Steven Salvatore’s journey to becoming an author wasn’t an easy one. It started in 2006 when Steven wrote their first book as a sophomore writing major at Ithaca. Although Steven jokes that the draft was a scary sight, that book began a process that would continue for nearly a decade, over different manuscripts and characters. Steven started querying literary agents in 2009, constantly starting over upon receiving refusals. Even after nearly three hundred rejections and seven different manuscripts, Steven kept a positive attitude throughout the process, “There’s always something to take away and apply to the next book,” Steven says. “I would completely demolish the story and start from the ground up, sometimes with different characters, just to see what could work.”
In 2019, an agent picked up the second draft of Can’t Take That Away, a novel that addresses themes of queer youth and acceptance. Can’t Take That Away became Steven’s debut, released March 2021 after Steven received a book deal from Bloomsbury YA. The contract also included Steven’s second book, And They Lived…, set to come out in March 2022, a novel that takes place on a college campus Steven says is loosely based on Ithaca. Steven’s third book will be released in spring 2023. As a queer author, Steven is the cofounder of Pride Book Fest, which launched in June 2021. The festival’s panels featured over a hundred LGBT+ authors and creators discussing their work. Steven plans to organize the festival again next Pride Month.
After these young adult contemporary contracts, Steven is ready to move forward with their writing: “I want to try to explore different ages and genres. I have an idea for a young adult fantasy I want to pitch and an adult book my agent has now.” The road to publishing has been long, but telling the stories of queer youth and the love of writing kept Steven going.