio: Dennis Lisonbee is a film and television producer, a musician, and a former teaching faculty at Texas A&M, BYU, and UVU. At UVU, he was a founding member of their Digital Media Department, where helped create their Digital Cinema, Audio, Animation, Gaming, and Internet Technology degrees. He is also a keyboardist, guitarist, and writer for the legendary Mustangs, considered one of the greatest garage bands of all time.

Secrets to Editing Video Like a Pro!

Wynn Hougaard

Intended Audience: People with beginner to intermediate video editing skills (not software specific).

Need a video editing crash course? Wondering how to improve your storytelling through better video editing? Want to infuse your film projects with the Spirit? A/V editing can make or break a video project and is key to creating emotional and spiritual connection. Up your game whether creating personal phone videos, YouTube vignettes, or full-length documentaries. Gain invaluable tips and tricks from one of the Church’s premiere film and video editors.

Bio: Wynn Hougaard has been editing film and video for 20+ years. He works for Church Motion Picture Studios and teaches filmmaking at BYU. He has edited numerous documentaries and 16 features, including Meet the Mormons (2014), Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration (2005), Emma Smith: My Story (2008), The Best Two Years (2003), The R.M. (2003), Saints and Soldiers (2003), and Singles Ward (2002).

Screenwriting For Beginners and the Basics of Using Final Draft Software

Spanky Ward

Intended Audience: Beginning screenwriters or those interested in adapting their work for film.

Back by popular demand, one of the most experienced Latter-day Saint screenwriters reveals the essentials you need to know to start crafting your screenplay today. Aspiring screenwriters will learn how screenplays are formatted, how to structure stories, and how to use the industry-standard screenwriting software Final Draft. Develop skills as a visual storyteller through this no-nonsense, informative, value-packed session on one of the most important aspects of filmmaking.

Bio: Dustin “Spanky” Ward is a film producer, director, and writer known for Hello, I Love You (2018), Riot (2015), Ruling of the Heart (2018), Christmas Break-In (2018), and 70+ shorts and commercials. His latest feature, The Santa Box (Christmas 2020), won 2nd Place Best Feature and Audience Choice Awards (LDS Film Festival), Best Made Film (Utah Film Awards), and two Praiseworthy Awards (LDSPMA). He also published the children’s book, Charlie’s Long Journey, which is available on Amazon.com.

Know and Reach Your Audience Through Film

Garrett Batty

Intended Audience: Anyone interested in writing, producing, or directing feature films.

From the initial kernel of an idea to seeing it played in theaters across the world, your story can find its audience through film. Join one of the preeminent Latter-day Saint filmmakers in the industry, Garrett Batty, as he discusses his experiences crafting compelling stories and offers insights on how to deliver those stories to a variety of audiences.

Bio: Garrett Batty is the writer, producer, director, and editor of numerous feature films, including award-winning TheSaratov Approach (2013), Freetown (2015), and Out of Liberty (2019). He produced/directed pilots for See the Good (BYUtv) and Let’s Get Epic (VidAngel) as well as the riveting Vietnam documentary The Journey Home (Go Films) and many commercials, such as Stories of Change (Mitsubishi Electric) and Meet the Missionaries (Church of Jesus Christ).

Having the Faith to Create a Career in Acting

Panelists: Arthur Jue (moderator), Corbin Allred, Larry Bagby, and Ana Katia

Intended Audience: Anyone interested in starting or advancing a career in acting

Listen as a panel of Latter-day Saints in film reflect on their respective careers. Gain a better appreciation for pitfalls, successes, challenges, and joys of the acting profession. Discover what to do (and not to do) when entering film or climbing the career ladder. Whether you’re an experienced actor, an aspiring student, or deciding whether film is the right path, you can learn the tools to successfully navigate a career in film and acting.

Moderator: Dr. Arthur Jue is CEO of LiveFreely (www.buddylife.com). The author of multiple books, he serves on editorial boards of academic journals and is a Berrett-Koehler editorial reviewer. An award-winning filmmaker, he also serves on numerous corporate and nonprofit boards. He holds a doctorate in leadership, MBA/TM, and BSc in marketing. He is a media director in NorCal Church Communication, violinist, artist, latin dancer, and menace to society.

Panelist: Corbin Allred began acting at age 12 and built a Hollywood career before serving a mission in Australia. He married his wife, McKenzie, in 2005. A father of four, Corbin currently lives in St. George, UT, and enjoys acting, directing, producing, and writing, as well as practicing emergency behavioral medicine as a PA, serving on a volunteer search and rescue team, and working as a pediatric mental health educator/advocate.

Panelist: Larry Bagby has appeared in Hocus Pocus, Airborne, Saints and Soldiers, Walk the Line, Church Ball, Forever Strong, Age of Dragons, The Young and The Restless, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Cold Case, Malcolm in the Middle, JAG, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, NCIS, ER, The Wonder Years, Saved by the Bell: The New Class, Thirtysomething, and Mr. Belvedere. He is also a professional singer and served his mission in Argentina.

Panelist: Ana Katia is a sought-after actress, appearing frequently on UT film, television, print, and digital media, including multiple Church productions. She founded adopted4change.com and wrote Fourteen Days, the story of her adoption and her return to Costa Rica to find her birth mother. Ana is also an advocate and model for the Younique Foundation’s New Haven Retreat, a certified Rape Crisis Center Facilitator, and an Operation Underground Railroad (OUR) volunteer.

How to Create and Sell Meaningful Music in Profitable Ways

April Meservy GrandPre and Dr. Kristen R. Bromley

Have you ever wanted to record and sell your own music? This presentation will give an overview of the recording process; the roles of song publishers, music publishers, and record labels; the use of aggregators like CD Baby, DistroKid, and TuneCore; how to receive royalty payments through ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC; and the ins and outs of selling music through touring and performing.

Bio: April Meservy GrandPre, an award-winning singer-songwriter from Reno, NV, has toured and recorded extensively. April’s cover of U2’s “With or Without You” was featured during the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, helping the top Canadian figure skating pair bring home gold and bronze medals. She has earned five Pearl Awards and the 2018 LDSFF “Audience Choice” award for music video, and she is a 2x Posi Music Awards finalist.

Bio: Dr. Kristen R. Bromley is a gifted and sought-after instructor, as well as a beloved performer and composer. In addition to directing ensembles and teaching guitar and jazz studies courses at BYU, Dr. Bromley works as a professional author, scholar, arranger, composer, performer and recording musician, and she is the owner and primary featured artist of Kristen R. Bromley Music, LLC.

Six Business Models that Are Working for Latter-day Saint Musicians Right Now

Daniel Blomberg

“How do I get my music out there?” is the number-one question most musicians ask themselves. “How can I get my music to pay the bills, or at least pay for itself?” is a close second. What business models are actually working right now? Which one should you pursue? Join us as we discuss the pros and cons of each model and how to leverage them to finally build a vehicle that can take your music somewhere.

Bio: Daniel Blomberg built a six-figure music production company in just over three years with his wife and business partner Kathryn, making mainly religious music, in a place where musicians are often viewed as a “dime a dozen” commodity. Blomberg Music Productions works with professionals and hobbyists alike, including several of Utah’s household music names, to help flood the Earth with God’s music.

Marketing for Musicians: How to Sell Online Without Sleaze

Dr. Douglas Pew

How can you sell your music without being pushy or annoying? To turn your music into a viable business, you need to master a new style of communication. You need the right words that turn browsers into buyers and fans into life-long customers. But you don’t have to go back to school to figure this out. All it takes is the simple 5-part M.U.S.I.C. formula you’ll get during this session.

Bio: Dr. Douglas Pew is an award-winning composer of classical music. He is also a sought-after marketer and online business coach who has helped his clients make millions selling their expertise in the form of digital courses, memberships, masterminds, and coaching programs. Douglas currently serves as composer-in-residence at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Cincinnati. His music is published by Boosey & Haweks, Schott Music, Santa Barbara Music Publishing, Jackman Music Corporation, and his own publishing house, Blue Shore Music.

Do I Really Have to Market My Own Book?

Marci Monson

Intended Audience: Beginning and intermediate authors

“I wrote a book. Do I really have to market it?” Come find out why the answer is a resounding yes! Whether you are self-published or working with a traditional publishing house, it is important for authors to promote and market their own work. This class will cover easy tips, tricks, and ideas tuned to every genre, platform, and network.

Bio: Marci Monson is the Marketing and Publicity Manager at Gibbs Smith Books. She earned a B.S. in English from USU and a graduate certificate in publishing from the Denver Publishing Institute. She markets and works with authors from her 1908 barn office, producing over 80 book and gift products per year. She is from Smithfield, Utah, and loves bright colors, traveling, and cross-stitching.

Marketing Strategies for Authors: 25 Secrets to Impact and Income

Dr. Trina Boice

Intended Audience: Beginner to advanced author

Authors are often overwhelmed and confused by how best to market their book. This fun and informational class will cover the marketing strategies that are working best today, including how to build a marketing funnel, design an effective lead magnet, attract new fans, leverage platforms, get featured on virtual summits and giveaways, drive traffic, grow your newsletter list, and conquer social media.

Bio: Dr. Trina Boice is a #1 best-selling author of 31 books and an author coach who helps writers become best-selling authors with strategic marketing at FromBooks2Business.com. She has 8 online courses, 4 YouTube channels, and a daily podcast. She currently teaches online for BYU-Idaho and writes movie reviews at MovieReviewMom.com.

Marketing, Leveraging & Monetizing Your Podcast 101

Tamara K. Anderson

Intended Audience: Beginner, intermediate, and experienced podcasters

How can you monetize your podcast as you are growing your listeners? Join Tamara K. Anderson, host of Stories of Hope in Hard Times, as she explains tips, ideas, and tricks to market your products (books, courses, music, art, etc.) via podcasting. You don’t need a lot of downloads to begin making a profit.

Bio: Tamara K. Anderson is an author, podcaster, speaker, and influencer. Her podcast, Stories of Hope in Hard Times, is in its fourth year and is within the top 5% of podcasts worldwide. It was also a runner-up in the 2020 Voice of the West Competition and is listened to in over 84 countries worldwide. Her mission is to inspire hope in Jesus Christ!

Rapid Branding: A Simple and Sane Approach to Establishing or Revamping Your Author Brand

Jewel Allen

Intended Audience: Beginner to experienced authors.

Establish and maintain an author brand you can afford in terms of time and sanity. What three main elements are critical to your author brand, and how do you build on them? How do you present one umbrella brand to the world while writing in different genres—and possibly in different pen names? And, how do you pivot your brand as you evolve as an author and a human?

Bio: Jewel Allen is the creator of the Rapid Release how-to books for authors. She publishes fiction and non-fiction, as well as reading journals. An award-winning journalist for two decades, she grew up in the Philippines and now lives in Utah, where she received her bachelor’s degree in English.

Utilizing Social Media to Market Your Brand

Mimi Bascom

Intended Audience: Anyone with a basic understanding of social media who uses any social platform to advertise their products or services.

In this engaging session, attendees will learn how to optimize their profile for SEO (search engine optimization) and conversion, establish their brand online, determine what types of content they should post and how often, and build their following with qualified leads/customers.

Bio: Mimi Bascom is a content creator, influencer, and experienced social media manager. She has worked in the social media industry for over six years as a corporate social media specialist and now as the owner of her social media marketing business, On-Trend Social LLC. She loves to help entrepreneurs tell their stories, create on-trend content, and close sales through social media.  She also enjoys creating content for her personal brand, where she targets young Latter-day Saints to show the world that religion is still “cool” and “relevant.” She is a graduate of BYU with a degree in Communications, and while she grew up in American Fork, Utah, she currently resides in New Mexico with her husband and new baby.

When Doing Diversity Goes Wrong: Acknowledging, Repairing, and Maintaining Healthy Engagements Online and Offline

Dr. LaShawn Williams

Intended Audience: General interest

Oftentimes, equity, diversity, and inclusion consultants are brought in to help entities manage their online presence (websites, blogs, newsletters, and so on) after something goes viral in an embarrassing way. Conversations about alignment with—and divergence from—our mission, vision, and values are difficult but necessary.  Learn what it means to engage who we are, speak with a clear voice, maintain our professional commitments in public spaces, and make changes when needed to preserve our professional integrity.

Bio: Dr. LaShawn C. Williams is a licensed clinical social worker and relational change strategist focusing on the interactions between people and across differences where connection matters most. Her anti-oppression work centers on the effects of marginalization, isolation, and disconnection in personal and professional spaces. She specializes in interpersonal and organizational change from the margins to the center. She is passionate about relational transformation and eagerly supports individuals, couples, families, and groups through her practice, Relational Spaces at The Utah Center for Connection in Orem.

The Great Audiobook Bake Off: Ingredients and Methods to Bake Up a Great Audiobook

Nancy Peterson

Intended Audience: Authors, self-publishers, and small publishers with beginning to intermediate experience with audiobooks

Under the gingham cloth, participants will find everything they need to create and distribute a perfectly baked audio version of their book. Ingredients include: (1) an overview of industry vocabulary; (2) the surprisingly flexible investment options within your budget; (3) audiobook aggregators and distributors and how to choose the best fit; (4) industry professionals to help you get the project done; (5) the steps to get your book ready for your producers; (6) expectations and input, and how and when to communicate them; and (7) the frosting on the cake: how to get the best return on your investment.

Bio: Nancy Peterson is an Audio Publishers Association Audie Award winner and a multiple Voice Arts Award and Independent Audiobook Award nominee. 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.”

Marketing Your Freelance Services: How to Develop Your Unique Selling Proposition, Find Clients, and Build Your Business

Suzy Bills

Intended Audience: Freelance editors, writers, and designers in particular, though most concepts will be applicable to other types of freelancers.

Whether you’re a freelance editor, designer, marketer, writer, or other freelancer, you need to market your businesses to find clients. But many freelancers don’t know where to start, what strategies are most effective, and how to avoid sounding salesy. In this session, we’ll discuss effective strategies for getting referrals and for finding and connecting with your ideal clients. We’ll also discuss techniques for positioning yourself as the best choice so that you can win more projects and achieve your financial goals.

Bio: Suzy Bills is an editor, author, and faculty member in the editing and publishing program at BYU. She has owned a writing and editing business since 2006, working with clients to publish everything from books to dissertations to technical manuals. She loves sharing her skills with others, whether through teaching, helping authors get their thoughts on paper, or fine-tuning their writing. Her book The Freelance Editor’s Handbook was published in 2021.

Reaching a Global Audience: Recent Advances in Technology for Translation

Steve Richardson

Intended Audience: Authors, editors, translators, publishers, from beginner to experienced

The advancement and use of technology for spoken and written translation has exploded in the past few years. The quality of automatic (or machine) translations is sometimes indistinguishable from that of human translations. New tools, processes, and integrated publishing solutions are becoming available. The Church is now making regular use of these technological advancements. Come and learn how to distinguish the hype from reality. This class will cover a brief history of and recent advances in machine translation (MT) and translation tools, as well as the use of MT at the Church and across the localization and publishing industries.

Bio: Steve Richardson is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at BYU and is the president of the Association for Machine Translation in the Americas. He has worked at the Church for 10 years managing its translation systems and machine translation (MT) and at Microsoft Research (17 years) and IBM (10 years) managing and working on MT and related human language technologies. He holds a PhD in Computational Linguistics from CUNY.

Immersive Copyediting for Science Fiction & Fantasy

Kristy Gilbert

Audience: Beginning to intermediate editors

Note: This class lays foundations for but can be taken independently of Kristy’s class “Copyediting for Consistency.”

Science fiction, fantasy, horror, and other speculative fiction genres present unique copyediting hurdles: invented words, nonstandard political systems, and homebrew cultures. But not all dragons need to be Dragons, and imaginary worlds feel more real with consistency. This presentation outlines practical strategies for copyediting speculative fiction with an aim to support immersive worldbuilding.

Bio: Kristy S. Gilbert is a science fiction and fantasy editor and all-genre book designer for Looseleaf Editorial & Production. In 2021, she was the inaugural Editor of the Year for the Utah Freelance Editors, and she taught editing and print publication design at Brigham Young University for six years.

Copyediting for Consistency in Science Fiction & Fantasy

Kristy Gilbert

Audience: Intermediate to advanced editors

Note: This class builds upon but can be taken independently of Kristy’s class “Immersive Copyediting.”

Science fiction & fantasy present unique challenges for the thorough copyeditor: invented languages; loads of author-created people, places, and things; and a set of well-worn usage conventions that don’t quite match The Chicago Manual of Style. Learn practical, down-to-earth ways of handling these fantastic elements, including how to spot linguistic inconsistencies, how to keep a robust style sheet for series, and how to navigate coaching authors to more immersive worldbuilding.

Bio: Kristy S. Gilbert is a science fiction and fantasy editor and all-genre book designer for Looseleaf Editorial & Production. In 2021, she was the inaugural Editor of the Year for the Utah Freelance Editors, and she taught editing and print publication design at Brigham Young University for six years.

Plotting and Scheming: Crafting the Middle-Grade Novel to Connect with Readers

Kiri Jorgensen

Intended Audience: Writers of MG or YA fiction, any level of experience, but more meaningful for experienced writers

Middle-grade readers are harsh critics. If they don’t connect to the protagonist fast, the book goes back on the shelf. To tie your readers to the story, you must tie your character’s motives to the plot. In this session, you’ll learn how to deliberately structure your plot milestones, directly bind them to your main character’s motive, and craft a strong connection to your reader.

Bio: Kiri Jorgensen is the publisher and senior editor at Chicken Scratch Books. She is also a writer, teacher, entrepreneur, wife, and mother. Her involvement in the world of children’s literature spans three decades and includes teaching, writing stage plays, editing, and serving as regional advisor for SCBWI Montana. Her passion is all books middle-grade, and she loves to work with authors to bring their vision to its strongest form.

A Deep Dive into Deep POV

Jen Geigle Johnson

Intended Audience: All levels of fiction or narrative nonfiction authors

When your readers know your characters better than they know their neighbors, you have likely mastered deep point of view. Learn to hook readers with more emotional impact. How can a deeper dive into a character’s viewpoint affect the reader’s experience with a story? When is it better to take a lighter point of view? This class will provide a brief overview of what deep point of view is and the best ways to use it. We will study examples and go over tips and tricks for creating an immersive reader experience.

Bio: Jen Geigle Johnson writes most of her fiction in third person deep point of view. She enjoys teaching workshops on this topic and other craft and marketing classes for writers. An award winning author herself, including the GOLD in Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards and LDSPMA Praiseworthy’s top award for Romance, Jen Geigle Johnson has more stories circulating in her brain than can possibly be told.

Writing Multilayered Mystery Novels

Rachelle J. Christensen

Intended Audience: Intermediate to advanced fiction writers, in nearly all genres

The best novels all contain a bit of mystery, and the best mysteries have a story hidden among the clues. The element of mystery is what hooks the reader. Learn how to use mystery and suspense within any genre, including ways to drop clues for your reader without them realizing it’s a clue. Rachelle will share methods for creating twists in the plotline that readers love without suspension of disbelief and how to create a multi-layered mystery that won’t let your reader turn off the light.

Bio: Rachelle J. Christensen is the award-winning author of over twenty books, a mother of five, and organizer of 75+ chickens raised annually by her family. She carves out writing time in between home-schooling kids and her work as a writing and marketing coach for authors. She graduated cum laude from Utah State University with a degree in psychology and a minor in music.

How to Polish, Format, and Submit Your Short Story

John M. Olsen

Intended Audience: Beginning short-story writers; may be useful for anyone who wants to learn polishing and revision skills

You’ve written something. Now what? It takes more than a good story to make a sale. We’ll guide you through taking your short story from draft to sold, including ways to edit and polish your content, formatting it according to guidelines, and how to make a great first impression with an editor.

Bio: John M. Olsen uses writing to harness his burning desire to create things, entertaining and enlightening others as well as himself. He approaches writing and editing like he approaches his secret lair full of dangerous power tools, hoping to create something new and interesting with each new project. He teaches at dozens of events, hoping to strengthen the upcoming ranks of new writers.

How to Outline a Romance Novel and Keep the Love Scenes Sweet with a Little Bit of Heat

Julie L. Spencer

Intended Audience: Beginning to experienced authors who want to write romance

How far is too far in clean romance? Heat level is important to readers of all genres–but especially romance novels. And that heat level is often subjective, which means writing romance isn’t easy! On top of that, most story structure models don’t work for romance.Outlining is not the same thing as plotting, but they go hand in hand. In this class, you’ll learn not only how to add the right amount of spice but also a straightforward outlining method specifically for romance novels.

Bio: Julie L. Spencer is a best-selling multi-genre author of over 30 books who uses real social issues to incorporate valuable lessons into fictional stories. As an author and publisher, she has mentored other authors to springboard their own successful careers. Her stories include snarky, flawed characters and romantic twists and turns. Julie believes we can change the world one story at a time.

Characterization Sells Fiction: How to Create Strong Characters

Heather B. Moore

Intended Audience: Beginning and intermediate fiction authors

Do you want to write a book that will get people talking? Characterization might sound elusive, but it doesn’t have to be. Strong characters are what make your story worth reading and what lead readers to recommend your book to friends. Author Heather B. Moore will teach the key components of how to make each character in your book memorable, whether the character appears for one scene or many.

Bio: Heather B. Moore is a USA Today best-selling author of more than seventy publications, most recent The Slow March of Light, In the Shadow of a Queen, and Hannah—Mother of a Prophet. Heather attended Cairo American College in Egypt, the Anglican School of Jerusalem in Israel, and earned a bachelor of science degree from BYU in Utah.

Successful Nonfiction Publishing for Beginners

Karl W. Beckstrand

Karl Beckstrand will address researching and writing nonfiction, including self-help and memoirs, simple steps to publishing success, and ways to get your story into readers’ hands.  Come with objectives and questions for your specific projects. 

Bio: Karl Beckstrand is the best-selling author of 26 titles (60+ ebooks) with reviews by Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus, and School Library Journal. A college media instructor, Beckstrand has a bachelor’s degree in journalism, a master’s degree in conflict resolution, and a broadcast & film certificate. He writes nonfiction on some pretty tough topics—relationships, sexuality, and family—including the self-help book More Than Two Choices. He also writes westerns, mysteries, STEM, and Spanish bilingual books.

The Inclusion Paradox: Developing Believable Characters with Disabilities While Rooting Out Ableist Tropes

Ashley Nance

Intended Audience: Any writers of any genres

Do you have a story to tell that you’re afraid might get you canceled? Writing sensitive stories in today’s world can be intimidating, but it also can be done! My first disability-focused book got lambasted by an editor with autism. Now, you can learn from my mistakes. In this session, we’ll walk through the process I use now, critique popular fiction and nonfiction books, and create a sensitive story together.

Bio: Ashley Nance has a bachelor’s in special education and a superpower for listening. Growing up with a sister with autism and close friends with disabilities, she always treated people with differences as equals. She has worked with severely disabled young people and learned to hear what they couldn’t verbalize. These days, she lives and writes with (and about) her own neurodiverse family in Michigan. Her experiences reverberate in her writing, parenting, social media presence, and personal discipleship.

“Come On In—the Water’s Fine!”: Using Metaphor as an Invitation

Darlene Young

Intended Audience: Beginning and intermediate poets and prose writers who want to write more lyrically.

A good metaphor makes the reader’s mind zing. Because it involves a risky gap between the words and their meaning, it activates the reader’s engagement. In this session, we’ll practice coming up with metaphors that zip and boogie, schlurp and splash, refusing to settle for the dry obvious. Come with pen and paper or laptop because we’re going to get right in the pool and slosh around together.

Bio: Darlene Young’s poetry collection, Homespun and Angel Feathers, was published by BCC Press in 2019 and won the Association for Mormon Letters prize for poetry. Darlene teaches creative writing at BYU and has served as poetry editor of Dialogue and Segullah. Her work has been noted in Best American Essays and nominated for Pushcart prizes. She and her husband have four sons and live in South Jordan, Utah.

“Fools Rush In Where Angels Fear to Tread”: Accepting and Avoiding Appropriation in Your Writing

Chris Crowe

Intended Audience: Any author, editor, or publisher interested in navigating diversity and appropriation issues.

The growing respect for diversity and an increased sensitivity to stereotyping and appropriation have raised concerns among writers and publishers. This session will review some of the key  issues related to diversity and appropriation and offer some suggestions for how writers can be angels instead of fools.

Bio: In addition to academic articles and books, Chris Crowe has published fiction and nonfiction for young adults. He teaches creative writing at BYU and has taught writing workshops at Storymakers, Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers, and various schools since 1993.

Self-Editing and Revision: Fixing All the Language Stuff—Glaring and Nit-Picky—to Make the Best Impression

Annette Lyon

Intended Audience: Authors and editors with beginning to intermediate editing skills

Your work is written and revised and ready to submit! Or is it? In this workshop, you’ll learn surprisingly easy rules behind grammar, punctuation, and more to self-edit your manuscript so it shines. We’ll cover the most common language mistakes writers make and, more importantly, how to fix them so readers will fly through your work instead of being jostled by clunky prose and sentence potholes.

Bio: Annette Lyon is a USA Today best-seller, Whitney Award winner, and nine-time recipient of Utah’s Best of State Medal for novels and short fiction. She’s been a professional editor for over a decade, working with Eschler Editing, Precision Editing Group, and as a freelancer, working with publishers and writers ranging from beginners to NY Times best-sellers. She cofounded The Timeless Romance Anthology series and its spinoff series, and c0-authored The Newport Ladies Book Club series. Her first suspense novel, Just One More, releases spring 2023 with Scarlet Books through Penzler Publishing.

Excavating the Power of Your Life Story

S. Dawn Bradford

Intended Audience: Beginner to advanced writers interested in writing their story.

Every life is filled with stories containing powerful truths. Recording your story leaves a lasting legacy, whether you send it to the world or your own family. I’ll share tools that will help you discover your unique message, how to sift through your life experiences to find the golden nuggets to convey that message, and how to share your truth while minimizing hurt to others.

Bio: S. Dawn Bradford is a #1 international best-selling author, a writing coach, and an international public speaker. She has appeared on Voice America’s radio show, Empowering Women, Transforming Lives. She has also written guest blogs for the American SPCC and was the keynote speaker for the Calliope Writing Coach’s Alaska Writer’s Retreat. She runs a successful business, mentors abuse survivors, and loves to curl up and read a great book.

Jack Welch

Lifetime Achievement Award in Publishing

John W. (Jack) Welch retired in 2020 after 40 years as the Robert K. Thomas Professor of Law at the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU. He is widely known for his innovative discoveries, meticulous research, and collaborative volumes, especially on the scriptures. In addition to producing his own publications, he has played major roles in establishing and leading important institutions to support and publish the works of others.

Welch served a mission in South Germany where he discovered chiasmus in the Book of Mormon in 1967, setting him on a lifelong path of scholarship and publishing. After two years at Oxford University, three years at Duke Law School, and five years practicing law in downtown Los Angeles, he joined the law faculty at BYU in 1980.

In 1979, Welch founded and built the innovative Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS), which published thousands of articles and numerous books about the scriptures.  For 25 years he served as the general editor of FARMS’ monumental Collected Works of Hugh Nibley. He was also one of the editors of Macmillan’s landmark Encyclopedia of Mormonism (1992), and then functioned as editor-in-chief of BYU Studies from 1992 to 2019, producing 112 issues and numerous documentary histories, monographs, and award-winning volumes, such as The Book of Mormon Paintings of Minerva Teichert. Meanwhile, he organized the ongoing BYU New Testament Commentary series, and in 2010 he was honored as the Karl G. Maeser Distinguished Faculty Lecturer at BYU. Most recently, in 2016, Welch co-founded Book of Mormon Central, guiding it as chair of the board to its current massive online publishing and archival presence in English, Spanish, and now also in Portuguese that is reaching millions of readers and viewers.

In 1969, he married Jeannie Sutton, and together they earned their master’s degrees from BYU in 1970. They have four children and seventeen grandchildren. Recently, they coauthored The Parables of Jesus: Revealing the Plan of Salvation, and they now are serving as senior missionaries teaching at BYU Hawaii.

Carole Mikita

Lifetime Achievement Award in Media

Carole Mikita has worked for KSL-TV News since June 1979 as an anchor and reporter. Currently, she is a senior correspondent who specifically covers religion and the arts.

She also produces and writes documentaries for KSL Television Programming that air twice a year during the general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Since the fall of 1998, more than 50 half-hour or hour specials have aired. She and photographers have traveled the world to capture stories about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, its leaders, and its members.

She won regional Emmys for “Civility: Changing the Conversation” and “Gideon’s Story,” and has a Lifetime Achievement Emmy. She received both an international Gabriel Award and the National Freedoms Foundation award for her “Civility” special. Carole has also received many awards from the Society for Professional Journalists and the Utah Broadcasters Association for both news stories and the documentaries. In 2018, she received an honorary doctorate from Southern Utah University for her contributions to journalism and the arts.

Born and raised in Steubenville, Ohio, Carole graduated from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre.

Carole is married to Neil York, who has retired after 42 years as professor of early American history at BYU. They have two daughters and three grandchildren.

Don L. Brugger

Lifetime Achievement Award in Editing and Design

Don L. Brugger’s editing career began inauspiciously when, two years out of high school, he landed an in-house proofreading job at the Los Angeles Times but quit months later to escape sleep deprivation from incessant dreams of scanning endless streams of newspaper copy. 

Years later he exchanged a budding career as a machinist for teaching high school English. He soon met BYU editing guru Don Norton, secured a Church editing internship, and then, on a lark, applied at Deseret Book for what became his first real editing job. He married a schoolteacher, earned a master’s degree in English from BYU, and worked in editorial positions at the Ensign for five years. In 1996 he was recruited to edit FARMS/Maxwell Institute publications, eventually becoming senior editor, associate director of publications, and managing editor. For nine years Don taught editing classes at BYU. In 2017 he transferred to BYU’s Religious Studies Center, where as managing editor he is fortunate to spend most of his time editing beefy academic books and mentoring eager student editing interns. 

Don’s numerous editing projects have included FARMS’s Insights newsletter, the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, Dr. Royal Skousen’s Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon, Dr. Grant Hardy’s The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ—Maxwell Institute Study Edition, and Dr. Lincoln Blumell’s edited collection New Testament: History, Culture, and Society. Don looks forward to leading the editorial production of the Brigham Young Papers.

A native of Southern California, Don joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while attending USU and, upon graduation, served a two-year mission in Argentina. He currently serves as stake history specialist, temple ordinance worker, and YSA adviser. He and his wife, Tonya, have five children and four grandchildren. Don enjoys playing guitar, harmonica, and one-on-one basketball with his competitive golden retriever.

Gladys Knight

Lifetime Achievement Award in the Arts

Known as the “Empress of Soul,” Gladys Knight is one of the most successful music artists of all time. Few other artists have performed at such a high level or remained as popular for more than 50 years as Knight has done. Knight has excelled as a singer, songwriter, actor, author, business entrepreneur, and humanitarian.

Knight began singing gospel music at the age of four in the Mount Mariah Baptist Church. Her mother told her that God had given her an amazing voice and that He meant for her to share it. Three years later, she won the grand prize on television’s “Ted Mack’s Amateur Hour.” Her mother then formed the group “The Pips” consisting of Knight and several family members, named in honor of their cousin/manager James “Pip” Woods.

In 1960, when Knight was just 16, and after the group had been renamed “Gladys Knight & The Pips,” they debuted their first album, with Knight singing the lead and The Pips providing lush harmonies and graceful choreography. The group went on to achieve icon status with some of the most memorable songs of the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s, including Top 20 hits such as Every Beat of My Heart, Letter Full of Tears, and I Heard It through the Grapevine. In 1989, Knight left The Pips and embarked on a solo career, which has been equally extraordinary.

Knight is a seven-time Grammy Award winner and inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. All told, she has recorded more than 40 albums. She has also starred in numerous films and television shows, both as a vocal performer and as an actor. And she performed “This Is Our Time” (which she co-wrote with her husband William McDowell) at the opening ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

A humanitarian and a philanthropist, Knight has contributed her talent and support to numerous worthy causes, including the American Diabetes Association, the American Cancer Society, the Boys and Girls Club of America, and the Minority AIDS Project. Previously a Baptist and later a Catholic, in 1997 she was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 2002, Knight formed the Saints United Voices Choir—a multicultural choir that has performed gospel music in free concerts and on television. In 2018 she led the Be One Chorus and performed herself at the “Be One” 40^th Anniversary Priesthood Restoration Celebration of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Brandon Sanderson

Lifetime Achievement Award in Writing

Brandon Sanderson is one of the best-selling and most successful authors of epic fantasy and science fiction books in the world. His books have hit the New York Times best-seller list fifteen times—many times at #1—and have been published in thirty-five languages.

Sanderson has won numerous writing awards, including the Hugo Award, the David Gemmell Legend Award (multiple times), and Whitney Awards (multiple times). He received widespread national attention when his March 2022 Kickstarter campaign to fund publication of four untitled novels raised $41.7 million from more than 185,000 backers—more than doubling the previous all-time record for money raised from a Kickstarter campaign for any type of product or project.

Born in 1975 in Lincoln, Nebraska, Sanderson enjoyed reading as a child but then lost interest in the titles in his school curriculum and “by junior high never cracked a book if he could help it,” he reports in his website bio. This all changed in eighth grade when an astute teacher helped him discover epic fantasy and he began devouring such books. He even tried his hand at writing epic fantasies, but his first attempts, he says, “were dreadful.”

In 1994 Sanderson enrolled at Brigham Young University as a biochemistry major. But while serving as a missionary in Korea for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he realized that he didn’t miss chemistry but did miss writing. So after he returned to BYU, he became an English major and began writing in earnest.

Famously, to pay for schooling, Sanderson took a job as the night desk clerk at a hotel because the hotel allowed him to write while at work at night. He finished seven novels during his undergraduate years and kept writing novels while he earned a graduate degree in English from BYU. By 2003 Sanderson had written twelve novels, though no publisher had accepted any of them for publication.

Sanderson’s first break came when Tor Books accepted his sixth novel, Elantris, and it was published in 2005, followed in 2006 by Mistborn: The Final Empire, the first book in his Mistborn fantasy trilogy. Another break came when Sanderson was selected to complete the final books in Robert Jordan’s epic fantasy series, The Wheel of Time, and they became best-sellers in 2009 and 2010. He has gone on to publish dozens more hugely popular books, most set in the Cosmere fictional universe that he created. And he has been supported in this rise by his wife Emily, who is his business manager.