Check Out Marissa Lupe’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Marissa Lupe

Hi Marissa, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve always been a reader. I was the teenager who spent her every free minute browsing the aisles at Barnes and Noble. I was very much living in fictional worlds because my home life was not ideal (to say it politely). Books saved me.
I’ve always written short stories and poems, but had never shared any of them.
As an adult, I found myself as a wife and mother to three boys and I had lost my sense of self.
Then one day, I read about the Reese Witherspoon Lit Up fellowship for underrepresented women during it’s inaugural year in 2021, the idea really spoke to me and I decided to give it a try.
I then wrote my very first full length novel in only three months time, and it was a wonderful experience that really pushed me to see what I could accomplish, but the story was truly horrible as are most first drafts, and needless to say, I did not receive a fellowship.
I can laugh at it now, thinking I’d win with a story that had no editing and no beta readers. But that was really a pivotal moment for me in realizing that this is what I wanted to do with my life outside of my family, I wanted to write.
My next attempt was to write an autobiography, but I hadn’t realized how triggering reliving my traumatic past would be, and I ended up going through a fairly intense identity crisis.
Realizing writing my autobiography wasn’t an emotionally healthy path for me, at least at that time, I decided to write what I love to read, speculative fiction. Anything magical and otherworldly.
That’s when the ball really starting rolling. I met my critique partners through an online group called, We are Mom’s Who Write, and they became not only my writing support, but also my best friends. They are in the dedication of my first novel, Stars Like Acid.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Hahaha, ha, haha. No seriously, imposter syndrome is real!
Writing, and especially publishing, is a massive roller coaster of emotion.
One minute you’re riding an emotional high of self satisfaction and feeling really proud of yourself, the next minute you feel like everyone is laughing at you and you must be out of your mind to think people would actually want to read something you wrote, and if they do give your writing a chance, you feel like you must have tricked them into it.
It’s a daunting process.
As a writer, you really do put yourself on the page. Even though the story may have nothing to do with you in real life, it’s still a huge piece of your soul. It’s art, just like any other, and it’s tremendously difficult to put yourself out there for the world to see.

Outside of the emotional, writing and publishing are still very difficult.
I first attempted the traditional route in publishing, which is an intense journey where you have to boil yourself and your novel down to a one page sales pitch and submit yourself and your story to dozens of agents in the hope that one will be interested enough to read your novel.
And then, if they do actually request your novel, the process of pitching to publishing houses begins.
I submitted to over 100 agents and faced a majority of “no replies” and standard rejections with the occasional ‘kind’ rejection. Which is far more common than I think people realize, and a heart wrenching process to go through.

After the traditional route failed, I had to deiced if I would shelve this story and write a new one and start the query process all over again, or if I would self publish,
Ultimately I decided to self publish which has it’s own set of obstacles to getting your story seen and read.
A very large percentage of independent bookstores will not stock independent authors, which feels like a huge oxymoron, but it is what it is.
Most bigger bloggers will not entertain indie authors, same goes for social media influencers, podcasts, news outlets, etc.
So that means the only way to get your story in front of readers is huge amounts of advertising and footwork.
I mailed ARC’s (advance reader copies) to over 100 bookstores.
I mailed summary sheets to over 100 libraries.
I advertised on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and reached out to my local newspaper.
I’ve done as many in person events as I possibly can.
I’ve applied to numerous book box companies.

Basically I’ve done everything in my power to market my novels.
Most writers I’ve met when they are first starting out, drastically underestimate how much marketing has a say to the financial success of your novel.
But also, marketing costs money.
Unless you are a “well off” or “wealthy” individual, it’s a huge physical and financial struggle.
I am not wealthy, but I am very happy.
Being an author brings me more joy than I ever imagined possible, and that makes it worth the struggle.
But the hard work has resulted in some “wins”!

Stars Like Acid, my first novel, is the November 2024 pick for SatisFICtion book box (a POC sci-fi/fantasy book subscription company) and the special edition is absolutely stunning. It’s something I’m extremely proud of, and grateful to SatisFICtion for.

My novels, Stars Like Acid, and Stars Like Fire were both mentioned as a “Book to Read” in September of 2023, and March of 2024, on winteriscoming dot net.

My local newspaper did a front page article on the release of my first novel.

I’ve been accepted to three large book festivals for 2025, one of which I’ve been asked to be a speaker on their panel.

I’ve been able to get shelf space in five physical bookstores. For indie authors this is a big deal. As I mentioned, most bookstores will not stock indie authors. A majority, if not all, of our sales typically come from online retailers.

Stars Like Acid was also featured on a handful of more popular blogs and social media channels.

So even though I am still not making a livable wage from my books, I have had a definite upward trend since releasing my first novel, and I have no intentions of slowing down.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am an independent author of speculative fiction (sci-fi, fantasy, dystopian, magical realism.) I write stories that amplify underrepresented voices, as a Latina myself, this brings be a great sense of pride. I’m most known for my debut novel, Stars Like Acid, a sci-fi dystopian novel with a powerful Latina main character with a healthy dose of feminine rage and LGBTQ representation.
I’m most proud when the right reader finds my novel and the story makes an emotional impact on them. Connecting with readers and making a difference in the book world is what keeps me going.
There a so many powerful and wonderful stories in the world, that it makes it hard to stand out, but I do feel that I have a unique voice and really enjoy blending genres and writing outside the box.

Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
My childhood was largely unsupervised (my parent was a young single mother working multiple jobs) and was spent mostly with my aunt, who is only six years older than me, and my four years younger sister. The three of us were pretty good at keeping ourselves entertained, but my favorite memory is when we walked to a parking lot where they were setting off the city fireworks for fourth of July. We laid on the blacktop and watched the explosions up above. We weren’t supposed to be that close, it was a closed off area and we had soot on our faces afterwards. But it was beautiful, and very cool feeling the reverberations on the ground beneath us.

Pricing:

• All of my novels can be purchased online everywhere books are sold, but also on my website at marissalupe.com
• Hardcovers $28-$32
• Paperbacks $18-$20
• eBooks $5-$13
• I also very much appreciate library requests and suggested purchased through your local library.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://marissalupe.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mamarissabooks/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marissalupeauthor/
• Twitter: https://x.com/mamarissabooks
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@mamarissabooks

Image Credits
All pictures were taken by myself or my family.