Today we’d like to introduce you to Rae Scott.
Hi Rae, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My literary journey began in January 2021 while quarantining and caring for my newborn and toddler during the pandemic. At this point in my life, I was dealing with postpartum depression, and reading was the only thing that kept me mentally stimulated.
So I created an IG account dedicated to books just to have a place to express my thoughts and feelings about the many books I was reading. I didn’t expect to grow a following or have any of my posts go viral, so I was surprised to have found a diverse community of book lovers from all over the world.
The bookstagram community sparked my creativity, and my love for books led me back to another art form — writing. I began writing poetry in 2018, but when I was dealing with postpartum depression, writing became a safe haven.
By June of 2021, I realized that my collection of poetry flowed effortlessly into a story about resilience in the face of adversity. When I made the decision to publish my book, I was able to use the connections that I made through bookstagram to find a team to help me polish my work and put it out into the world.
My book Through Blood & Becoming tells my birth stories and proceeds through my experience of overcoming postpartum depression and adjusting to motherhood. It also talks about what it means to be a mother raising black boys in a place like Baltimore. I use my bookstagram account @poetraebooks to share diverse stories and celebrate black literature.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Publishing my book was more than a goal, it was an assignment. When I made the decision to publish, the universe placed every step of the process right in front of me, and all I had to do was kept walking, trust the process, and see it through. With the help of my team, Mahogany Pen Publishing, the processes of editing, designing, and formatting were time-consuming but still pretty simple.
However, I had to put in the work for marketing and promoting. Thankfully, I already had a community of readers and book lovers at my fingertips. The bookstagram community along with my family supported me in a major way and my book was able to hit the bestsellers list on Amazon in many categories.
Through Blood & Becoming peaked at #1 in the Black & African American Poetry category and #2 in the Mental Health/Postpartum Depression category. I never doubted for a second that this book would be a success because of the way this opportunity fell into my lap. This is what they mean when they say, “what’s meant for you will never miss you.”
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I spent 5+ years of my life working for a local financial institution just to be denied maternity leave because I had already used the (unpaid) time off at the beginning of the COVID pandemic. Because of this, I left my job and stayed home to care for my two baby boys.
As unfortunate as it was to lose a job that helped me provide so much for my family, it gave me the opportunity to work for myself while spending time with my kids and being in control of their development. It also lit a fire under me to advocate for women’s equality as it pertains to our reproductive abilities.
In July, I will be launching a research initiative called “The Wombanity Project” which will be dedicated to understanding women’s relationships with our bodies and our experiences with the reproductive phenomena that take place inside us.
The end result will be a nonfiction book about the research that I gathered and will share the stories of women all over the world. My bookstagram platform will also introduce more bookish merchandise for the book lovers like myself. Along with Through Blood & Becoming, we created and launched a limited edition companion journal “Through BLANK & Becoming” that guides the reader through their own personal growth journey.
We’ll be releasing more journals and reading planners later this year. I’m also working on a collection of children’s books to promote positive images for black children to see themselves and feel pride and appreciation for their culture.
We strive to create a more authentic reading experience by collaborating with artists of color, and publishers who are also committed to creating positive and genuine images for our children. I love literature, and I love contributing to this industry because I found freedom in this space. My plan is to continue to push diverse stories forward for as long as I can.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
When I attended Baltimore City College High School, we were required to so many read classic books from notable black authors including Ernest Gaines, Richard Wright, August Wilson, Zora Neale Hurston, Octavia Butler, and more. But it wasn’t until I joined bookstagram that I realized that this was a privilege that many communities of color did not have.
There are people who don’t know how much they would love reading, simply because they never picked up a book that they could relate to, and that’s so unfortunate. I credit City High School for introducing me to black literature and I credit bookstagram for holding me accountable for sharing and supporting these diverse stories.
The bookstagram community is a beautiful, diverse group of content creators who are driven by their love for books and deserve to be recognized and appreciated as the innovative culture drivers of the publishing industry. It’s important to remember that literature is more impactful when diverse stories are being told by the same people who lived those experiences.
If there’s one thing the world needs now more than ever — it’s empathy. Reading promotes empathy, and reading stories written by someone that belongs to a different race or culture can help you see the world from their perspective and broaden your own perspective about the world we all occupy TOGETHER. #cityforever
Contact Info:
- Website: poetraebooks.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/poetraebooks/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/poetraebooks
- Other: poetraebooks.com/thewombanityproject
