LDSPMA

Empowering Latter-day Saints to spread light and truth by connecting them at the intersection of faith, creativity, and professional skill

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Praiseworthy Award Nominations Are Open

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By Nicole Bay

It’s that time of year again! No, not the Oscar season—it’s time to send in your nominations for the annual LDSPMA Praiseworthy Awards.

LDSPMA instituted the Praiseworthy Awards in 2016 to honor entire teams who collaborate to bring excellent work to light. Authors, illustrators, and content writers are extremely important in the initial stages of a new creative endeavor. They have the inspiration for a story, a movie, or a podcast. Then editors, designers, producers, directors, and actors add their magic and vision to refine that work and prepare it to meet the world. We appreciate all the work that goes into creating an outstanding piece of art, so we give Praiseworthy Awards to all members of the winning teams.

Last year we were thrilled to receive so many high-quality entries. Publishers nominated their best books, but LDSPMA members and friends entered their favorites, too. Past winners include authors published locally as well as nationally. (See the 2020 Awards Winners page.)

And the Praiseworthy Awards contest isn’t just for books—we want to recognize excellence in audiovisual media, such as podcasts, songs, and films, and in multimedia projects, such as interactive websites, video games, and apps. 

We welcome submissions from most genres that explore a wide variety of themes and content. A picture book about the first woman to run the Boston Marathon? Yes, please! How about a biography of a prophet or a novel about forbidden love? Absolutely! What about a book that deals with mental illness, a podcast about success in business, or a recording of a rock song? Yes, yes, yes! 

The common denominators for Praiseworthy winners? A top-notch product whose creators include at least one member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

We know you’ve either created or loved a book or other work that deserves some recognition. Check out our eligibility and submissions guidelines, and then use this form to submit a nomination. 

Nominations are open from March 15 to April 16, 2021, for works produced in 2020.

Keep creating and consuming excellent media! The world needs it!

Bio: Nicole Bay is the LDSPMA Director of Awards. She teaches linguistics at Brigham Young University and writes children’s fiction and nonfiction. Her favorite things are her husband and kids, homemade bread and cookies, reading, writing, and crossword puzzles.

Podcasting: Why You Should Think About Trying It

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By Ashley Fontes

Years ago, I started a children’s yoga blog. I had my blog name and a good website address. I wrote innovative content, I had my target audience, I made videos, I offered free content. Eventually, I even wrote on guest blogs. I was doing everything everyone was telling me to do to get my name out there, and still, I was not getting more than 50 hits a month. 

What was I doing wrong? Why couldn’t I break into the market? 

Trying a New Tactic

I couldn’t figure it out, but then last year I found this little gem that made me think: “As of this writing, there are over 500 million blogs available on the Internet. By contrast, Google claims to have indexed two million podcasts, and in 2018, Apple claimed that there were 525,000 active podcasts. Would you rather try to be noticeable in a room of 500 people, or a room with two?”

I did some more researching to see if podcasts would really make that big of a difference. Again, this is what I found: 

  • 75% of the US population is familiar with the term “podcasting”
  • 55% (155 million) of the US population has listened to a podcast
  • 16 million people in the US are “avid podcast fans”

With such a surprisingly large potential audience waiting, I had to try this out. 

I rebranded everything I owned to one name. I made sure all of my social media accounts pointed to my website and blog and that I owned the simplest domain for my new brand. Then I started my podcast, Read and Yoga. Same brand, same content, same audience, just a different platform. 

A podcast set up with microphone and computer.
The Results

In two months, I had 100 downloads on my podcast. While 100 downloads in two months didn’t mean instant podcaster celebrity status for me, it came with great side effects:

  • I went from 50 unique visits a month on my website to 150 unique visits to my website.
  • Since there are only 15 podcasters in my genre, I don’t have as much competition to get my content noticed in that sphere. 
  • I have been featured as a guest on two other podcasts, with a third coming up next month. And my podcast has received a shoutout from one of the top podcasters in my genre. These opportunities have drawn new readers and listeners to my blog and podcast from those podcasters’ audiences.
  • My social media page has grown faster in the last two months than in the last two years. 

The steps for starting a podcast are very similar to starting a blog . . . and there is no one saying you can’t have both. My podcast allows me to reach my audience where they are in ways that my blog can’t. While my blog talks mostly to caregivers and teachers, my podcast can reach straight out to yogis.

You can find the same benefits from starting your own podcast! Reach people where they are, and don’t be afraid to change. 

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Ashley Fontes graduated from Brigham Young University (Provo) with a BA in Humanities. She continued exploring her love for cultures by becoming a certified Iyengar yoga teacher, instructing both children and adults. While raising a family, writing, and teaching yoga, she has been active in the Deaf community, and in 2018 she co-founded a non-profit organization, ASL Junction.

Website: www.readandyoga.com

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Be sure to check out LDSPMA’s new podcast! You can find the first episode here.

How To Build A Book Launch Team

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By Bradley Salmond

Before your book is published, one of the best ways to generate sales is to build a book launch team. This is a group of people who commit to you to read your book and promote your book by:

  1. Posting a review of your book.
  2. Potentially sending out a social media post to promote your book.
  3. Calling book stores to request that they carry your book.

Amazon will promote your book by moving it under the “books you also might like” section the more reviews you have. Reviews also boost book sales. If you can get over 20 reviews in the first week, it will create serious momentum for your book rankings. It is great social proof that you have written a good book and people are taking interest in it.

How to Build the Team

Build your team by making a list of 20-30 people that you can contact directly. These can be business contacts, online relationships, or subscribers to your email list. Keep in mind that not everyone on your team will follow through. This is why you have to communicate clearly to the book launch team what actions you want them to take, when, and how.

From the beginning, your expectations should be clear.

What to Expect of Your Team

Here are some things you could ask them:  

  1. Read your book before the date of your book launch.
  2. Give feedback if they find errors.
  3. Write an honest review of your book and post it to Amazon during the launch week, preferably within the first 72 hours of launch.
  4. Share their review of your book on their social platforms. This could also include in tweets, Facebook posts, or Goodreads reviews, or they could post the cover to Pinterest and Instagram.
  5. Share promotional ideas within the launch group. A private Facebook group would work well for this. Members can easily post ideas and swap strategies for promoting the book.

It is important that you reach out to each one of them personally. Resist the temptation to send out huge group emails to them. Their commitment to you and your book will be stronger if your interactions are done on a one-to-one communication level. It will be a lot of work, but it is 100% worth it.

A pile of books with a bright red "sale" sign on top. One of the tactics of a book launch includes putting the book on sale for $.99.
Incentives for Your Book Launch Team

To incentivize your launch team to act, you can offer them a free PDF of your book before anyone else sees it.  You might also consider some of the following ideas.

  1. Provide a free hardcopy of the book delivered right to their door.
  2. Host a webinar or a Facebook Live Q&A session: this allows you to get close and personal with your team by hosting a live webinar where you talk about the book, get into behind-the-scenes strategies of the launch, and share inside tactics that nobody else can get.
  3. Exclusive access to a private Facebook group. Here you can post videos, share posts, and converse with your team in real-time as they get excited about the launch.
  4. Send them training videos based on the content of your book.
  5. Provide an advance copy of a workbook that you will be offering to subscribers.
  6. Provide early access to course material that won’t be available until the book is launched.

You want to provide them with as much value as possible in return for their help in making your book launch a success.

Launching the Book

In the first week of your launch, offer your e-book for ninety-nine cents in the first week to give your launch team a chance to buy the book at a discounted price. If they buy your book and then leave a review, Amazon will consider the review “verified.” The review will also be stronger in Amazon’s eyes if they scroll through the first 50% of the pages after they buy the book.

A launch team can be crucial to the success of your book. If you have already published a book, it’s not too late. You can re-launch your book and give it a fresh start. Build your launch team and make your book a success.

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Bradley “BJ” Salmond is a native of Utah. BJ, and his wife, Stacey, have six children and live in American Fork. He authored the book Grudges and Grace from the Trial and Triumph series. He enjoys family history research, old-fashioned music, and chess. BJ also loves Church history and American history. He received his MBA from the University of Phoenix, a BA from Southern Utah University, and two Associate of Applied Science degrees from the Community College of the Air Force.

7 Character Traits of Creative People

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By Trina Boice

Have you ever wondered what drives creative people? What makes them different? Hanging out with other LDSPMA members energizes me, inspires me, and encourages me to tap into my own creativity more! You can develop your own innate creativity by incorporating the following seven traits into your daily life.

1. Creative people are focused

Highly creative people usually have high levels of energy and stay focused on their project for long periods. Even when they are out of the studio or away from the computer, their minds are still thinking about their creative work. To take advantage of the ideas that tend to constantly flow, keep a notebook nearby or reserve a spot on your cell phone where you can instantly record your flashes of inspiration.

2. They hold onto a sense of wonder

Creative people are often brilliant, but they don’t think they know everything. Just the opposite, they retain a sense of wonder and curiosity about the world. They are committed to lifelong learning.

3. Creative people work hard

Creative people, whether songwriters or artists, speakers or writers, usually work long hours on a project and get into “the zone.” They let their loved ones know what they need for support, so that when they’re in “the zone,” they won’t be bothered or interrupted. Know how to design an effective workspace with music or silence, food or drink, aroma or light. Creatives are persistent and determined and totally focused on their work. They also know they need to take a break!

4. Creatives are not loners

Research suggests that creative people often combine the best of extroversion and introversion. While most people tend to favor one or the other of these personality types, creative people combine elements of both. They find ideas and inspiration in their social interactions and then retreat to the studio to work their creative magic.

5. They are open and sensitive

Creatives tend to be very empathic and sensitive. They are open to all the possibilities of the world and find inspiration everywhere. Sensitivity is necessary to be able to create artistically but can be a double-edged sword, leaving the artist vulnerable to criticism and rejection.

6. Creatives can daydream and be realistic

The traditional picture of the daydreaming artist isn’t necessarily reflective of the creative mind. Creativity is grounded in imagination and daydreaming, seeing the possibilities and wondering ‘what if?’ But creative people are also very practical, and the next stage is testing the ‘what if’ idea to see if it works. Creative thinking is essential for innovative problem solving that works in the real world.

7. Creatives seek to be a light in the world

Creative desire to share their gifts with the world to make it a better place. They want to share their insights and perspective in order to lighten another person’s burden or add joy and depth to understanding.

So, what are YOU going to create today?

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Dr. Trina Boice is a #1 best-selling author of 31 books and an author coach at www.FromBook2Business.com. She teaches online for Brigham Young University (Idaho campus), is a film critic at www.MovieReviewMom.com. Trina is the Marketing Director at LDSPMA and loves rubbing shoulders with all of you amazing creatives!

Announcing the New LDSPMA Podcast!

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By Ted Finch

I am happy to announce the launch of the first episode of The LDSPMA Podcast! In the first episode, I interview Steven Piersanti, who is one of the original members of the Latter-day Saint Publishing and Media Association. He currently serves as the director of conferences and programs.

Podcasting is always an adventure for me. I love listening to podcasts and I have enjoyed the few that I have done before hosting The LDSPMA Podcast. To be honest, I never thought of myself as a podcaster. I’ve always seen myself as a writer and storyteller, but sometimes our creative paths lead us in directions we never imagined.

Podcasting is turning into a medium where we can simply and effectively share our light. We can flood the airwaves with hope and positivity. We can model civility and celebrate differences of opinion and diversity of thought.

I still write poems and work on my novels, but I feel my focus, for this time and season in my life, shifting to figuring out how to be the best podcaster I can be. I know that I’ll make some mistakes. I’ll even put out a few episodes that aren’t perfect, but I know that I can’t wait. If I wait—it won’t happen. There are stories to tell that need to be heard.

So, if you are a podcaster, or want to be, I encourage you to get your message out there. I would also love to connect and learn what is working well for you and what pitfalls to avoid.

Keep moving and don’t give up.

Ted Finch – Host of The LDSPMA Podcast

To be a future guest on The LDSPMA podcast, you can schedule an interview with Ted Finch at tfinch@ldspma.org

The Arts as a Superpower

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By Shaun Stahle

“What is the most powerful weapon in the world?” I asked a class of fifth graders in Fielding Elementary School many years ago.

The Gulf War was raging at the time. Every news cast led with horrific scenes of destruction. “The Apache Helicopter with laser-guided smart bombs,” blurted one boy. “Nah,” said another. “Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from warships.” 

The boys grew animated with some coming out of their chairs in mock imitation. These sparkly-faced boys knew their weapons of mass destruction.

After the teacher restored order, I suggested that neither the laser-guided missiles nor the Apache Helicopter—as powerful as they were to level big buildings into little pieces of rubble—were the most power weapons in the world.

More guesses followed. “How about nuclear bombs?” asked another.

“No,” I said long and slow, squeezing every second to build tension. “The most powerful weapon in the world…is words.”

Three illustrated people with speech bubbles. Using words and conversation.
Words: the Most Powerful Weapon in the World

The class went thunderously quiet. Faces contorted. The mental torture of trying to figure how words trumped bombs in causing agony. “Words?” someone finally bellowed. “When did words ever win a war?”

“Think about it,” I suggested, trying to ease their pain before their faces froze in those positions. “When mean words are said, you get angry. When you get angry, you could throw a punch. If nations say enough mean words, people get angry and tempers flare. They sometimes hurl bombs. But do you feel like poking someone’s nose who has complimented you?”

I’m not sure the students understood my analogy. I’m not sure the teacher did either. But I still think the premise has merit. Words tell stories. Stories evoke emotions of virtue such as beauty and love. Such emotions build into peace and contentment and gracious living. Harmony and unity are the result.

Words can also fan the flames of hate and animosity. Words of deceit and injustice can enrage to violence. Instead of unity, we see others as a lower species.

Words Turn Enemies to Friends

President Dallin H. Oaks in his October general conference address recommended that we heed the counsel of a famous musical and make more effort to get to know each other.

He should know. As one who has stood in the heat of intense adversarial debate trying many cases—50, I think—before the US Supreme Court, and as a man deeply cultured in the affections of the Spirit, he knows how to turn enemies into friends.

That’s where we come in. Those who tell stories help society get to know each other. Words and images and sounds are our superpower. The more we use our powers to tell the plight of another, the more we defuse the ugly and demeaning and debase that confronts us.

Most of us will never be introduced in the Rose Garden. None of us will have a finger on the big red nuclear bomb button. But we still have power. “The kind words we give, shall in memory live.”

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Shaun Stahle was yanked from a comfortable bed early one morning at age five to cart newspapers off his grandfather’s printing press and has been cursed with ink in the blood ever since. He spent 17 years detailing the growth of the Church with the Church News. His retirement plan is to find a shoe box full of unmarked bills along the road someday. He says he has saved his wife of 33 years from a life of fame and prosperity.

The Entrepreneur Mindset

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By Mariah K. Porter

Has it ever crossed your mind that you—as an author, painter, podcaster, blogger, etc.—are an entrepreneur?

Well, congratulations, because you are!

Google defines an entrepreneur as “a person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so.” While we may all be starving artists thanks to those financial risks, I define it as “someone who wants to be vastly successful in a creative field.” Doesn’t that sound like what you’re doing?

Could your creative business benefit from your treating it as an entrepreneurial endeavor? I bet it could!

You may already be doing things typical of an entrepreneur, such as dedicating your time to work on your projects. You may even be getting up early to get things done. But what more can you do?

A young man at a laptop with creative and business ideas illustrated behind him, showing his entrepreneur mindset.

Here’s an exercise for you. Go to five people who know you or your work well and ask them one of two questions: “What do I do better than anyone else?” or “what do I do better with my creative endeavor (writing, podcasting, etc.) than anyone else?”

Evaluate their answers, then utilize them! Whatever it is they say, emphasize that to other people. Put it in your biography. Flaunt it in your ads. The answers your friends give you are going to help you market yourself to your target audience.

For example, if three out of five say that your characters are so realistic and relatable, take advantage of that. Tell the world that these characters will be their new best friends. If they tell you that your expertise has changed their lives, quote them. Let the world see what you can do.

Creating and revising a product is only half the battle as an entrepreneur. The other half is marketing. In order to truly treat your business the way it deserves to be treated, you have to put in the work to get eyes on it. There’s a whole world of information out there on how to do that, but this is a good place to start.

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Mariah K. Porter is an author, entrepreneur, and mental health advocate. Her YA Fantasy series, Recovering Happily Ever After, is about teens struggling with anxiety and depression the same way she does. When she isn’t writing or managing her business, you can probably find her at home listening to J-Pop with her small children. You can find her website at mariahkporter.com.

Common Roadblocks to Getting into Creative Flow

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By Trina Boice

You know the feeling. There’s a deadline looming, and your mind has gone completely blank. Nothing, nada. It’s like your brain has frozen. Luckily the latest research shows us the most common roadblocks to getting into creative flow and how to move past them and get on with the job.

Fear of failure

Most people are afraid of failing because they see it as a one-way street to disaster, rejection, and a stain on their reputation forever. The fear of failure means you’re less likely to take risks, and you put off even starting. And those are two things that can kill creativity stone dead. Redefine creativity as a series of experiments, with failure as a kind of course-correction and an inevitable part of the process.

There’s not enough time

The ticking clock is another creativity killer. If you’re like most people, your schedule is probably crammed, and you feel like you’ll never catch up. If your checklist just keeps growing, you won’t be able to relax in the creative process and let the ideas flow.

A surprising way to find more time is to quarantine some chillout time in your daily schedule. Prioritize some downtime to listen to music, meditate, or just sit quietly. You’ll feel much less stressed and open to the creative flow.

You’re still staring at the screen

Sitting at your desk, staring at the computer or the blank page is not a good way to get creative. If you’ve been trying to write or problem-solve and it’s just not happening, the best thing you can do is go for a walk or do something else first. Get out of the environment that’s keeping you stuck, and your mental gears can disengage and relax enough to be ready when inspiration strikes.

You’re feeling negative

Negative thinking can stop creativity in its track. If you’re sitting there frowning, and thinking you can’t do it, you’re pretty much guaranteeing that you won’t be able to do it. Pessimism and negative self-talk set up a vicious cycle of gloom and low energy.

Reject that self-defeating attitude and give yourself a pep talk. Reframe your task and just promise yourself you’ll write down whatever comes into your head, just to get the process started. Be willing to create garbage to get the creative juices flowing again.

Remember, first drafts are invariably not your best product, because that’s what a first draft is for! You’ve done good work before, so you know you’ll do it again. Tell the muse you’re ready to get past these common roadblocks to creative flow and get writing!

The world needs your brilliance!

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Dr. Trina Boice is a #1 best-selling author of 31 books and an author coach at www.FromBook2Business.com. She teaches online for Brigham Young University (Idaho campus), is a film critic at www.MovieReviewMom.com. Trina is the Marketing Director at LDSPMA and loves rubbing shoulders with all of you amazing creatives!