Books, Love Out Loud, Thoughts

Did Love Out Loud die on submission?

by Allie Samberts

And why did you decide to release it as a surprise?

Cross-posted on Substack.

“Did Love Out Loud die on submission?”

“How did you end up with a deal for Not a Strong Enough Word? I thought Love Out Loud was the one you wanted to try to traditionally publish.”

“Did you just give up and self-publish instead?”

“Why would I want to read something no traditional publishing house wanted?”

Ouch.

Okay, to be fair, that last question is one I’ve been kicking around in my own head. I’m not popular enough to have made it to the cruel side of the internet yet, but don’t worry—my imposter syndrome is meaner than any keyboard warrior.

But hey, you might be curious about this, and I really love the story about this book because it’s a great example of how weird and unpredictable the publishing industry can be at times. And, as the poet Taylor Mali wrote, “changing your mind is one of the best ways/of finding out whether or not you still have one.” So let’s talk about it.

But first…

Coffee Break heading

Like two of you said a few weeks ago that you read the coffee break, and thus it will continue! Pumpkin spice has officially hit stores, which feels early like it does every year. But I was REALLY tempted to buy some pumpkin spice cold foam because that actually looks kind of cool? It’s in something like a Reddi-wip container, which also activates a bit of childhood joy in me. I ultimately did not buy it because we were in the store with the singular focus of knocking out the school supply list (and also it’s still summer, dammit) but I think I’ll grab it next time.

Speaking of school supply lists, your call to action this week is to support a teacher. Buy them a cup of coffee. Grab something for them off of their teacher wishlist. Offer to help them move stuff into their classroom. Bare minimum, buy the stuff on the school supply list and don’t complain about how a lot of that stuff is communal property. (Have you met a kid? They pile their lunches into the middle of the lunch table and trade for what they want. And they’ve been doing this since the 90s when I was a kid. Everything is communal property whether it’s meant to be or not.)

(And yes, I do have a classroom wishlist. My room is now very small, so I don’t need a lot of stuff, but I have bookshelves and I am trying to build a diverse classroom library. But this CTA isn’t meant to be a ploy for you to buy me classroom books. I just know someone will ask.)

Thoughts heading

If you’ve been following along for a while, I wrote Love Out Loud last summer. I started it the day after Common Grounds was released, and I finished it just shortly after school started. I had been mulling over this childhood-friends-to-lovers storyline for a while. I wanted it to be something just slightly different from what I had been doing. With Leade Park and Common Grounds (and especially the novellas), the focus had been on keeping things light. Funny, even, though I think sometimes that gets lost in the seriousness of the relationships.

But I remember telling my husband in May of 2024 that I felt like I was on the cusp of something new. Things had changed rapidly for me both personally and professionally. The classroom I had been in since before COVID was being transitioned into a construction field office. My two direct supervisors were moving on to other positions. My teacher friend had just passed away at 42, leaving a huge hole and—coupled with the fact that I was turning 40—ushered in a midlife crisis.

In my writing life, I had more ARC sign-ups for Common Grounds than I had for maybe all of Leade Park combined. Would this be the year I’d be able to quit my day job and write full time? It sure felt like it.

So I set out to write something a little different. It might (or might not) surprise you to know that I’m not a naturally funny or lighthearted person. And yeah, I know I never shut up about being voted funniest teacher in 2023 and 2025 by the respective senior classes, but I truly tend to stumble into being funny more than anything else. I’m kind of like a pigeon, waddling into a joke and poking at it incessantly until it gets awkward. Which somehow makes people laugh more. I don’t know; I don’t make the rules.

Well, Common Grounds didn’t change my life. But, as it turns out, I was on the cusp of something. Things did change wildly, just…not in a good way. I won’t go into all the details here, but I’ve made no secret about the fact that last school year was the hardest one I’ve ever had. The world is also a mess, and while I think a lot of people predicted this, it doesn’t make it any easier now that it’s happening.

Love Out Loud became the book of my heart. I have so many personal connections to the story, too numerous to outline here (though I am trying to post about it daily on Threads with little baby annotations that show connections to my personal life). It’s a story that, on the surface, is a love letter to theater and the power it has had in my life over the years. But on a deeper level, it’s about a love so big and bold that it lights up every piece of you. It stretches you and changes you and makes you realize things about yourself that you didn’t even know. It’s about sharing that love with someone when you’re on the cusp of something new and scary, and letting that love lift you up when things are going well and give you a soft place to land when they aren’t. Because, deep down, every great love story is actually the story of friendship, and that’s what a good friendship—and romantic relationship—does.

An image of the cover of Love Out Loud over a beachy picture with a shadow of two people holding hands. The text reads: "Did Love Out Loud die on submission?"

I loved this book. I still do. It might actually be my favorite book I’ve written. And so, when a few other things shifted and my indie editor could no longer take it on, I figured why not put it on submission? It was either that or scramble to find a new editor, and I didn’t want to do that. So, on January 1, 2025, my agent sent Love Out Loud to ten traditional editors.

In the meantime, though, I had this gorgeous cover from Lorissa Padilla that was so beautiful I cried when I saw it. Stunning pinks and purples. Lark and Lennon splashing in the water from my favorite scene in the book. Big, bold title letters that were as big and bold as their love for each other. I was devastated not to use the cover, so I ordered a few personal copies for myself. I cried when I got those, too.

Right around this time, another story started nagging at me. I had come to terms with the idea of not having a spring release, and I had been relatively confident Love Out Loud would sell eventually, which would make up for the lost income. But I couldn’t get this new story out of my head. And, well, Not a Strong Enough Word was born. I won’t talk too much about how that book came to be because you’ve likely heard it, but I like to say that book was one that hit me in the face and wouldn’t stop until I got it on the page. And where Love Out Loud was the book of my heart, Not a Strong Enough Word was the book of my soul.

When I was about two months away from publishing Not a Strong Enough Word, I took a hard look at some of the feedback we had gotten about Love Out Loud. They wanted a second chance story. A deeper connection. Reading between the lines, I could tell they were after something angstier. And while I know Love Out Loud has tension and pining, it is not a second chance story, and it is not in angsty in any sense of the word.

I remarked to my agent that I wished Not a Strong Enough Word was the book I had put on submission, because it seemed to be what editors wanted. And she said…well, why not? She proposed a wild plan wherein she’d submit the manuscript to as many editors as she could, tell them it was being indie published in two months unless someone wanted to buy it, and go from there. So…we put Love Out Loud on pause after the first 10 editors, and that’s what we did.

That was exciting and scary. And ultimately, as you know, I ended up indie publishing it. There seemed to be some interest, but the timing was wrong or they wanted to review it but couldn’t get to it in time before the deadline. I figured this is what would happen, but you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, right? So I was ultimately glad we tried, and I ended up having the time of my life on my Midwestern tour talking to the most amazing audiences about this book and how much it meant to me.

We ended up putting Love Out Loud back on submission, but it was half-hearted. About a year after finishing it and with all the indie author tools (and this phenomenal cover) in my back pocket, I was getting antsy. I told my agent that if no one had moved on it by August 1, I’d pull it and self publish in order to get it out by the end of summer. I had pretty much made up my mind to publish it myself, and was getting excited to do so, but I figured it couldn’t hurt to try one more round.

In the midst of this, I had decided to go back to teaching next year. A lot of the issues I had last year were either resolved or my admin had plans to fix them. I went on a few interviews at community colleges, but I don’t think that life is for me. And, you know, I like teaching high school. It got hard there for a minute, which was timed with a 40-year-old desire to spread my wings and fly a little bit. I just had to figure out which direction the wind was going.

So when all of this was decided, I wasn’t desperate for an advance like I had been. (Desperate isn’t the best word, but it’s late and I’m tired, so you get the idea.) As my husband likes to say, if I go back to my teaching job, I’m playing with house money with my writing. Which is an awesome place to be because it means I can do what my heart tells me to do.

And my heart really wanted to see the Love Out Loud cover in print. (The story too!! BUT HAVE YOU SEEN THE COVER?)

Well, you know the rest. Page & Vine, who still had Not a Strong Enough Word from its submission, reached out about it and eventually made an offer. It felt wrong to still shop around Love Out Loud at that point, so we asked if they wanted that one too. They seemed to like the story, but wanted to see how Not a Strong Enough Word did, which I expected. And because I didn’t want to try to find a different publisher while working with Page & Vine or wait another year and see, I pulled Love Out Loud off submission, sent it to my indie editor, and published it myself.

So, did it die on submission? I guess that depends on your definition. It was barely on submission for 4 months total, so I’d say no, but *technically* I suppose it did. You can decide how pedantic you want to be about the term. But I think it’s important to note here that I didn’t “just self-publish it.” I am have been an indie author for a few years, and I have indie author tools in my toolbox. The book was getting published either way, and that has been the most powerful thing that being on submission has taught me. Regardless of what happens, it’s a win-win because all paths to publication are valid, and there is an audience out there for my books whether they’re published by a house or by me.

But what kind of teacher would I be if I stopped there without sharing a teachable moment?

Here’s what I love about this story: Love Out Loud did exactly what it was meant to do. When I wrote it, I was sure it was going to change my life. And it did. I had to write it to give myself permission to dream big. I had to put it on submission to get it out of the way so I could write Not a Strong Enough Word, and going on submission the first time gave me the courage to do it a second. I had to go through the process of finding new jobs and hoping for an advance to be able to quit teaching in order to make up my mind that I wanted to stay.

And now, here I am. I get to go back to teaching, renewed. I get to have a publisher support the book of my soul. And I get to give you the book of my heart (and its gorgeous cover).

I think the moral of this story—if there has to be only one—isn’t that everything happens for a reason, though I do believe that, too. It’s that things get messy before they unravel. Like a ball of yarn or a tangled piece of jewelry, there isn’t one thread to pull that’ll untangle the whole thing. There are a lot of ways to attack the problem. Some make it worse for a time before making it better, but every method results in the satisfying moment where everything opens up and becomes clear again.

Which is a fancy way of saying…keep going. (I know. I hate hearing that advice too, but it’s true.) I’m not at the end of this, and things are sure to get tangled up and messy again. Progress isn’t linear. But hopefully next time, I’ll have the insight to take a step back and wait for the threads to untangle.

In the meantime, I plan to enjoy every moment of this experience. Like Lennon tells Lark:

“You gotta jump in, though. Standing on the sidelines doesn’t have the same effect.”

I fold my arms and kick water at him this time. “Sounds like a very pointed metaphor.”

Lennon tips a shoulder up. “It probably is.”

Love Out Loud is available on Kindle Unlimited and wherever paperbacks are sold. If you’re feeling like you’re on the cusp of something, or if you just need a soft, summer romance, I hope you check it out. And, as always, you can grab signed paperbacks from my website.

Read Now

Updates heading

So many things are happening!!!

Let’s start with my signing schedule and preorder information:

Stock will be limited at these events due to travel and logistics (especially for my lower-selling books like The Write Time, The Write Choice, and Common Grounds), so I definitely suggest preordering where you are able. I will always be happy to sign anything you bring, as well!

I will no longer be bringing copies of Not a Strong Enough Word or Love in the Time of Conversation Hearts with me to signings, so if you want those signed, you have to bring them yourself.

Now for some updates!

  • I was on Tomes & Tonics podcast talking about Not a Strong Enough Word with a focus on burnout, therapy, and indie authoring. Check it out!
  • Christmas by Design is now on audio! You can find all the retail links and a sample here.
  • Pumpkin to Talk About is also now on audio! You can find it on Audible Plus, Spotify, Storytel, Libro.fm, Google Play, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble. Hopefully more places soon!
  • Not a Strong Enough Word will be removed from all platforms (including KU and my website) on October 1, which means if you want an indie copy, you better grab one now! As of the writing of this newsletter, I have 7 copies left on my website, but once they’re gone, they’re gone.
Reads and Reviews heading

If you are finished reading Love Out Loud and looking for another theater-adjacent romance, TAKE MY WORD FOR IT (see what I did there?)—you’ll want to check this one out.

Cover of Take My Word by Dani McLean

Faking it never felt so real.

IVY

It’s over. Eight years of meetings, ‘document emergencies’ (whatever they are), and covering up my tattoos, and now a company-wide redundancy has finally pulled my name out of a hat. Exit: stage left.

So much for making the responsible choice. Giving up theatre to work a lifetime locked to a keyboard was supposed to show I was a grown up, except all it’s ever been is a role I forced myself into, and I’ve been playing it for so long I’m not sure who the real Ivy Hawkins is anymore.

There’s no other answer when Lincoln Reeves offers me the chance to be anyone I want for a night. Saying no to those piercing grey eyes would be impossible… And then I immediately ruin it by sticking my foot in my mouth. Now I’m playing the part of his fake girlfriend, while desperately trying not to fall for my own act.

LINCOLN

One night. It’s not nearly enough, could never be enough where Ivy is concerned, but she’s itching for an adventure, so that’s what I’ll give her.

Playing her boyfriend isn’t a hardship, but it’s one more lie separating me and my family, and the closer Ivy and I get, the more it threatens to unravel everything I returned from London to fix.

Read Now

Bye for now! heading

That’s it for now, folks! I hope you are having a great end of summer, and if you’re a teacher going back to work already…good luck.

Happy reading!
Allie