Editing Amy Tan (section)

=== The Joy Luck Club ===
Early in 1985, Tan began writing her first novel, ''[[The Joy Luck Club (novel)|The Joy Luck Club]]'', while working as a business writer. She joined a writers' workshop, the [[Community of Writers]]<ref>https://amytan.net/bio-1</ref> in Olympic Valley, CA, to refine her draft. She submitted a part of the draft novel as a story titled 'Endgame' to the workshop''.'' Before attending the program, Tan read [[Louise Erdrich]]'s [[Love Medicine]] and was "amazed by her voice... [she] could identify with the powerful images, the beautiful language, and such moving stories." Later, many critics compared Tan to Erdrich. Author [[Molly Giles]], who was teaching at the workshop, encouraged Tan to send some of her writing to magazines. Tan credits Giles with guiding her to the end of writing the book. It began with Giles' seeing a dozen stories in the 13 page draft submitted to the program. Stories by Tan, drawn from the manuscript of ''The'' ''Joy Luck Club'', were published by both FM Magazine and ''[[Seventeen (American magazine)|Seventeen]],'' although a story was rejected by [[The New Yorker|the ''New Yorker'']]''.<ref name=":1" />''

After the acceptances and a rejection, Tan joined a new San Francisco writers' group led by Giles.''<ref name=":1" />'' Giles recommended Tan to academic-turned agent Sandra Dijkstra, in 1987. In May of that year, an Italian magazine translated and published 'Endgame,' without permission. Dijkstra advised Tan to send her another story; "Waiting Between the Trees" arrived, written as an experiment to decide whether the stories collectively become a novel or a book of short stories. Dijkstra signed up Tan and asked Tan to write a synopsis for the book, along with an outline for other stories.''<ref name=":1" />'' 

Working with Dijkstra, Tan published several other parts of the novel as short stories, before it was sent as a draft novel manuscript. She received offers from several major publishing houses, including A.A. Knopf, Vintage, Harper & Row, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Simon and Schuster, and Putnam Books, but she declined them all, as they offered compensation that she and the agent considered to be insufficient.<ref name=":1" /> Tan eventually accepted a second offer from [[G. P. Putnam's Sons]] for $50,000 in December 1987.<ref>{{Cite news|last=McDowell|first=Edwin|date=1989-04-10|title=THE MEDIA BUSINESS; First Novelists With Six-Figure Contracts (Published 1989)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/10/business/the-media-business-first-novelists-with-six-figure-contracts.html|access-date=2020-11-06|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> ''The Joy Luck Club'' consists of eight related stories about the experiences of four [[Chinese American|Chinese–American]] mother–daughter pairs.<ref>{{cite book |title=Contemporary Literary Criticism |date=August 2008 |publisher=Cengage Gale |isbn=978-1-4144-1893-3 |editor1-last=Hunter |editor1-first=Jeffrey W. |volume=257 |chapter=Amy Tan}}{{page needed|date=June 2021}}</ref> Tan dedicated the book to her mother, with the following words: "You asked me, once, what I would remember. This, and much more."<ref name=":4" />

Being a realist, Tan had predicted to her husband that the novel would disappear from the bookstore shelves, after six weeks. She thought that most first novels meet that fate, within that time.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tan |first=Amy |date=2019-04-23 |title=Amy Tan Reflects on 30 Years Since The Joy Luck Club |url=https://lithub.com/amy-tan-reflects-on-30-years-since-the-joy-luck-club/ |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=Literary Hub |language=en-US}}</ref> Putnam Books auctioned the reprint rights in April 1989,<ref>{{Cite news |last=McDowell |first=Edwin |date=1989-04-10 |title=The Media Business: First Novelists With Six-Figure Contracts |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/10/business/the-media-business-first-novelists-with-six-figure-contracts.html |access-date=2024-02-16 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> which were bought by [[Vintage Books]], the trade paperback division of [[Random House]]. Vintage's successful bid was at US$ 1.2 million. However, Random House decided to alter plans, and [[Ivy Books]] was assigned to print the paperback version, first, in the mass-market version, followed by Vintage, for a smaller audience, as a more expensively produced version.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1989-07-13 |title=Paperback-publishing switch surprises industry |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |pages=12}}</ref> When the paperback version came out, its hardcover had already undergone 27 printings, with sales of over 200,000 copies.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Wilson |first=Peter |date=1990-07-14 |title=On common ground: The Joy Luck Club delves into the intensity and distance of the mother-daughter bond |work=The Vancouver Sun |pages=17}}</ref> By 1991, the book had already been translated into 17 languages.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last=Fong-Torres |first=Ben |date=1991-06-12 |title=Can Amy Tan Do It Again? / Publisher, public hoping for a second blockbuster |work=San Francisco Chronicle |pages=B3}}</ref>