Publishers, editors, authors and aspiring authors gathered at the BYU Conference Center for the the LDS Publishing Professionals Association’s (LDSPPA) second annual conference on Sept. 23 and 24.
The event featured 30 LDS leaders in publishing, including speakers Brandon Mull, New York Times best-selling author of Fablehaven, and Brad Wilcox, author and inspirational speaker. The conference theme was “Flooding the World with Light and Truth.”
Jessica Romrell, a senior studying English, attended the event for her work at publishing company Cedar Fort. She said she was impressed by the individuals LDSPPA brought to the conference.
“They’ve rallied some of the big publishers and some of the big people from the industry,” Romrell said.
Mull, one such successful writer, spoke about “following your passion” at the conference. He shared his success story, noting how his experience at BYU as a comedy sketch artist for Divine Comedy helped his career.
“As a writer, I get to spin straw into gold,” Mull said.
Mull opened up about the spiritual journey of his writing pursuit, at times becoming emotional.
“Sometimes there’s stuff you want so bad, and you almost don’t dare wish for it, you want it so bad,” Mull said.
Mull advised authors and publishers to “remember who you are.” He said his audience should stay true to themselves and create content that brings light and goodness into the world, harking back to the theme of “Flooding the World with Light and Truth.”
“With the power to create comes the power to create all sorts of things,” Mull said.
For more information about future conferences and about LDSPPA, visit ldsppa.org.
