“I quickly learned that other authors aren’t competition – they’re your teammates”
BY PIP LANDERS-LETTS
In May 2022, I sat down and started writing a novel. In just over four months, my wife and I were popping open the bubbly to toast my finished first draft. However, that was only the start of my journey to becoming a published author.
I edited my draft, got some beta-reader feedback, and then edited some more before trying in vain to get an agent, who I imagined would land me a publishing deal and get my story into the hands of the masses… A girl can dream, right?
After a few rejections, and a small taste of hope that turned into yet another rejection, I re-wrote the whole novel. Around this time, I stumbled across an incredibly helpful podcast called Lesbians Who Write (LWW)*, hosted by veteran “Lesfic” authors, Clare Lydon and TB Markinson. After just a few short episodes of Clare and TB imparting their indie-author wisdom, I’d made up my mind to self-publish.
I’ll spare you some of the more unattractive details of the months that followed, as I stumbled up the steep learning curve of self-publishing (yes, there were ugly tears). In short, I did some serious research into indie-publishing, hired an editor, a cover designer, and on 1 May 2024, I released my debut novel into the world.
What gave me heart and kept me going (through the ugly tears) was the wonderful community of indie-lesfic authors I found. It’s like a secret club that isn’t a secret… So, it’s just a club where all the people are lovely authors of sapphic fiction. None of them pulled up the ladder, instead they welcomed me in. Offering advice from the mundane: How on earth do barcodes work with Amazon? To the profound: How will I ever recover from my first bad review? I quickly learned that other authors aren’t competition; they’re your teammates, and the “fans” (our readers), were just as supportive, and very hungry for WLW stories.
So, to the sapphic fiction community and my new friends – Thank you, because I wouldn’t have yet realised my dream without you. I owe a debt of gratitude to The “Queen of British Lesbian Rom-Coms” – Clare Lydon (Change of Heart), to TB Markinson and Miranda McLeod (founders of I Heart SapphFic), to Harper Bliss (Still the One), to Emily Wright (That Secret Something), to Ruby Landers (Falls from Grace), to Jae (The No Romance Rule), and literally everyone I’ve encountered in the community – your support and encouragement made all the difference. You’ve inspired me to pay it forward and help others who need a leg up into indie-publishing. Yes, Team – let’s write those WLW stories and feed those hungry readers.
The Weight Of What Was is available from Amazon in paperback, eBook and on Kindle Unlimited. You can find out more at www.pipwritesfiction.com. And you can follow Pip’s journey on Instagram @pipwritesfiction.
*The final episode of LWW aired on 13 May, however all 200 episodes are available at https://lesbianswhowrite.com
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