I finished the first draft of All That Pride in 2021, and immediately started thinking ahead to that nebulous time when it would be published. I had no idea how getting published worked, but I was confident that I could do it.
Of course, I was also eighteen, with a short attention span and no idea of what I wanted to do with my life. This blog fell by the wayside, much like All That Pride, as I retreated into the anonymity of fanfiction and was caught in the whirlwind of real life college applications and papers and deadlines. Despite the fact that All That Pride was complete, and professionally edited, I let myself be defeated by a few rounds of query letter rejections. My excuse? It was a lot of work to research agents, compile lists, and send out query letters. I was starting my first year at university, and I didn't feel I could concentrate on more than that at the time. Beyond my going in and doing a few edits every now and again, All That Pride languished alone on my laptop.
Two years (!!) later, I decided enough was enough. I allowed myself one more round of edits, got a friend to read it for me (thank you Hailey), and put querying on my summer schedule. But before I could get started on a fresh round of querying, I met K.L. Gallagher. K.L. is an author with Affinity Rainbow Publications, a publishing company which specializes in publishing lesbian literature. She told me that All That Pride would be a good fit with Affinity, and encouraged me to submit to them. So I did.
And they signed me! Even two months later, it doesn't feel quite real. My book—my COVID baby—is actually getting published.
So here I am, after years. My sister is handling my Instagram—she's making me film reels—but this blog (and Tumblr) is all mine. My goal is to blog my experience as the publishing process continues somewhere where I don't have to video myself talking (I mean, I can do it, but it's not my favorite). I'm so excited to start this journey, and see where it takes me.
And the book? All That Pride?
All That Pride is a YA LGBTQ+ novel, featuring wlw romance, background mlm romance, the beach, and an absolute absence of the COVID-19 pandemic. More info HERE!