Editing Abby Jimenez (section)

===Path to publication===

Jimenez began writing fiction during a camping trip to the Boundary Waters in Minnesota, where she improvised a story for her children that she later attempted to develop into a young adult novel. She ultimately discarded the manuscript but continued writing, finding her way to contemporary romance. She submitted work to literary agents and, after a period of rejection, was signed. She spent nine months on submission to publishers — long enough to draft a second novel, ''The Friend Zone'' — before receiving a three-book deal; two offers arrived on the same day.

During the rejection period, Jimenez received consistent industry feedback that publishers were seeking "lighter" fiction. She has described her resistance to that framing as central to her identity as a writer, arguing that romance takes place within the texture of real life and cannot be separated from the serious things that happen to people who fall in love.