Author Camy Tang shares her journey to publication

Camy Tang grew up in Hawaii and worked for years as a biologist/researcher until she felt God’s call to return to the writing that she had loved as a student. She now writes "romance with a kick of wasabi" and, with her husband, is a staff worker with the youth group at her church. Visit her website at www.camytang.com.

Now, Camy shares her journey to publication:

Fiction, non-fiction, or both? Fiction

Genre: Romantic suspense and humorous contemporary romance

How many books have you written? 9

How many of those have been published? 4

Years you've been writing: Longer than dirt. Okay, seriously, I started writing in Junior High or High School, but didn't start writing seriously until I got laid off from my biology job, which was in 2002.

First thing you ever had published: An article published in an ezine, "How to Respond to Negative Critiques: An Alternative to Murder or Weeping Into Your Computer Keyboard." There's a link on my website at the bottom of the News page.

In a paragraph or two, describe what the road to publication was like for you. I know writers hate to hear this, but it was all God's timing. Trust me, I hated hearing that too, but it ended up being totally true.

After I got laid off from my biology job in 2002, I did a lot of research and studying into the craft of writing--I went to conferences, read a lot of books, took online classes. I ended up getting another biology job, and while I worked, I wrote five complete manuscripts and started several more. Then, I quit my job to try writing full time for six months--if I didn't get a contract by the end of the six months, I'd get another biology job--and by the way, my husband was completely okay with this decision, which gets him a gold star! But right at the end of those six months, I finally sold. And my entire journey was God orchestrating each step, each person I met, each book I read, each contact I made, each contest I entered.

If you self-published, what was that process like and would you recommend it? I am actually planning on self-publishing a novella early next year. The fourth Sushi book was never contracted, but a bunch of readers have asked for Jenn's story, so I will be writing a novella for her and having it available as a Print-On-Demand book and as an ebook (the ebook will be available for free for my newsletter subscribers for a limited time, and the POD book will be available for purchase on Amazon.com).

I will be hiring a professional freelance editor to do the large-scale editing, and a professional graphic designer to do the cover and layout. I'm not doing it to make any money--I will probably lose some with the publishing costs--but I wanted to have the book available to loyal readers and maybe gain a few new readers and subscribers to my newsletter YahooGroup.

I think that for my purposes--to reward my loyal readers and gain a few more newsletter subscribers--Print-On-Demand is definitely a good match for what I need. I wouldn't recommend it, however, for anyone hoping to make a lot of money or gain a huge following of readers, unless that person already has a speaking platform. Self-publishing is very expensive.

Did you/do you have an agent and how did you go about acquiring him/her? My agent is Wendy Lawton at Books and Such Literary Agency. I met her at an ACFW conference, where I got a chance to chat with her and figure out if we were a good match personality wise. Books and Such is also one of the most respected agencies in the business. So I queried her, she requested and read my stuff, and then she offered representation--the normal procedure.

Are you a fan of writing contests? Why or why not? I am, because before I was published, I learned a great deal from my contest judges. There is nothing like a completely impartial judge to tell me where my writing is confusing or where I have not engaged the reader. Negative comments always told me so much more than positive ones because the negative comments always pointed out areas I needed to tweak to make my writing resonate more, which opened my writing style up to appeal to a broader range of readers.

Now, I coordinate the ACFW Genesis contest for unpublished writers because I want to give back to the writing community that gave so much to me when I was starting out. The Genesis is the largest contest for Christian fiction, and each entrant gets 3 critiques from carefully selected judges who are either published authors or trained, experienced writers. http://www.acfw.com/genesis

How long was it from the time you first started submitting to editors and/or agents to the time you landed a publishing contract? While I had been writing for a long time, I didn't start submitting until 2003, and I landed my first contract in 2006.

Describe the first time you got "The Call." It actually wasn't as exciting as other authors, because I knew in advance that Zondervan was taking my proposal to committee. When it passed in committee, my agent called and left a message on my answering machine--and yes, I still have that message on my machine!
:)

What do you know now that you wish you knew when you were first starting out? I wish I'd spent more time finding and trying out critique partners. I didn't spend as much time doing that as I should have, and I think my writing wasn't as strong as it could have been if I had. Finding a good critique partner is like dating, and I didn't realize that often it takes a lot of "dates" to find the write partner.

Three books on writing/publishing you'd recommend: Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight Swain--this is my go-to book for basic writing and good story structure. Getting Into Character by Brandilyn Collins--an excellent book on characterization and unique techniques for writing rich, 3-dimensional characters. Writing for Emotional Impact by Karl Iglesias--a fantastic book for
helping writers write with more emotion, which is what keeps readers reading.

How is being published different than you thought it would be? I am surprised at how the publishing industry changes so quickly and how that affects my career. I'm not talking money--I never expected writing to make me a lot of money (in fact, I made more when I was in biology research), so I wasn't disillusioned as to that. But the industry itself is so fluid as to cultural, political, and financial
factors that impact it, and how rapidly the industry changes in response always amazes me. It makes me have to be a more flexible author, I think, which is not a bad thing.

What are two pieces of advice you would give to writers who are desperately seeking publication? (1) I will give the advice I absolutely hated getting: pray because it's all in God's timing, NOT OURS. I think that if we strive for contentment no matter where our careers are, God blesses us abundantly.

(2) Read. I'll say it again: READ. Read books by the publisher you're targeting, or in the genre you're writing, or in genres you're thinking of writing. Read writing craft books. Read research books for your novel so your facts are correct. Read a few marketing books for ideas (don't let them overwhelm you, though). Read writers' email loops for industry information and ideas and opinions, and then form
your own.

Read Lynda's review of Sushi for One, Camy's debut novel

MORE JOURNEY TO PUBLICATION ARTICLES