The Unpublished Author's Journey

 

This past weekend, I was pleased to be invited to attend the LTUE Conference in Provo, Utah. LTUE, or "Life, the Universe, and Everything" is a writing and creative symposium hosted every year to celebrate, educate, and highlight local authors, creators, and other fans of the writing process.

I have attended this conference for several years. It features several days of classes at every hour, featuring multiple panelists, a variety of different "tracks" to follow, and even an artist's alley and vendor room to support local businesses and authors.

In the middle of 2025, I received an email about possibly joining the conference as a panelist for the upcoming year. I didn't think myself qualified at all to even dream of speaking at a conference but I had seen a video on Instagram earlier that day about taking risks. In this case, the worst case scenario here would've been that I received a rejection notice in my inbox and carried on with my day.

Instead, later into the year, around the beginning of November, I had been invited to the conference as a moderator and panelist for two panels. I was completely ecstatic and so excited to have the opportunity.

I didn't think much of who was going to be at the conference, or who would be interested in what I had to say versus some of the more eloquent or expert-players in the field, but I was happy to attend and start slowly influence what I wanted more of in the creative world.

Little did I know, after both panels, I was going to be stopped and questioned about my work, about where people could find me on the internet, if I was going to be at any more panels, and how they could continue to follow my story and my journey.

So now I'm here.

I've never had a website before. Or a large following on social media. I've never told someone to send me an email and I could "get back to you soon" or anything like that.

But this past weekend showed me that I've got a book to write, I've got a website to build, and I've got a following to gather.

I'll be back at the LTUE conference next February, and I'll be much more prepared then with a physical copy of my book and a confidence in my speaking.