Sapph-Lit has acquired our first book! Here's everything you need to know.

I have been holding in this secret since December and I can FINALLY talk about it almost 6 months later.

SATURN RETURNING was the very first pitch Sapph-Lit received in our previous round of Pitch Fest, our FIRST round of Pitch Fest! It truly feels like the universe gave this manuscript to me on a silver platter and told me to seize this opportunity, that this is what I've been waiting for. I posted a snippet of the pitch letter to Bindery for our publishing community team to give feedback on, and it won the poll with 13 votes total. 13 is my lucky number, so again, I had to listen!!

When I read the first chapter of the manuscript, I instantly knew that this was something special. I ignored all my work responsibilities and read the rest of the manuscript, all 91K words, all 258 pages, in one sitting. I could not put it down, I simply had to know what happens next!!! All to say: the Bindery community really knows my taste a little too well.

I emailed Bindery to let them know this was the book I wanted, and the whirlwind began. I met with Kim over Zoom, and we found out that we both horseback ride at the same barn with the same trainer in Brooklyn! What a small world! I immediately trusted a fellow horse girl, not gonna lie, it was a major green flag. Over the next few months, Bindery negotiated the deal with Kim's agent and just yesterday the contract was officially signed <3

Since we're shooting for a Spring 2026 publication date, we began the editorial process in good faith last month, and the cover design meeting just happened!! I can't wait to share our inspiration with you all, it's going to be absolutely stunning and I want your feedback!!

🪐 What is SATURN RETURNING about?

SATURN RETURNING follows three queer best friends tangled in an unexpected love triangle that forces them to confront decades-buried truths, and which threatens to tear apart the chosen- family they've spent years creating.

Trace, Jordan and Silvia have been friends for a decade when their Saturn Return begins. Jordan, a photographer in New York, has always been the third wheel to Trace and Silvia’s tumultuous romance, but at the outset of SATURN RETURNING, she is thrown off balance when Trace calls her just before Christmas to admit her hidden love. Days later, Silvia shows up unannounced at Jordan’s door, livid with her fiancé Trace, and unusually emotional. Jordan and Silvia spend the holidays together in the city—at first tip toeing around the fact of Trace, and eventually shaking loose a decade of unspoken tension.

Back in the early aughts, Jordan enters her freshman year at McCallen College, a small ‘hidden ivy’ in the Midwest. There she first meets Trace, an RA who exudes a confidence Jordan is in awe of, and Silvia, a mystical femme who isn’t afraid to take up space. When Trace and Silvia start dating, it solidifies their friendship trifecta. Ten years later, as Silvia, Trace and Jordan unwind the links of their codependent friendships, they each begin to ask what future they truly want for themselves, and what they’ll need to break to achieve it.

The novel SATURN RETURNING is told from three perspectives in alternating timelines, exploring the human search for connection and love, the bounds of queer friendship, and the pressure that aging puts on our closest relationships. SATURN RETURNING shows the beauty and power of queer family and proves that the family you make can hurt you just as much as the one you're born into.

SATURN RETURNING has the messy queer friendship of Jenny Fran Davis’s Dykette, and the tender coming-of-age of Haley Jakobson’s Old Enough. The upmarket, lyrical prose will be familiar to fans of Celeste Ng and Lily King. SATURN RETURNING’s propelling structure is reminiscent of Liz Moore’s The God of the Woods, painting a larger picture as the story unfolds.

🪐 So what does this mean for your Bindery membership?

Bindery Babes, our $5 tier, will receive an e-ARC of SATURN RETURNING when it's available. You'll also access exclusive Bindery content that shares insight into the publishing process (design, editorial, etc.) including snippets from the manuscript.

Sapph-Lit Producers, our $12 tier, will be sent a physical copy of the ARC right to their doorstep! You'll access all the content Bindery Babes get, but you'll also get invited to monthly publishing Zoom meetings to get updates on the process straight from me! Maybe you'll even get to meet our amazing author Kim <3 The most exciting part of course, is that your name will be printed in the acknowledgements section of the book, because none of this would be possible without your support!!

Let me know if you have any questions for me, for Kim, for the Bindery team! I can't wait for you to read SATURN RETURNING 🪐 This is all so surreal, pinch me!! xx Nina