Media Kit
SOMETHING OF YOURSELF
A debut novel for the working class.
A coming-of-age story about a young woman’s struggle to grow beyond her working-class roots, yet escape a lifetime of careerism by taking the ultimate risk and pursuing a life that’s true to herself.
A novel encompassing the class disparity, careerism, urban migration, and tech revolution that defined the American Millennial experience.
SOMETHING OF YOURSELF
In 2008, recent college graduate Astoria Lyons is reeling after her professor-turned-lover breaks off their secret relationship, urging her to shed her working-class roots and make something of herself in the world. With the economy in shambles, her journalism dreams dissolve as the industry crumbles nationwide, darkening her outlook.
When offered a job with a digital marketing agency in Nashville, Tennessee—a city thrumming with recession grit and reinvention—she leaps, hoping to build a life defined by a glossy career and a new skyline. But crafting digital banner ads and wading through the shallow end of Music City’s glitzy social scene leaves her disillusioned and lost.
A series of characters only the South could conjure help her learn to navigate the corporate world, gain confidence, and realize that her definition of success may not align with society’s. In a city trading its soul for shine, Astoria must decide whether to pursue a future in Corporate America or forge a path that’s truly her own.
MEET THE CHARACTERS
The Protagonist: Astoria Lyons
Reeling from her recent breakup, she sets out to ‘make something of herself’ because her ex-lover (who was also her professor) told her to, although she’s unsure whether life in a big city with a sexy career will make her happy.
The Free-Spirited Friend: Evie
Wishing to free herself from the expectations of her old-money heritage, she’s moved to Nashville to break as many rules as possible before succumbing to her inevitable debutante destiny (but she’s determined to have a hell of a good time along the way).
The Mentor: Anna Mae Alcott & Jessica Jones
One gets aged out of the advertising industry but still helps Astoria find her way, while the other is hellbent on becoming the first women of color to own a digital marketing agency in Nashville.
The Patriarchal Antagonists: The Professor, Henry Hunter, and the Quintessential Agency Pro
These men own the definition of success, set the rules of engagement, and are keen to tell others (especially young women) how to behave while standing in line.
Place As A Character: Rural & Urban America
Whether via the meth lab or old age, rural America is dying off, while the country’s cities are selling their culture and character to the highest bidder.
EXPLORE THE SETTING
Nashville, Tennessee: A city on the brink of its own transformation, Millennials are flocking to Nashville in 2008 for its thriving economy and vibrant social scene, but all that growth turns some greedy, leading a city to change its face while losing its soul.
Corporate America: In office parks across the country, Millennials shuffle to work wearing skinny jeans and shift dresses; they sit at desks in open workspaces, check new iPhones, and rein in their personalities while manifesting the ‘workplace culture’ they’re adopting as their own.
Rural America: The mill’s closed down, and a meth lab exploded in the trailer park. Most young people have long since left in search of opportunity, culture, and better lives elsewhere, leaving behind boarded-up remnants of a bygone era.
The Great American West: An idea that has conjured the desire for freedom among so many wild spirits, do Americans still dream of riding off into the sunset? Or can we only imagine such a thing if the algorithm serves it to us on our phones ...
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ms. Sapp spent sixteen years working as a brand strategist in marketing agencies across the country.
After drafting her millionth PowerPoint that nobody would ever read, she returned to her lifelong passion of creative writing, circa 2017, when she read Stephen King’s On Writing. In 2018, she joined Jennifer Lauck’s Blackbird Studio for Writers in Portland, Oregon, where she studied for three years. She also participated in The Book Incubator with Mary Adkins.
She still works as a marketing consultant by day and publishes cultural essays and short stories on Substack in her spare time.
Something of Yourself is her first novel.
