Update: Our deadline for submitting proposals for the 2024 Conference was February 1, 2024.
Fill out the form below to be considered for our 2025 Conference. We have not selected a location or dates for 2025 yet, but it will likely be mid-October in Utah County, with the same tracks and parameters as are listed below for 2024.
Thank you for your interest in presenting at the annual conference of Latter-day Saints in Publishing, Media, and the Arts (LDSPMA)! We are always searching for quality speakers from a wide diversity of backgrounds who can inspire and instruct our members.
Conference Details
- The 2024 LDSPMA Conference will be held October 17–19, 2024, at the Sorensen Student Center at Utah Valley University (Orem, Utah). The conference consists of several parts:
- September–October: Preconference virtual classes. These are 50-minute Zoom presentations to a live virtual audience and are included as part of the conference package.
- Thursday, October 17:
- Deep-dive, 4-hour workshops
- Publishing Summit classes and seminars (new to 2024)
- Friday–Saturday, October 18–19:
- 50-minute breakout sessions in 8 tracks
- Keynote sessions, interactive sessions, Fast Pitch, mass book signing, and other conference events
- We are currently accepting session proposals for the preconference virtual classes and the 50-minute Friday–Saturday breakout sessions (in bold, above).
- If you apply, we may also consider you for a deep-dive workshop instructor or a Publishing Summit presenter.
- The Friday–Saturday breakout sessions and the preconference classes are divided into the following tracks:
- Fiction Writing (including how to get published or self-publish)
- Nonfiction Writing (including how to get published or self-publish)
- Musical Arts
- Visual Arts (including graphic design, illustration, and fine art)
- Media (including podcasting, short video content, and screenwriting)
- Editing, Design, and Production (sessions meant for editors, designers, etc., NOT for authors)
- Marketing
- Business, Leadership, Finance, and Entrepreneurship (NEW this year)
- Each breakout session and preconference class is 50 minutes, including time for Q&A.
- Breakout sessions and preconference classes are recorded, with the recordings and slides made available to attendees for several months following the conference.
Speaker Qualifications
We will prioritize speakers who have experience and training in the topic they want to present on, as well as a track record of related career success. (For example, for our fiction writing track, we will prioritize a published author of several commercially successful books over an unpublished author.)
What We Are Looking For
See our 2023, 2022, and 2021 lists of sessions for an idea of the kinds of topics we seek to offer. We want a blend of sessions that cover the craft/how-to side, sessions that cover the business/production/marketing side, and sessions that cover the faith/mindset/ethics side of the creation and publication process. We also seek for a blend of beginner, intermediate, and advanced topics. We are also looking for sessions that address topics related to diversity, inclusion, and global reach (as they apply to specific tracks).
High-quality sessions usually have the following:
- Specific, expert, and actionable information
- Examples drawn from your career and work
- Illustrative metrics and data, where possible
- Advanced information for those already familiar with the basics of the topic
- Tie-ins to principles and doctrines of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as appropriate
- Engagement with the audience through questions, exercises, humor, etc.
- Handouts listing specific resources or takeaways (if applicable)
What We Are NOT Looking For
- General inspirational sessions that are not relevant to a particular track (see list above)
- Turning the session into an infomercial on your latest workshop/program/book
- Generic information or advice that has been said before or that is easily findable on the web
- Reading text off of a slide deck for your entire presentation
- Advice that is vague, general, basic, outdated, or unstructured
- Slides that have small type, excessive text, or poor color contrast
Benefits of Speaking
As compensation, speakers receive free access to our conference, including the keynote sessions, breakout classes, lunches, pitch sessions, and networking opportunities. With over 80 other presenters, panelists, and other experts at the conference, attending is a wonderful way to connect with peers or potential collaborators.
Speakers also will receive free or heavily discounted offers for program ads, hallway exhibit tables, and tables at the Mass Book and Media Signing.
Expectations of Presenters
Presenters are expected to:
- Prepare and deliver a high-quality, professional session.
- In the months before the conference, share about the LDSPMA Conference through word-of-mouth, email, or social media. (We will provide each speaker with a general-purpose media kit and with social media graphics specific to their session.)
- Submit slides in advance for review and feedback.
- Share their slides with us afterward to be posted for attendees alongside the recording of their session on our website.
Speaker/Session Proposal (for 2025)
You can either
- submit yourself for consideration as a speaker, without a specific session in mind
- propose a specific session that you could teach
We are more likely to consider you if you propose a specific session.
We recommend typing your answers in a separate document and pasting them into this form, in case there is an issue with the form submitting.
To submit multiple session proposals, fill out the form multiple times.
If you encounter difficulties with this form, please email the requested information to info@ldspma.org.
The deadline for 2024 has passed. Fill out this form to be considered for 2025.