See also Part 1, National Market.
Here are my 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006-2007 reviews. My 2008 (Part 1a, 1b, 2) 2009 (Part 1, 2), and 2010 (Part 1, 2) reviews appeared at A Motley Vision, and then in the years after that they appeared on this blog: 2011 (part 1, 2), 2012 (part 1, 2), 2013 (part 1, 2), and 2015.
This section looks at literary books published by LDS publishers, independent publishers, and self-publishing. There was a slight decrease in books produced by the largest Mormon publishers, and that decline looks like it will continue at least next year. On the other hand, there was a spike in books from boutique publishers like Mirror, Trifecta, and Xchyler. As a result, the total number of Mormon-authored literary works produced by publishers increased substantially. Meanwhile, self-publishing continues to surge.
Generally book sales in the United States were up in 2014, after several years of decline. Although ebook sales leveled off after several years of growth, audio books had a significant spike in popularity, reflecting the widespread use of smart phones.
It appears that sales have not yet rebounded for the major Mormon publishers. They especially feel squeezed by the heavily competitive practices of Amazon, which limits the profits that individual publishers can make. Besides their power as a bookseller, Amazon has also recently invested heavily in their own publishing imprints. YA authors Charlie Holmberg and Jessie Humphries are two LDS authors being published by Amazon imprints.
Publisher/Author Relations
In August 2014 a meeting was held for several hours between representatives of Deseret Book Publishing and Covenant Communications (two divisions of the same company) with a group of LDS authors, including representatives of the LDStorymakers author guild. This was the first time authors had successfully been able to sit down with the publishers as a group. The authors’ intent was to state their objections to the terms of standard contracts in the LDS market, which have been more restrictive than the industry standard. Representatives from Cedar Fort were also invited to participate, but they declined.
Among the issues discussed were the removal of the provisions requiring authors to offer all of their books to one publisher, the addition of a contract provision for rights reversion if the publisher was no longer selling a certain amount of dollars or books, recognition of a right of authors to self-publish other books if they wished to do so, the role of authors’ agents in negotiations and contract discussions, and the time publishers were taking to accept or reject a project. Authors also wanted to include provisions to make it easier to publish in the national market, and wanted to clarify the publishers’ requests that authors not discuss changes to their contracts with each other.
Publishers, for their part, appear to have been concerned about their survival in a publishing world dominated by Amazon and declining sales, and losing their investment in authors if they left to publish nationally.
I heard different reactions from authors, including some who thought the meeting was beneficial to both sides and that their ideas were being seriously considered, while others were pessimistic about real change. While the publishers made no specific commitments, some authors claim that they have seen indications of change. There is optimism among many that the appointment of Robby Nichols as the managing director of Covenant will improve conditions. LDStorymakers is currently working on creating an “author bill of rights” to be posted on the website describing clauses that authors should never accept in their contracts.
Mormon publishers
Literary works published by Mormon market publishers (novels, anthologies, literary non-fiction).
| 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | |
| Covenant | 29 | 30 | 34 | 38 | 37 | 37 |
| Cedar Fort | 23 | 34 | 44 | 49 | 32 (36) | 25 (28) |
| Deseret/Shadow Mountain | 18 5/13 | 19 10/9 | 16 6/10 | 22 6/16 | 15 6/9 | 12 3/9 |
| Walnut Springs | 5 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 8 | 14 |
| WiDo | 2 | 2 | 7 (9) | 5 (14) | 3 (12) | 5 (21) |
| Jolly Fish | 3 | 8 (10) | 5 (10) | |||
| Mirror | 6 | 20 | ||||
| Trifecta | 2 | 17 | ||||
| HEA | 8 | |||||
| Xchyler | 1 | 5 | 7 | |||
| Leicester Bay | 1 | 5 | 3 | |||
| Familius | 4 | 2 | ||||
| Signature | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Zarahemla | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| Parables | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Other | 15 | 18 | 15 | 8 | 6 | 0 |
| Total | 95 | 121 | 127 | 147 | 137 | 160 |
(Parenthesis indicates the total number of novels the publisher published that year, including novels by non-Mormons)
For all of the major LDS publishers, novels are making up a smaller number of the total book titles, with short fiction anthologies and non-fiction books growing in popularity. Also, publishers are moving more and more into selling non-book products.
Deseret Book Publishing, the Church’s flagship publisher, published only twelve novels in 2014, a significant drop from 22 in 2012 and fifteen in 2013. DBP publishes its novels through two imprints, Deseret Book for those with Mormon content, and Shadow 
Mountain for those aimed at the national market. Out of the twelve novels, only three were published through the Deseret Book imprint, half the number of recent years. They were two novels by Gerald Lund and one by Dean Hughes. Those two authors have been among the most reliable authors for Deseret Book for years, but their novels did not seem to generate much buzz in 2014.
DBP published nine novels through its Shadow 
Mountain imprint. Juvenile speculative fiction and cozy mysteries were the dominant genres. Their best selling book, however, appears to have been Sarah Eden’s Hope Springs, a historical romance that is part of their “Proper Romance” series. Next came the final two books in Josi Kilpack’s cozy/culinary mystery series, 
Fortune Cookie and Wedding Cake. Shadow Mountain also published four juvenile speculative fiction books, but none of them seem to have caught on nationally the way Brandon Mull did a few years ago. Ilima Todd’s debut YA dystopian novel Remake probably gained the most attention of the group.
Covenant Communications is an independent business unit within Deseret Book Company, with a tradition of acquiring, editing, and marketing its products independent of Deseret Book Publishing. While other major Mormon fiction entities reduced the number of novels 
they published in 2014, Covenant stayed close to its norm for the last several years, publishing 37 novels, by far the most of any Mormon publisher. I have heard speculation from authors, however, that the number of novels will probably decline in 2015.
There has been a clear shift in Covenant’s focus recently, going from the old requirement of Mormon-specific content in the novels, to recently allowing non-Mormon specific books for a historical setting like Regency romances, to last year actually requesting authors to produce contemporary novels that do not have Mormon content, while still keeping high moral standards. This appears to be part of an effort to reach more into the mainstream market.
I noted Sarah Eden was the best selling novelist at Deseret Book. So who was the best selling author at Covenant? Again, the answer is the 2013 AML Novel-award winner Sarah Eden. In 2014 Covenant republished two of her previously self-published Regency romances, As You Are and For Elise. The next best-selling author is the biggest break-out Mormon author in 2014, Jennifer Moore. Moore 
debuted with two Regency romance novels, Becoming Lady Lockwood and Lady Emma’s Campaign. In both novels Moore takes the somewhat rare step of setting a significant part of the stories on naval ships during the Napoleonic Wars, rather than focusing on British domestic life. When I asked Mormon authors about their favorite 2014 novels by Mormons, Eden’s and Moore’s books were among the most frequently cited.
Romance, suspense/mystery, and historical remain Covenant’s bread-and-butter genres. Besides Eden and Moore, their most popular romance author was Melanie Jacobson. Her 
contemporary romance Painting Kisses was her first without an LDS setting. Among their suspense/mystery authors, Tracie Hunter Abramson is the most popular. She released the thriller Chances Are and contributed to an anthology of suspense novellas, Drop Zone. Covenant has singled its interest in publishing more novella anthologies, a format popularized in the market by the boutique publishers. Another work that has been highly praised is A. L. Sowards’ World War II novel Deadly Alliance, the third and final volume in her Espionage series. Finally, Josi Kilpack, Annette Lyon, Heather B. Moore, and Julie Wright’s popular Newport Ladies Book Club series was wrapped up with Lyon’s Ilana’s Wish and the group-written Tying the Knot.
This year I noticed that many authors commented to me about how pleasant their interaction has been with Covenant, compared to other publishers. They talked about how quickly their concerns were heard and addressed, and how “nice” the people were. There were some authors who were less thrilled by their relationship, especially those disturbed by the state of the contracts.
As I mentioned, in January 2015 a change in Covenant’s management was announced. Robby Nichols, who has been at Covenant for twenty-six years as the vice-president of marketing, is assuming leadership as its managing director, replacing Barry Evans, who has been there 15 years. In a statement, the company said of Nicholas, “We have already seen his tremendous leadership ability as he has begun implementing some exciting new ideas, and I am confident you will love working with him as he transitions into his new role at the company. His legacy position at Covenant has given him a solid knowledge of our authors and their works, and he is committed to preserving Covenant’s strong position as a quality publisher in the LDS market.” In its farewell to Evans, the company said, “Barry has made a substantial contribution in moving the company forward, and it was under his inspiring vision that Covenant has developed a thriving line of clothing and home décor, which have increased our revenues and enabled us to weather out several economic downturns. His support of our book publishing role has been dramatic.”
Springville Utah-based Cedar Fort is the largest independently owned publisher in the Mormon market. It recently changed its full name to “Cedar Fort Publishing and Media”. This represents the company’s efforts to expand beyond books into a variety of media. Perhaps most notable is its move into film, positioning itself as a potential rival to Deseret Book’s Excel Entertainment division. The company created a new division, “Cedar Fort Entertainment”, and hired Spencer Harden, who was previously a financial officer at Excel Entertainment and a project manager for Church produced films, to lead the division. The company promoted distributed the commercially and critically successful 2013 film The Saratov Approach. In November 2014 it was involved in the release and distribution of the film Wayward: The Prodigal Son. The film opened in 46 theaters, including several in Bible Belt states. Lyle Mortimer, the founder and CEO of Cedar Fort, recently discussed the history and direction of the company for a The Good Word podcast interview.
Cedar Fort produced novels in a wide variety of genres, with YA and MG fantasy novels, romance, and political thrillers the most frequent. Cedar Fort appears to be downshifting from a previous book strategy. In 2012 it released 49 novels, a record amount for a Mormon publisher. Many of the authors complained, however, that they were receiving inadequate editing and marketing assistance. The company seemed willing to push out a huge number of novels, hoping that they would find their own reader niches. Since then, however, the company has reduced the number of novels it has released, and authors have noted that communication with the publisher and marketing efforts have improved.
Over half of Cedar Fort’s 2014 novels were by debut authors. Several new authors told me that they have had good experiences with the company, especially appreciating the personal touch and mentoring. More experienced authors, on the other hand, have expressed concerns about restrictive contracts, including the difficulty in buying back rights. On the positive side for authors, I have heard that Cedar Fort may be making it easier for authors to self-publish books while they are still under contract to the company.
By far the best selling novelist at Cedar Fort is Carla Kelly, who had already made a national name for herself in the world of historical romances. Cedar Fort published two of her novels in 2014, Reforming Lord Ragsdale, a previously published Regency romance, and Softly Falling, a new romance sent in 1880s Wyoming. Two debut YA romances, Sarah Beard’s Porcelain Keys, the story of a contemporary musician, and Lauren Skidmore’s debut fantasy What is Hidden, also seems to have found a substantial audience. Other Cedar Fort books that have been well reviewed are Braden Bell’s Luminescence, the final book in his Middle School Magic fantasy series, and Jennifer Ann Holt’s Discovering Peace, a sequel that follows the lives of a birth mother and an adoptive mother after an adoption.
Walnut Springs Press, based in Salt Lake City since 2007, is the smallest of the big four publishers in the Mormon market. They published 14 novels in 2014, actually an increase over what they did the year before. It is a small operation, with editor Linda Prince doing most of the work. I don’t think I have ever seen authors be more effusive in their praise of an editor as they have been of Price. I have heard nothing but acclaim for her professionalism and editing skills.
The bestselling Walnut Springs book during 2014 was Dorothy Keddington’s Hearth Fires, published in late 2013. Of the 2014 novels, the bestseller was Melanie Mason’s debut novel, The Line That Divides, a World War II historical novel.Other well-received novels included JoLyn Brown’s young adult novel Run and Catherine Doxey White’s YA romance Cupcake Girl. Marilyn Brown also had two novels published by Walnut Springs.
Signature Books
and Zarahemla Books are two Utah-based Mormon publishers who tend to publish literary novels in small numbers. Zarahemla, run by Chris Bigelow, published one book in 2014, Will Wonders Never Cease, written by the dean of Mormon literature, Douglas Thayer. It tells the story of a Mormon teen trapped in an avalanche. Scott Hales, reviewing the book at A Motley Vision, wrote, “The majority 
of the novel recounts Kyle’s efforts to stay alive and dig himself out of the snow, yet intercut with this narrative are Kyle’s memories of his life as well as his hopes for the future. Lucille, his mother, figures prominently in these memories as the guiding influence in his life … I think you’ll find it a novel worth reading, although not one that trumps any of Thayer’s earlier novels … Like Thayer’s best characters, he is on the receiving end of a cosmic injustice and does his best to come to terms with it. Sarcastic and smart, he is a Mormon Holden Caulfield with a cleaner mouth and a better moral compass.”
Signature Books, known for its non-fiction Mormon books, especially history, published two mystery novels in 2014, the late Linda Sillitoe’s final novel Thieves of Summer, and Community of Christ historian Paul Edwards’ Murder By Sacrament. Those two, together with Mette Harrison’s The Bishop’s Wife and Tim Wirkus’ City of Brick and Shadow, may make 2014 the year of Mormon literary mystery novels.
Sillitoe, a longtime force in liberal Mormon culture, passed away in 2010. Her posthumous novel is set in the Liberty Park neighborhood in Salt Lake City in the Great Depression. Reviews have generally praised the work for being lively, entertaining, and strongly evoking the setting. However it contains so many ingredients that there are disjointed elements, perhaps because it was still unfinished at the time of her death. Doug Gibson of the Ogden Standard-Examiner wrote, “It’s a quirky mix of 
family tension, crime drama and an homage to an elephant, but the writing is superb and Sillitoe has produced a tale that captures interest and provides entertainment.” Edwards’ Murder By Sacrament is the second in a series, about an RLDS bureaucrat trying to solve the mystery of someone poisoning major church donors. Gibson wrote, “This is a cerebral novel, with Taggert using his philosophy skills both to try to solve the murders, handle the anal behavior at work, and meander through a love affair he cannot consummate due to his ailing wife …The reader can’t help but like Taggert, a man who uses his wit to maintain his faith.”
Independent Utah Publishers
WiDo Publishing, Jolly Fish Press and Familius are independent Utah publishers which include significant numbers of Mormons on their staff and author rosters, but are essentially “secular”, aiming for the national market, with no specific intent to publish Mormon-themed works.
WiDo Publishing, based in Salt Lake City, began operating in 2007. In 2014 it published 21 works, 20 novels and a short story collection, by far its largest output. Early on in its history the majority of its authors were Mormon, but the company has worked hard to attract authors from throughout the English-speaking world, and in 2014 only five of its 21 works were written by Mormon authors.
Jolly Fish Press, founded in Provo in 2011, published ten works in 2014, the same number as in 2013. Five of those were by Mormon authors. Talking to authors, most were enthusiastic about the publisher, citing their positive action on getting books noticed nationally, including getting books reviewed by institutions like Kirkus and Publishers Weekly without having to pay for the privilege, and negotiating film option rights. Some authors, however, have also noted that the youth of the publisher’s leadership has led to some disorganization and overly optimistic promises that could not be met. Among the Mormon-authored books, the strongest reviews I have seen have been for The Brothers Washburn young adult horror novel Mojave Green, Amie and Bethany Borst’s middle grade humor/fantasy Little Dead Riding Hood, and Teri Harman’s paranormal Black Moon.
Huntsville-based Familius was founded in 2012 by Christopher Robbins, who had been the CEO of Gibbs Smith. It publishes mostly non-fiction books for families. In 2014 it published Melissa Dalton-Bradford’s On Loss and Living Onward, a compilation of writings on “guiding the living through the process of grief’, and two middle grade time travel adventures by Cheri Pray Earl and Carol Lynch Williams.
Boutique publishers and self-publishing
2014 saw a huge rise in works published by Mormon or Mormon-adjacent “boutique publishers”. The term refers to very small publishers, often run by authors, which focus on one or a small number of genres, and largely distribute their books electronically. They take many of the troupes of self-publishing, but add a layer of editing, cover design, and cross-promotion. Looking at the Mormon-run boutique publishers, multi-author anthologies of shorter works make up a large part of their output, with the idea that the authors will be able to cross-promote readership and grow each other’s fan base. A promise of “clean” content is a big part of their marketing campaigns.
Heather B. Moore’s Mirror Press was the most active Mormon boutique press, publishing 20 works in 2014. Their specialty is multi-author “sweet romances” (not necessarily LDS or Christian romance). Also, the works are often offered only for a limited time, encouraging readers to buy the low-priced books while they are still available. In February 2014 Mirror released a 7-novel box set called Romance Through the Ages, which reached #127 on the USA Today bestseller list. It publishes four “Timeless Romance” anthologies a year, and in the last quarter of 2014 it published twelve “Triple Treat” collections, each with three full-length novels. Annette Lyon, Sarah Eden, Heather Justesen, and Rachael Anderson are among the authors who help edit and design the books.
Xchyler Publishing, also known by the name of its parent company, Hamilton Springs Press, was founded in 2012, and is currently lead by Penny Freeman and Heidi Birch. Xchyler describes itself as a “boutique publisher of paranormal, fantasy, dystopian, and mystery genres.” It published seven books in 2014, many of which were anthologies of shorter stories. Many of its authors have come from the American Night Writers Association, an Arizona-based author guild specifically for Mormons authors. One Xchyler book, The Accidental Apprentice by Anika Arrington, is a finalist for a Whitney Award.
Trifecta Books was established in 2013 by Tristi Pinkston. In 2014 it published 17 books, most frequently young adult clean contemporary romance, but also some children’s books and YA and middle grade fantasy. Karen E. Hoover and Jenni James are among its authors.
Beth Bentley’s Parables Publishing released three novels, including her own Whitney-nominated A Plentiful Rain. Parables books tend to be a bit more daring in content then the “clean reads” offered by the other boutique publishers, often featuring flawed and struggling LDS characters.
C. Michael Perry’s Leicester Bay Books publishes fiction, non-fiction, and DVDs. In 2014 it published Perry’s own middle grade fantasy, a collection of Robert Kirby columns, and iPlates vol. 2, discussed below. Rachel Anderson’s HEA Publishing is her own self-publishing brand. In 2014 she also published a multi-author series “The Ripple Effect”, as a cross-promotional effort.
Of course, many authors continue to gravitate towards self-publishing. For Mormon authors, Indie Author Hub has served as a useful clearing house of information and advice on how to self-publish. They hold an annual Writing & Publishing Conference, which will next be held in June 2015 in Provo. One big development for self-publishing authors is Amazon’s new Kindle Unlimited program, where readers can pay a monthly fee to read unlimited independent books. Several self-publishing authors have reported that in 2014 it reduced the royalties they received from Amazon.
Amy Harmon has been the best-selling self-publishing Mormon novelist the past few years. She released YA novels in 2014, Infinity + One and The Law of Moses. The latter is a finalist for a Whitney Award.The choice of ten self-published novels as Whitney finalists is indicative of the acceptance the books are finding. Besides Harmon’s, they finalists are My Name Is Bryan by Stacy Lynn Carroll, Still Time by Maria Hoagland, An Ocean Between Us by Angela Morrison, Gone for a Soldier by Marsha Ward, Tomorrow We Spy and Spy by Night by Jordan McCollum, and This Darkness Light by Michaelbrent Collings. Also, A Plentiful Rain by Elizabeth Petty Bentley (Parables) and Eve: In the Beginning, by H. B. Moore (Mirror) were both published by the authors’ own boutique publishers, so I count them as self-published. One self-published novel is a finalist for an AML award, Son of War, Daughter of Chaos by Janette Rallison.
Some other interesting self-published words are Free Electricity by Ryan Rhodes, about BYU’s electroshock aversion program in the 1970s, and the adult romances We Were Gods and Paso Doble by Moriah Jovan.
Online stories and comics
2014 continued to see some interesting on-line writing experiments. Ben Christensen wrapped up his Mormon X: 
Confessions of a Latter-day Mutant fictional blog in May, with the mutant character coming fully out about his powers and leaving the Church. Scott Hales’ webcomic The Garden of Enid just got better and better as it went, and wrapped up on a strong note in December. Hales now publishes his cartoons at Mormon Shorts, where Enid is a frequent character. In print, Stephen 
Carter and Jett Atwood published the second volume of their wonderful Book of Mormon comic iPlates.
Other News
A major 2014 news story was the alleged plagiarizing of a Rachel Ann Nunes novel by a Utah schoolteacher. The suspect is alleged to have taken chunks of Nunes’ novel, made small changes, added sexually 
explicit material, and published the book under her pseudonym “Sam Taylor Mullens”. After the theft was discovered the teacher tried to attack Nunes’ claims using a series of false online identities. Authors rallied to Nunes assistance, offering their books to be sold for a limited time to help fund Nunes’ legal fees. Nunes (photographed to the right) filed a civil suit in federal court, and a fellow author and civil litigator, Shawn P. Bailey, agreed to represent her. The case is currently in the discovery phase, gathering evidence before a trial.
In contests, Segullah announced the winners of its “A Mother Here” art and poetry contest in April, with First place for Poetry going to “Eloher” by Dayna Patterson. The Grand Prize winner of the Mormon Lit Blitz short story contest in July was “Slippery” by Stephen Carter. In December, Mormon Lit Blitz’s Meeting of the Myths Short Story Contest resulted in a First Place win for “Spring Hill” by Luisa Perkins. The 2nd Annual #MormonPoetrySlam in November-December resulted in The Audience Choice Performance going to Laura Craner reading “How Long?” by Darlene Young, and the Editor’s Pick Performance going to Jim Richards reading “Little Lion Face” by May Swenson. Jana Reiss’s personal Mormon essay contest awarded its grand prize to Eric Facer for “Pork Belly-Up”.
Be sure and check out the 2014 Whitney Awards Finalists and the 2014 AML Awards Finalists.