Writing for the LDS Market   

by Carole Osborne Cole 

Carole Osborne Cole has had fiction, non-fiction, and self-help books published, as well as numerous feature articles. She writes a regular genealogy column, “Family History Mysteries,” and is the current President-elect of the League of Utah Writers. 

You may know them as Mormons, but their official name is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If you are not a member, publishing in the Mormon—or LDS—market is very unlikely. As stated in one (but reiterated in nearly the same words by other) publisher’s Author’s Guidelines, “publications are closely tied to the doctrines and practices of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and reflect the moral values taught by the Church.” 

Authors who use a “Mormon” character or personality in writing and who lack familiarity with basic doctrine and practices will quickly reveal this fact to LDS readers. The slightest misuse of a basic term will erase an author’s credibility. LDS members who want to publish in this arena will find the following explanations too basic to be helpful. For the benefit of newer members who may be interested in the market, however, and for non-members who still feel qualified, the following caveats may point you in the right direction.  

LDS Doctrine and Practices 
Mormons claim neither Catholic nor Protestant origins, but declare that the Church is the same as that organized by Christ himself (The Church of Jesus Christ), with the addition of the words, “of Latter-day Saints” to distinguish it from the early Church.   
  
Latter-day Saints accept four books as canonized scripture: the King James Version of the Holy Bible; the Book of Mormon (Another Testament of Jesus Christ); the Doctrine and Covenants; and the Pearl of Great Price. For an online description of Church doctrine and beliefs visit the official Church website at http://www.lds.org.  
  
The organization, doctrine, and practices of the Church have led to development of a distinctive and extensive language. Writers need to differentiate among wards, stakes, and branches; they need to know the functions and usual ages of deacons, teachers, priests, elders, seventies, apostles, general authorities, and prophets, seers, and revelators.  
  
Latter-day Saints maintain and support a huge missionary force. Currently more than 50,000 young elders, single sisters, and senior single or couple missionaries serve proselyting, service, health, family history, and welfare missions, in many foreign countries as well as within North America. Those who want to write about missionary work need to be thoroughly familiar with the kinds of missions as well as the organization, staffing, and function of the mission home and individual missionaries.   
  
Writers for the LDS market need to know how their subject, characters, or references fit within one, two, or all of the three-fold missions of the Church: to perfect the Saints, to preach the gospel, and to redeem the dead. 

Markets   
The Church today prints and publishes its own doctrinal materials (primary, youth, and adult Sunday School and auxiliary class manuals, teacher’s aids, etc.) in English as well as scores of other languages. 
  
For most of its early history, the Church itself provided all doctrinal and biographical reading materials relating to Latter-day Saints. With the rapid growth of Church membership, however, that market has expanded considerably and many independent book publishers now meet its demands. Today a healthy market exists for fiction as well as non-fiction, for children and teens as well as adults. 
  
Church membership is growing at a remarkable rate and stands now at more than 10,000,000. Fifteen years ago a non-Mormon sociologist predicted growth of Church membership at 30 percent a decade (low calculation) or 50 percent per decade (high calculation). Both calculations were less than the 61 percent average growth the Church experienced from 1950 to 1980. 
  
The Church, in addition to publishing scriptures; lesson manuals; magazines for children (The Friend), teens (The New Era), and adults (The Ensign); and administrative materials for its own use, also owns the largest for-profit publishing company in the market, Deseret Book. It publishes a wide variety of doctrinal, expository, self-improvement, historical, and fiction books in print as well as audio formats. In addition, Deseret Book also owns and operates a chain of bookstores located throughout the western states, primarily  in areas with large LDS populations. 
  
Shadow Mountain is an arm of Deseret Book and publishes books that on rare occasions are marketable both within the LDS market and nationally. Another publisher who produces books that overlap both LDS and national markets is Horizon Publishers. 
  
The two largest universities in Utah also publish books that appeal to the LDS market, though both the University of Utah and Brigham Young University publish books of a more regional nature. 
  
The largest publishers of materials for the LDS market are:  
Deseret Book Company 
P.O. Box 30178 
Salt Lake City, UT 84130 

Bookcraft, Inc. 
1848 West 2300 South 
Salt Lake City, UT 84119 

Covenant Communications, Inc. 
P.O. Box 416 
American Fork, UT 84003-0416 

Horizon Publishers 
50 South 500 West 
Bountiful, UT 84010 

Signature Books 
564 West 400 North 
Salt Lake City, UT  

Cedar Fort, Inc., Publishers 
925 N. Main 
Springville, UT 84663 

Granite Publishing & Distribution LLC 
270 S. Mountainlands Drive 
Orem, Utah 84058 

Deseret Book publishes in the neighborhood of 120 new products each year which includes 50 to 60 books with the balance representing books on tape, reprints, and books moving from hardcover to paperback. Yearly output for the other publishers mentioned above are Bookcraft, 70 (including audio products); Covenant, 50; Horizon, 30; and 10 to 15 each for Signature, Cedar Fort, and Granite. 
   
In addition, Hatrack River Publications “exists to publish a certain kind of LDS fiction,” specifically books that “take place entirely within contemporary Mormon society.” Their guidelines state, “we don’t believe that a non-Mormon can possibly write a convincing novel set within LDS society—though we are willing to be proved wrong.” Their address is Hatrack River Publications, P.O. Box 18184, Greensboro, NC 27419-8184. 

Genres and Quality 
Deseret Book is the foremost publisher (in both quantity and variety) of books on LDS doctrine and history, with Bookcraft next in line. Popular nonfiction genres for this market include self-help; humor; cookbooks; parenting and marital relationships; and support or supplementary materials for children’s, youth, and adult class manuals. Romance, historical fiction, mystery, and adventure novels are also well-received. 
  
Covenant Communications (who claims to be the third largest publisher in the LDS market), offers similar products and joins Deseret Book and Bookcraft in producing audio cassettes, videos, compact disks, and electronic texts. Covenant states that more than half the books they publish have been written by first-time authors. 
  
No particular advantage accrues to the author who is represented by an agent. Nearly all the books published in this market come from unsolicited manuscripts, though this is less true of Deseret Book whose catalog is heavily weighted with books by or about general authorities of the Church. 
  
In all cases, authors should be prepared to support their conclusions or themes with citations of Church doctrine and/or scripture and supply complete source documentation for all quotations used, including scripture. LDS publishers are no less adamant than their national counterparts in demanding quality writing with “good content and a fresh, readable style.” All the usual rules of good writing apply. 

No-Nos 
With rare exceptions, poetry, family histories, personal stories, horror, or fiction that condones or glamorizes “immoral or impure practices,” or that does not promote LDS values and ideas will not find a place in this market. This is not to say conflict or evil do not exist in LDS fiction, but such issues must be addressed and resolved through application of LDS standards and morality. 

Resources 
The most comprehensive and accurate print resources are the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Daniel H. Ludlow, ed., (the History, Scripture, Doctrine, and Procedure of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1992, Macmillan Publishing Co., New York) and Principles and Practices of the Restored Gospel, Victor L. Ludlow, (1992, Deseret Book Co, Salt Lake City, Utah). 
  
Latter-day Saint resources online include: 

• Deseret News: One of two daily newspapers in Salt Lake City and owned by the Church. Useful for news and current developments within and about the Church today: http://www.desnews.com 

• Newsgroup: soc.religion.mormon 

• Mailing list: LDS-IRC 
    
  LDS Internet Resource: For a calendar of events, chat and interactive groups, church leadership, church organizations, doctrine, education, genealogy, graphics and clipart, historical sites, international, LDS business, LDS music and theatre, literature, missionary, temple sites, and links to other LDS resource pages: http://www.lds.npl.com. 

    -- COC 

   (copyright 1998 Carole O. Cole)