Latter-day Saints in Publishing Media & the Arts (LDSPMA) expands its conference and reach.
Musical and visual artists, as well as writers, editors, designers, marketers, and others in publishing and media, are invited to 80+ sessions at the 8th Annual LDSPMA Conference
Latter-day Saints in Publishing, Media & the Arts (https://www.ldspma.org) is the new name of LDSPMA (formerly the Latter-day Saint Publishing and Media Association), which reflects its expansion this year beyond publishing and media to include musical and visual arts. Founded just seven years ago, LDSPMA has grown to be the pre-eminent organization providing networking and learning programs for a broad range of publishing professionals (from editors to company leaders), fiction and nonfiction writers, media professionals, and now musical and visual artists—and for students, aspiring professionals, and marketers in all of these areas.
The 8th Annual LDSPMA Conference (https://www.ldspma.org/2022-ldspma-annual-conference/) will be held from Oct. 20 – 22 at the BYU Conference Center in Provo, Utah.
It will feature over 80 speakers in nine different tracks, including:
⦁ Publishing
⦁ Media
⦁ Musical Arts
⦁ Visual Arts
⦁ Fiction Writing
⦁ Nonfiction Writing
⦁ Editing, Design, and Production
⦁ Marketing
⦁ Interactive Sessions
Twenty-three of these sessions are being held virtually before the conference, while the rest are in-person at the conference. The Interactive Sessions include the popular Fast Pitch (to pitch book projects to publishing company editors), Online Presence Audit, Quick Critique, and Networking along with two sessions new this year: Real-Time Reactions and Demo Palooza.
The conference also includes 11 half-day, deep-dive workshops that offer hands-on action learning in the various tracks named above and are taught by accomplished professionals. And this year the conference has added a “Praiseworthy Awards Gala” where awards will be given out in over 20 different fiction, nonfiction, multimedia/audiovisual, and music categories—and where this year’s LDSPMA Lifetime Achievement Award recipients will be honored: Jack Welch (Publishing), Carole Mikita (Media), Don L. Brugger (Editing and Design), Gladys Knight (Arts), and Brandon Sanderson (Writing).
Headlining the conference this year are four eminent keynote speakers:
⦁ Mauli Junior Bonner, pioneering and award-winning songwriter, vocal director for platinum-selling and Grammy-award-winning artists, and writer, director, and producer of the award-winning film His Name Is Green Flake.
⦁ Jane Clayson Johnson, award-winning broadcast journalist and anchorwoman at KSL-TV, ABC News, and CBS News, including co-hosting The Early Show (with Bryant Gumbel), and author of Silent Souls Weeping and I Am a Mother.
⦁ Gerald N. Lund, known especially for The Work and the Glory series and The Kingdom and the Crown Series, whose books have sold over 3.5 million copies, making him among the most-read authors in Latter-day Saint literature.
⦁ Jennifer A. Nielsen, New York Times bestselling author of the Ascendance Series, Mark of the Thief Trilogy, and many other award-winning fantasy novels and historical novels.
Conference director Steve Piersanti describes this conference as “the best networking, learning, and professional-development opportunity for Latter-day Saints interested in publishing, media, and the arts.”
For more information about the conference or LDSPMA, contact Patrick Kidder ([email protected]) or Jeremy Madsen ([email protected]).
About Latter-day Saints in Publishing, Media & the Arts (LDSPMA)
Founded in 2015, LDSPMA has the following mission and objectives:
We empower Latter-day Saints interested in publishing, media, and the arts by connecting them at the intersection of faith, creativity, and professional skill.
We empower LDSPMA members to:
⦁ Create, publish, and market praiseworthy works.
⦁ Network and develop their careers.
⦁ Seek inspiration as they refine their craft.
Membership in LDSPMA is free and includes broad audiences: “We welcome members and friends of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who work in publishing, media, and the arts or seek to do so. The media represented by members include books, blogs, articles, songs, poetry, videos, films, audio programs, podcasts, art, illustrations, and more.”
Besides its annual conference, LDSPMA also offers master classes, a podcast, an awards program, a newsletter, instructional articles, a mentorship program, and networking Zoom meetings.
LDSPMA is a nonprofit (501(c)(3) networking and educational organization run predominately by volunteers. It is not endorsed by nor affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but seeks to support Church members in their career development and creative work.