Praiseworthy Awards

Nominations for the 2024 Praiseworthy Awards are now closed.

Please read the eligibility requirements below before nominating a work. Nominations for works published in 2024 will open on January 1, 2025.

The LDSPMA Praiseworthy Awards program recognizes excellence in published works, media, and the arts produced by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Awards are presented in multiple categories across these three fields to honor works that are “of good report or praiseworthy” (Articles of Faith 1:13) and that share the light of Christ.

We understand that it takes a number of devoted professionals to create a high-quality product. So, unique to LDSPMA, awards will be granted not only to the principal creator but to the entire team involved in the project (e.g., author, artist, editor, designer, composer, producer, actor, etc.).

Eligibility Requirements

The following requirements must be met for a work to be eligible for a Praiseworthy Award nomination (in 2025):

• The work must have been published, released, or premiered in its current form between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024. (Please note the year.)
• At least one collaborator must be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
• Nominated works must be free of content that is profane, vulgar, excessively violent, or sexually explicit, or that glorifies practices contrary to the standards taught by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Works that violate these principles will be disqualified.
• Nominations must be received between January 1, 2025 at 12:00 a.m. and March 1, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. (MST). Late submissions will not be considered.

Nomination Guidelines

• Any organization or individual, whether a collaborator of the work or not, may submit up to two entries per category (e.g., Historical Fiction, Podcast, or 2D Art).
• If you are one of the original collaborators, you will be expected to provide digital copies of the work for our judges.
  • For publishing industry categories, please provide a PDF copy, an EPUB edition of the publication, and a high-quality image of the cover.
  • For media industry categories, all entries must include a shareable file or viewable link for our judges to access. (Picture books and graphic novels, refer to publishing guidelines.)
  • For arts industry categories, please note that music categories require a viewable PDF copy of the sheet music and a shareable audio recording to distribute to our judges. The 2D and 3D art categories should send viewable and shareable images of the art for our judges to review.
  • All categories are allowed to send in additional pictures of physical editions of publications or products. However, we ask that representatives send no more than five images total in their entries.
  • For all online links to nominated works, please do not provide a link that sends our judges to purchase the product, even if there’s a possibility for a free trial (e.g., sending an audiobook as a link to the book on Audible, which requires a subscription or purchase).
• If you are not one of the original collaborators of the work, you will be expected to provide us with contact information for the principal representative of the team who produced the work. If the representative is unable to provide our judges with appropriate materials, those works may be disqualified.

Judging and Prizes

Each category will be rated by a team of three judges who are active professionals in their assigned category. The rating criteria vary by form and genre, but all entries will be rated by the quality of their craft and their adherence to the principles in the 13th Article of Faith. Works are also judged holistically (e.g., a book will be judged according to its cover design and quality of editing as well as its story craft, or a music video will be judged by its videography as well as musicality).

Judges will designate three finalists, who will receive Praiseworthy Awards in first, second, and third place. If a category’s entries do not meet the standards of a praiseworthy work, our judges also reserve the right to designate no award.

In the months preceding our conference, the three finalists for each category will be posted on our website and the collaborators notified. The works of all three finalists will be displayed on our social media platforms as well as at the LDSPMA Conference (October 16–18, 2025, at Utah Valley University).

The first-place, second-place, and third-place winners of each category will then be announced and honored at our annual LDSPMA Awards Banquet (evening of Friday, October 17, at the UVU Sorensen Student Center ballroom). Winners will also be announced on our website and social media platforms.

Each will receive a certificate and digital badge. All winners may include the badge on their websites, publications, social media pages, and elsewhere.

FAQs

Please review the following questions carefully before reaching out to us with further questions.

Do the collaborators of nominated works have to be members of LDSPMA?

No, collaborators do not have to be members of LDSPMA. However, membership is free, and we encourage you to join and get involved today!

Do I have to be a creator of the work to nominate it?

No! You can nominate any work that you know of that has been released during the previous year if you believe it to be praiseworthy. Feel free to look through our categories and consider any works from the previous year that deserve recognition.

We do understand that it is at times difficult to choose a specific episode or other individual work among many that may have been released, so also feel free to contact your favorite creators and encourage them to nominate the works they consider to be most praiseworthy.

Do nominated works for the Praiseworthy Awards need to be religious?

Nominations do not need to be religious unless a category is specifically labeled as such. In fact, we welcome submissions from multiple genres that explore a variety of themes and content, including material that reflects the struggles of real life. If you have any questions about specific content in your submission, please feel free to contact us at awards@ldspma.org.

How many nominations can I submit?

All organizations and individuals, whether collaborators of the work or not, can nominate up to two works per category. If you submit more than this limit, you will be asked to narrow down your nominations to two entries or risk all entries being disqualified.

Can I nominate the same work to both the Praiseworthy Awards and the Spark Awards?

No. Please consider carefully the differing eligibility requirements and purposes between the two programs to determine whether your work is better suited for the Praiseworthy Awards or the Spark Awards.

Do I have to pay to enter the Praiseworthy Awards?

No! Nominating is completely free thanks to the generous time volunteered by our judges.

How will I know if my nomination has become a finalist?

Finalists will be notified by the recognition committee and announced on our website and on social media.

What if I nominated a work that I can’t provide digitally?

Unfortunately, we will only accept digitally provided nominations. We hope that this will reduce cost and effort on behalf of not only the nominators but also our committee and judges. If you have specific questions or concerns, please contact us at awards@ldspma.org.

What are the main differences between the Praiseworthy Awards and the Spark Awards?

The Praiseworthy Awards are intended to recognize professional, excellent works that have been released during the previous year. This award designates first, second, and third place winners.

The Spark Awards, however, are designed to help aspiring and up-and-coming creators who have not as yet broken into a professional career. There is only one winner per category.

How can I become a judge for the Praiseworthy Awards?

You can contact us at judging@ldspma.org with your qualifications, experience, and categories of interest. To be eligible for judging, you must be an active professional in the category you judge and must not have any conflicts of interest (such as working for an organization that nominated works in the category you wish to judge). Simply being an enthusiast in your category of interest is not a sufficient requirement to judge the Praiseworthy Awards.

How many categories can I judge for the Praiseworthy Awards?

Each judge is restricted to judging no more than two categories.

If I judged the Praiseworthy Awards previously, can I still nominate one of my own works this year?

Yes! As long as your work meets the eligibility requirements, you are welcome to nominate your work. Keep in mind, however, that this will most likely exclude you from participating as a judge the same year unless you are able to judge other categories.

If I judge the Praiseworthy Awards, can I get a discount to the LDSPMA Conference or the LDSPMA Awards Gala?

Our policy may change from year to year, but typically, as long as a certain number of hours are given to the judging process, our judges do get a discount for both the conference and the awards banquet. Judges will be contacted with coupon codes to use when they register or will be able to contact conference@ldspma.org for a refund if they have already paid full price.

Where can I see past winners of the Praiseworthy Awards?

You can see past Praiseworthy Award winners here!

Can board members nominate their own works for the Praiseworthy Awards?

LDSPMA board members who are a principal creator of a work cannot nominate their own work to the Praiseworthy Awards while they serve our organization. However, past board members and future board members are welcome to nominate their own works as long as they are not serving during the nomination and judging period. This limitation does not apply to other volunteers of LDSPMA.

Any other questions? Please email us at awards@ldspma.org or judging@ldspma.org.