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Signature Books had a successful 2022 with the publication of eleven titles. Of these titles, our bestsellers were books about women, including biographies of Sandra (and Jerald) Tanner, Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon, and Susa Young Gates, as well as a documentary history of the wives of Joseph Smith. Another bestseller was a biography of D. Michael Quinn.
Other books in our 2022 lineup included a print version of the fifth edition of Steven Shields’s classic study, Divergent Paths of the Restoration: An Encyclopedia of the Smith-Rigdon Movement, a collection of engaging short stories in The Year They Gave Women the Priesthood, and Colby Townsend’s Envisioning Scripture: Joseph Smith’s Revelations in Their Early American Context. We finished the year with three releases: Gregor McHardy’s Eight Myths of the Great Apostasy, Michael Hicks's Wineskin: Freakin’ Jesus in the ‘60s and ‘70s, and DNA Mormon: Perspectives on the Legacy of Historian D. Michael Quinn, edited by Benjamin E. Park.
We were honored that a few of our 2021 publications received special recognition this year. The two-volume work, Brigham Young, Colonizer of the American West: Diaries and Office Journals, 1832–1871, edited by George D. Smith, received the Best Documentary History Award from the John Whitmer Historical Association. Actor Ashley Judd came on board to promote our book co-sponsored with the Leakey Foundation, Discovering Us: Fifty Great Discoveries in Human Origins, by reading excerpts from several chapters that formed a podcast that you can access here. In addition, the American Institute for Graphic Arts (AIGA) Salt Lake Chapter recognized Discovering Us as one of this year's top 100 graphic design projects in Utah.
All of this occurred while Signature underwent a change in leadership. After an illustrious lifetime career with the company, Gary James Bergera retired at the end of February. Barbara Jones Brown became our new director on March 1. We have launched several new initiatives, including a Signature Books podcast, creating a recording studio to produce more audiobooks, increasing the number of titles published each year, holding book events at our offices, selling our publications at conferences, and dramatically increasing our social media presence. We were also thrilled to participate for the first time at the annual conference of Affirmation: LGBTQ Mormons, Families & Friends. All of this has led to our best year in book sales since 2015!
Our lineup for the first half of 2023 is equally exciting, beginning with the release of two books of poetry, Dayna Patterson’s O Lady, Speak Again (watch the book trailer here), and a new edition of Utah Poet Laureate Lisa Bickmore’s Haste. Other soon-to-be published titles during the first half of this year include D. Michael Quinn’s memoir, Chosen Path; Stephen Carter’s biography, Virginia Sorensen: Pioneering Mormon Author; Charisma under Pressure: Joseph Smith, American Prophet, 1831–1839, by Dan Vogel; Useful to the Church and Kingdom: The Journals of James H. Martineau, Pioneer and Patriarch, 1850–1918, edited by Noel A. Carmack and Charles M. Hatch, and George Q. Cannon: Politician, Publisher, Apostle of Polygamy, by Kenneth L. Cannon II.
A happy new year to all of you readers out there! We promise to bring you great things in 2023!
Quinn Anthology Released; Signing to Feature Contributors
Mark your calendars for Thursday, January 19, at 7:00 p.m. for a book signing at Signature Books offices, sponsored by Signature Books and Benchmark Books. Benjamin Park, editor of DNA Mormon: Perspectives on the Life and Legacy of Historian D. Michael Quinn, will chair a panel of the book’s contributors, including Patrick Q. Mason, Martha Bradley-Evans, Gary James Bergera, Maxine Hanks, Calvin Burke, Millie Tullis, and Brianna Bratsman.
The book will be available for purchase, as well as other books by contributors. You’ll also be able to purchase Quinn’s books at a discount as well as other Signature titles. Come for what will surely be an enlightening evening. The event will be held at Signature Books, at 508 W. 400 N., Salt Lake City. Parking is available in the lots on the west side of the building as well as on the street. Light refreshments will be served. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m., so come early to enjoy some mingling!
Latest Podcast Episode Focuses on Mormon Suffragist
The thirteenth episode of the Signature Books podcast features Constance Lieber, interviewed by Barbara Jones Brown about her new book, Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon: Suffragist, Senator, Plural Wife. The book is part of Signature's Mormon Lives series and is based on Lieber's decades-long study into Cannon's life. You can listen to this episode here, Amazon Music, or Spotify. Be sure to check out the others that we released throughout 2022 and follow us throughout 2023 to catch all that is forthcoming.
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