Going It Alone as a Queer Author

I can willingly acknowledge that I'm a big fan of the traditional editing process. By that I mean that after you've self-edited your queer romance manuscript to death, it's time to bring in those professionally trained outside eyes.

The editing process is not linear by any means. It doesn't matter whether you're traditionally published or putting in the tear-inducing work of self-publishing. Novels enter the editing pipeline at the developmental editing stage, then move to line editing and copyediting, and finally to proofreading.

For example, depending on the depth and breadth of changes that are recommended, an author can easily cycle between a developmental and line edit two or three times. Editing is meant to be iterative. Your manuscript deserves to be as polished as possible before you send it out into the wide world.

Of course, getting this level of help can add up quickly. That can be a huge blockage, especially for self-publishing queer authors. But there are two major steps you can take to at least alleviate that burden. All it takes is a willingness to do a bit of research.

Comparative Titles

The queer romance genre has exploded over the past decade or so. Left, right, and center, e-reader libraries are stuffed to the gills with nearly every subset under the sun. Don't get deep in the weeds, though (hockey romances, I'm looking at you).

Check out rankings for the type of story you're writing. Look at the challenges and inner conflicts those authors' queer characters are facing. Question why those aspects may entertain or inspire readers the way they do. Then test out those same principles on your own story to see how they can be tweaked to work for you.

Study Your Craft

I've written about this before, and I'll probably write about it again. I'm both a visual and kinetic learner. It's why I have 100+ writing and editing craft books on my shelves. More so, it's why I have way too many blank notebooks waiting to be used.

Hard copy, digital, or audiobooks. YouTube videos, podcasts, or TED Talks. Whenever and however you study best, put in a little extra effort to ensure your skills are as solid as you can make them. Queer romance can come with intersectional stigmas. Be willing to write badly. It's the only way to improve so you can attempt to overcome those stigmas.

Walking the publishing path alone isn't easy. I can even readily admit I'm biased enough to strongly advise against it. However, the resources are out there to smooth the way. While the actual writing is done alone, getting your idea from the page to the shelf doesn't have to be.

Shannon Scott is the founder and owner of Sage Editing. Obsessed with getting in on the ground floor of story creation, and balancing that with a hyperfixation on the power and effects of language on the human experience, Shannon is a fiction story coach and fiction developmental editor specializing in queer romance.

(P.S. Shannon’s not a person. Shannon is a honey badger and two pandas in a trench coat faking her way through life. During the day, she purports to be a fiction story coach and fiction developmental editor with a hyperfixation on the power of language on the human experience. At night, she tears through books and e-puzzles like a fiend. Sometimes she even throws words together on a page, with the hope that they make sense to someone other than her.)