There is an elephant in the room whenever one ventures to discuss the state of LDS writing, namely: do LDS people actually read LDS literature? Or more to the point, do they buy it? In this presentation, I explore the notion that LDS writers may have to reach beyond the LDS audience in order to grab them. Curiously, LDS filmmakers seem to be crossing over better than do the fiction writers. Analyzing the filmmakers’ work can give fiction writers insights on how to write Mormon fiction that non-Mormons can stomach, which might just get Mormon writers back onto Mormon bookshelves.

Todd Robert Petersen, Eric Samuelsen