I started She Lit in 2016 as a blog sharing my adventures as an aspiring author. At the time, “aspiring” fit the bill. I had been writing (and rewriting) a manuscript for several years, but I had zero idea about how to push it out into the world. (Side note: It was never published. It still needs work 😉)
I was living in Los Angeles, where literary lifestyle events ruled my calendar. I was making an effort to be in the same rooms as best-selling authors, literary agents, book club enthusiasts, bookish celebrities, and other aspiring and emerging writers. Also, by moving to L.A. from Sacramento, I was fully aware of my fortune: the access to these events in a metropolitan area known as a creative capital.
These events were more than entertaining — they birthed wisdom that I knew other writers would be interested in. Because the blog centered on me, I named it She Lit. I was a woman fostering the spark in my potential authorship.
But sharing the wisdom could only go so far. One of the main pieces of advice I received and would give to writers is: read books. Obvious, right? But many writers lose the time to read books when they are knee-deep in a manuscript, screenplay, or any other creative writing project. The time especially disappears when you are juggling a full-time job, parenting, schooling, and other life priorities.
That’s when the advice and experiences shifted to a book blog. But I was competing in a social media sphere where book influencers seemed to be reading a book every day, whereas I spent most of my free time developing my own stories. I read at least three books a month, but it seemed to be no match with BookTok, BookTube, and Bookstagram.
Over the post-pandemic years, I had been querying literary agents about my young adult social justice novel. I had won a competition that I believed would open doors. Before the competition, some literary agents showed interest (during the Black Lives Matter movement) but eventually rejected my story. I kept pushing forward because that’s what you’re supposed to do as a writer, or so I was told.
After querying 100+ literary agents (more than half after my industry win), I decided to pivot to another unfinished manuscript, forgotten on my computer. Thankfully, I was a writer overwhelmed with too many ideas, leaving remnants of stories in myriad files and folders on the computer and on my desk.
Now, I’m querying my upmarket adult fiction novel. Yet I had ignored She Lit to get to this point. I didn’t want to forsake my beloved book blog, but I evolved as an emerging writer. The original intent gnawed at me: I want to share the wisdom I extracted from literary experiences, as well as the wisdom I gained independently about the industry.
I made mistakes, mainly because I was given advice that didn’t jibe with me. We’ve all been there, but the publishing industry is complex enough that the information you receive must be put under a magnifying glass before you act. Being a creative storyteller means you have to be purposely strategic. That’s why I crafted this mission statement:
She Lit is a literary lifestyle brand spotlighting women’s voices in publishing through tailored content and data-driven insights that inspire readers and empower writers.
The She Lit newsletter will still provide insights on publishing, as in its previous iteration, but will focus more on published authors, emerging writers, and aspiring writers. As a longtime journalist, I view trendy stories and buried data as learning models. I plan to share how the latest happenings and statistics will relate to your approach in getting your story published.
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