LDSPMA

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

Monthly Zoom Discussion

Each month we invite a special guest to come present and answer questions about their area of expertise. Come learn from them and network with others who share your same interests!

April 11: Resting your Mind in Christ—Avoid the Mental Pitfalls to Creative Success

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A discussion with mindfulness coach Kim Beecher

April 11, 2023, 12:00–1:00 pm Mountain Time

Do procrastination, self-doubt, stress, or lack of clarity keep you from completing your creative project? In this month’s discussion, mindfulness coach Kim Beecher will help you kick mental pitfalls to the curb and learn practices for stillness in Jesus Christ. 

Kimberly Beecher is a mindfulness instructor known for her ability to help transform lives with increased happiness, calm, and self-compassion.  She is also a speaker, coach, and bestselling author of The Sacred Door: Resting Your Mind in Christ. She loves boating with her family, bike rides in the canyon, and accidentally making mushy things in her instapot. She adores her husband Mark, their children, and their 10 grandchildren. You can find her at kimberlybeecher.com.

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March 21: How to Slay the Perfect Synopsis

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A discussion with romantic suspense author Robin M. King

March 21, 2023, 12:00–1:00 pm Mountain Time

You’ve written a killer book, but many agents want a synopsis with your query. Learn the easiest ways to make a killing with your synopsis. Don’t have a book written yet? Robin will show you how to create and use a premeditated synopsis for your future books. She’ll also give tips for executing back-cover copy that slaughters the competition of other indie authors.

Bio: Robin M. King is the author of the romantic suspense novels Remembrandt, Van Gogh Gone, and Memory of Monet. She received her bachelor’s degree in education from BYU and has been teaching for over fifteen years. When she’s not writing books or being a copywriter for LitJoy Crate, she leads a clandestine life as a wife and mother of six. Don’t tell anyone, but she’s also an undercover marathoner, karateka, singer, seamstress, baker, and household appliance repairman. She’s represented by Liza Fleissig at the Liza Royce Agency.

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February 28: How to Create and Sell Meaningful Music in Profitable Ways, Continued!

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A discussion with Dr. Kristen R. Bromley & April Meservy GrandPre

February 28, 2023, 12:30–1:30 pm Mountain Time

As a continuation of their conference course, April and Kristen will share all the golden nuggets they weren’t able to get to during their conference presentation: 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; the ins and outs of selling music through touring and performing, and more! If you are a musician who wants to get paid for your work, you won’t want to miss this Zoom discussion!

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.

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.

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August 23: Beyond the Basics of Pitches and Queries

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August 23: Beyond the Basics of Pitches and Queries

A discussion with freelance editor Emma Heggem

Submission forms. Slush piles. Waiting and waiting for a response. In today’s oversaturated market, getting a publisher to choose your manuscript from the dozens (or hundreds) of others is, in many ways, the greatest hurdle of the publishing process. In this discussion, Emma Heggem will share—from a publisher’s perspective—tips and tactics for crafting pitches and queries that will get noticed.

Bio: Emma Heggem worked for 6 years at Future House Publishing, where she managed the acquisitions and editing process for MG and YA fantasy and sci-fi novels. Now she is a freelance editor who uses her experience to help authors polish their manuscripts. Emma graduated from BYU with a bachelors in English Language and a minor in Editing. Whenever she gets a chance, she loves to attend writers’ conferences to give manuscript critiques and talk to aspiring writers about the mysterious world of publishing.

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Note: For the last 15 minutes of the recording, we had some intermittent interruptions by a Zoom bomber.

July 12, 2022: Commas, Colons, and Semicolons—Oh My! A Punctuation Crash Course

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July 12: Commas, Colons, and Semicolons—Oh My! A Punctuation Crash Course

A discussion with freelance editor Brittany Passmore

Ever said you would use semicolons more if you could remember how to use them? Ever felt overwhelmed by all the comma rules? This punctuation crash course is here to save the day! Learn the basic rules surrounding semicolons, colons, em dashes, and commas as well as easy-to-remember tips that will make you more confident in how you make rhetorical choices with your punctuation.

Bio: Brittany Passmore is a freelance editor who specializes in developmental, substantive, and copy edits in fiction. She graduated from BYU with a BA in Editing and Publishing. She loves working with writers in every stage of the editing process and helping their stories reach their full potential. When she’s not editing, reading, or writing, Brittany enjoys being a stay-at-home mom, dabbling in her musical hobbies, practicing yoga, and playing board games with her family.

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June 23, 2022: How Words & Pictures Rely on Each Other, & Other Picture Book Writing Tips

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June 23: How Words & Pictures Rely on Each Other, & Other Picture Book Writing Tips

A discussion with author/illustrator Brooke Malia Mann

Brooke Malia Mann, author & illustrator of Miracles of Jesus and Teachings of Jesus, published by Deseret Book, will reveal her process of creating a book she both writes and illustrates—sharing how to begin, how to submit and work with a publisher, and what she feels are the key points of a successful children’s picture book. You won’t want to miss this discussion!

Bio: Brooke Malia Mann graduated from Brigham Young University with a BFA in illustration and a minor in English. She is a proud stay-at-home mom who works on her art on the side. Since she was a little girl making stapled-together picture books, Brooke has been involved in art. Her art has been influenced by her Japanese heritage, childhood in California, and young adult years living in Utah. Brooke Currently lives in Wyoming with her family of boys.

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May 26, 2022: How to Outline a Romance Novel and Keep the Love Scenes Sweet with a Little Bit of Heat

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May 26: How to Outline a Romance Novel and Keep the Love Scenes Sweet with a Little Bit of Heat

A discussion with romance author Julie L. Spencer

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 clean 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.

Bio: Julie L. Spencer is a best-selling author of over 30 books, most of them romance novels. 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.

This free Zoom event features a short presentation by Julie, followed by Q&A. Julie will be presenting a longer version of this presentation at our conference in October.

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April 2022

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Photo of Bonnie Dillabough

April 21: Self-Publishing Mistakes & How to Avoid Them

A discussion with fantasy and sci-fi author Bonnie K.T. Dillabough

Bonnie K.T. Dillabough, author of the Dimensional Alliance series, published her first book two weeks before her 64th birthday. So if you think it’s too late for you, you’re wrong!

In this free Zoom event, Bonnie shares the self-publishing lessons she has learned the hard way and answer questions for aspiring authors.

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