June CL Tan hopes readers will find their own meaning in her debut novel, Jade Fire Gold (HarperTeen). Pointing out that each reader interprets a book through their own lens, she explains, “Even if I set out to write an allegory based on colonialism, colorism, and discrimination in our world, someone who reads it might be like, ‘Zutara!’ ” she jokes, referencing a popular “ship,” or fandom pairing, from the Nickelodeon cartoon Avatar: The Last Airbender—a common audience association for her book. “And that’s perfectly fine! Whoever reads it will take whatever they want from it.”

Tan was raised in Singapore before relocating to pursue a graduate degree in cinema studies in New York City, where she still lives. In late 2015, she set out to pen a xianxia, or Chinese folklore–inspired high fantasy, based on the media of her childhood, incorporating elements and tropes—a weighty glance, a meaningful wrist grab, flirting via fighting—often found in wuxia (low-fantasy Chinese martial arts films), historical dramas, and literature.

Since The Last Airbender also bears several East Asian influences—including references to Chinese culture, martial arts, and philosophy—Tan figured it would be a more recognizable comp for the Ameri-centric publishing industry than, say, Jin Yong’s Legend of the Condor Heroes series.

The journey to publication, however, proved “extremely long and weird.” After completing the first draft in 2017, Tan took part in the #DVPit pitch event on Twitter, and though it led to a few requests from agents, she ultimately did not sign with anyone. Subsequently, she applied to and was accepted for Pitch Wars and signed with an agent by the end of that year. (Tan has since switched agents; she is currently represented by Laura Rennert of Andrea Brown Literary.)

The novel didn’t sell in its first round of submissions. Editors said they liked the writing but found the YA fantasy market saturated, or noted that they “had another book like this” on their list—“coded language that reflected the industry’s treatment of Asia as a monoculture,” Tan notes.

Toward the end of 2018, another hurdle arose: Tan was diagnosed with cancer (she is now in remission). Revising during chemotherapy proved draining, and she decided to tell her agent to submit again. Though there were some similar “market”–based rejections, Tan received an offer in July 2019 from Blink, an imprint of Zondervan, which is owned by HarperCollins. “And then my editor quit at the end of 2019, and in early 2020, just before the pandemic started, I got a call saying that the imprint was restructuring and that they would not be releasing their YA titles,” Tan recounts. “In other words, Jade Fire Gold wasn’t going to be published in fall 2020 as originally intended.”

A few months later, the novel found its new home and editor, Alice Jerman at HarperTeen, who was enthusiastic about the book. Still, Tan says, “it was a very stressful few months; it felt like my dream was suddenly snatched away.”

Because of the tumultuous process, Tan only truly delved into edits when she began working with Jerman. “Alice gave me great insight about strengthening the relationships between my characters and giving more depth to the worldbuilding,” Tan says. “She understood the story I wanted to tell, and her love for it really motivated me to grow my craft as a writer.”

Now that Jade Fire Gold is finally out, reader enthusiasm means more to Tan than critical accolades. Fans have shown her their playlists inspired by the book, fan art, magnets, merch, and even candle designs. “I think there’s always a moment where readers reach out and the writer is like, ‘Everything I went through was worth it’—because someone else either understood the book or got something from it that meant something to them,” Tan muses.

Meanwhile, Tan is already dreaming up new realms: “My next YA novel is a contemporary fantasy featuring exorcists in an Asian city; it has to do with the Chinese underworld. If you watch anime, it’s kind of like Bleach meets Blue Exorcist meets Noragami and Jujutsu Kaisen, with a little bit of Tokyo Ghoul. How am I going to pitch that to any publisher?” she asks with a laugh. “I’m still figuring out that part.”