From Bookstagrammer to Author: Amy Lea

May 9, 2022 | By Women Writers Women Books | Reply More

A lifetime love of reading

I’ve written fiction since I was old enough to write full sentences in crayon. As a pre-teen, I’d sit for hours on my family desktop secretly writing angsty teen love triangle romances (which may or may not have been loosely inspired by true events). Then, I’d walk the vast distance from my desktop computer to my bed and read Meg Cabot into the late hours of the night.

By the time I reached university age, my creative writing and reading life flatlined as my academic responsibilities piled up. It wasn’t until after I finished grad school that my love for reading romance reignited.

And the best part? There were now characters who looked like me on covers in brick and mortar book stores. I still remember the day I saw Lara-Jean on the cover of To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han, and Esme on the cover of The Bride Test by Helen Hoang. Until then, it seemed like main character status and happily ever afters were reserved for white characters. That’s when I knew there was something deeply special about the romance genre.

As a contemporary romance newbie, finding my next read was a challenge in such a vast market. I didn’t have anyone in my real life who read romance to seek recommendations from. Walking up and down aisles in Indigo was daunting and stressful without a starting point. So I turned to the internet. I scoured media lists and blogger sites for books that would sweep me off my feet. It was there that I discovered some of the contemporary romance greats (Colleen Hoover, Christina Lauren, Helen Hoang etc.)

Discovering Bookstagram

After binge-reading a romance book in 2019, I found myself ruminating over it days later. This is what the Bookstagram community refers to as a “Book Hangover.” I was desperate to talk to someone about this book. Anyone. So I randomly searched the book title’s hashtag on Instagram, accidentally stumbling upon Bookstagram. And the rest is history!

What is Bookstagram?

Bookstagram can be loosely defined as a book lover’s Instagram account that features a collection of artistically composed photos of books. Some “Bookstagrammers” pair photos with reviews, some feature collections of books based on themes or colors, and some use their book collection to create masterpieces. (Phil Stamper-Halpin – Four Tips on Creating Your Own Bookstagram – PenguinRandomHouse.com)

Bookstagram was my dream community. Gone was the struggle of finding my next read. Now, I found myself buried under a mountain of trusted recommendations (also known as a TBR pile – To Be Read). I’d finally found a community of people who loved the same kinds of books I loved. I spent hours messaging back and forth with other Bookstagrammers swooning over certain characters, dreaming up actors who should play them in adaptations, and talking meta about romance in general. The thing about Bookstagram is: there is no shortage of passion. Keep in mind, book influencers rarely get paid. They are spending hours and hours reading, reviewing, and creating content, all for the love of books.

Turning my love for reading romance into a love for writing romance

As my obsession with contemporary romances heightened, I could no longer ignore that gnawing urge to give someone an escape like my favorite books gave me. I missed writing fiction, which I hadn’t done in years, aside from crafting scenarios in my head. So, one day, I opened up that terrifying blank Word Document and began to type.

From the beginning of my writing journey, the Bookstagram community was beyond supportive, without having read a word I wrote. From completing my word count goals, to querying literary agents and receiving an offer of representation, the community was behind me every step of the way. Bookstagram was also the perfect place for finding beta readers who are already experts in the genre standards. It was also a prime source for market research (ie. finding out what tropes or genre conventions readers are loving.)

In the summer of 2020, I achieved my lifelong dream. I got a three-book deal with Berkley – Penguin Random House, the largest publishing house in the world, for my rom-com series featuring a trio of Chinese-American social media influencers. Now that I’ve transitioned into being an author, my Bookstagram peers have rallied behind me through my publishing journey (beta reading, announcing my deal, my cover reveal, advanced reader copies, etc). I can honestly say I owe so much of my success to the community for their constant encouragement.

While I’ve transitioned my Bookstagram account into an author account, I will always consider myself a Bookstagrammer because I’m an avid super fan of books, first and foremost. That’s what led me here. The community is one-of-a-kind, full of passionate readers who are dedicated to sharing love with others. That’s what romance is, after all, a portrayal of love, where happiness is guaranteed at the end. I am forever grateful to the Bookstagram community for leading me back to my love of writing.

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Amy Lea is a Canadian bureaucrat by day and contemporary romance author by night (and weekends). She writes laugh out loud romantic comedies featuring strong heroines, witty banter, mid-2000s pop culture references, and happily ever afters.

When Amy is not writing, she can be found fan-girling over other romance books on Instagram (@amyleabooks), eating potato chips with reckless abandon, and snuggling with her husband and goldendoodle.

Her debut romantic comedy SET ON YOU is forthcoming from Berkley Romance at Penguin Random House in May 2022. It is the first in a series featuring a trio of Chinese-American social media influencers.

SET ON YOU:

A gym nemesis pushes a fitness influencer to the max in Amy Lea’s steamy debut romantic comedy.

Curvy fitness influencer Crystal Chen built her career shattering gym stereotypes and mostly ignoring the trolls. After her recent breakup, she has little stamina left for men, instead finding solace in the gym – her place of power and positivity.

Enter firefighter Scott Ritchie, the smug new gym patron who routinely steals her favorite squat rack. Sparks fly as these ultra-competitive foes battle for gym domination. But after a series of escalating jabs, the last thing they expect is to run into each other at their grandparents’ engagement party.

In the lead up to their grandparents’ wedding, Crystal discovers there’s a soft heart under Scott’s muscled exterior. Bonding over family, fitness, and cheesy pick-up lines, she just might have found her swolemate. But when a photo of them goes viral, savage internet trolls put their budding relationship to the ultimate test of strength.