OREM, Utah — For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the call to create is widespread. From social media influencers to voices on podcasts, and in books, Latter-day Saints are not unique in feeling “called to the work,” as church members say.
The Latter-day Saints in Publishing, Media, & the Arts Conference, known as LDSPMA, held its ninth event from Oct. 19 to 21 where creators of all kinds were welcome. On average the conference hosts some 450 authors, publishers, editors, artists, songwriters, film and audio specialists, media creators, and students looking for professional support, and education in a faith-based environment. This year the event was held at Utah Valley University.
Myrta Beaman is in her first year at the event and says she was inspired to attend because of guests at a prior conference. Beaman is in the early stages of her book, “Miracles and Meals for Widows and Those That Have Lost a Loved One,” which was inspired before the death of her husband. After Beaman lost her husband to suicide she felt an increased urgency to write her book.
“It’s been a decade that I am to write this book,” Beaman says. “By coming here I wanted to hear from authors, I wanted to see people’s books, I wanted to be able to connect with those who have the same dream.”
Beaman says there are so many lessons that she’s learning and the biggest one is — “Get it done.”
“Get it done, and stop procrastinating because when you have a powerful message that can have a ripple effect… don’t wait for it to be perfect, don’t wait until you have your grammatical things all in order, get your story written and give it to the world as a gift so that you can help others heal,” Beaman says.
Steve Piersanti, the founder of the organization, and now the annual director flew in from California to attend the event. He is also the founder of Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., a leading independent publisher, and says there’s no other organization that gathers those from industries of various mediums into a central location in the way that LDSPMA does.
“We are members or friends of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are seeking to bring our values, our beliefs, our testimony of Christ into the work that we do,” Piersanti says.
He says those in attendance aren’t just producing work to be viewed by the Church’s membership, but that many are producing content for a variety of audiences.
“I personally have always worked in a company that does not publish religious books, but my values [and] my beliefs are important for the work I do,” Piersanti says.
Piersanti says that one aspect of the conference is attendees witnessing keynote speakers who were once in their shoes.
“A lot of the presenters tell about their own journeys of how they struggled in their earlier years… John Bytheway, he didn’t just shoot out of the gate as a successful author, he had to have the journey, and so it kind of lets people know that this is a journey—it may take years,” Piersanti says.
Regardless of the timeline for personal success, attendees have the chance to rub shoulders with others who are there to teach, support, and learn.
This year the event had four sets of keynote speakers including Steven Sharp Nelson, cellist in the Piano Guys, John Bytheway, well-known Latter-day Saint author, and religion professor, Bonnie L. Oscarson, former Young Women’s General President and author, and members of Deseret Book’s intercultural team. The event had eight tracks of breakout sessions, with seven sessions in each track making a total of 56 sessions in two days. There were 10 additional deep-dive workshops available.
“I love the breakout sessions and the new friends,” Beaman says. “I’ll see old friends from other places and other events… It’s fun to be in different genres while we’re here at this program. We’re not just all authors…because of this we’re all coming together with a mission to fulfill in each of our talents and I love that,” Beaman says.
Piersanti says the event will be coming back each year, and they’re always on the lookout for volunteers as the organization is volunteer-led.
He says if anything folks should come back each year because LDSPMA is of surprises.
“Every conference there are going to be dozens of sessions that would share something with you that you probably haven’t heard before that you may find useful, inspiring, helpful and for people to keep coming back, the speakers change every year,” Piersanti says. “There’s always new stuff, there’s always new people.”