How To Build a Fiction Platform That Lasts w/ Camy Tang
This post was adapted from Writing Off Social: The Podcast, Episode 61. You can listen in here!
If you’re a fiction writer who’s quietly wondering whether it’s actually possible to sell books without living on social media, you’re not alone—and you’re not imagining the tension. For many authors, especially those writing faith-forward fiction, social platforms can feel draining, distracting, and strangely disconnected from the kind of work God has called them to do.
Camy Tang is living proof that another way is possible. A USA Today best-selling author of more than twenty-four books, Camy writes Christian contemporary romance and romantic suspense—stories she affectionately describes as “romance with a kick of wasabi.” After stepping away from social media, she didn’t lose momentum. Instead, she built a deeply relational, reader-centered approach to marketing that leans into her strengths, her interests, and her readers’ genuine curiosity.
What makes Camy’s strategy so compelling isn’t just that it works—it’s that it feels humane. Through blogging, Patreon, and Kickstarter, she invites readers into the world of her stories in creative, thoughtful ways that don’t rely on algorithms or constant online noise. Her approach offers fiction writers a powerful reminder: sustainable growth doesn’t come from doing everything. It comes from doing the right things, in the right way, for the people you’re called to serve.
Camy’s relationship with social media
Camy shared that she went “cold turkey” on Facebook after discovering Writing Off Social. She still logs in occasionally, but only for a specific reason: some of the multi-author projects she participates in use Facebook Groups for logistics. That’s it.
Her approach is exactly what we’re always talking about here: going on with a purpose, doing what you need to do, and leaving with your peace intact.
Why fiction authors often feel stuck without social media
Camy offered a refreshingly honest perspective: most successful indie authors she knows are active on social media, and the ones who aren’t tend to be big-name traditionally published authors.
So if you’re indie and off social, you’re not imagining it—you do have to be more creative.
Camy put it this way: if you’re going to do this as an indie author without social media, you have to “think outside the box,” and you have to “play to your own individual strengths.”
Strategy 1: Blogging as an evergreen home base
Camy’s blogging approach is a great reminder that a blog doesn’t have to be a content treadmill. For her, it’s more like a “reader extras hub”—a place she can send readers who want to go deeper into her story world.
The purpose of her blog
Camy emphasized something important: blogging doesn’t magically create traffic on its own. In her words, “Blogging itself does not suddenly get you lots of readers on your blog… just like when you start a podcast, you’re not magically going to get lots of listeners.”
So why does she blog? Because readers want more.
They want:
- character extras and Easter eggs
- research tidbits
- author commentaries
- behind-the-scenes details that make the book world feel real
Camy shared an example from her current work-in-progress, The Year of the Dog, set in Hawaii (where she grew up). Her heroine is a dog trainer who runs dogs on a real beach—so Camy went there, took pictures, and posted them on her blog, pointing out details she referenced in the book: the shoreline, the rocks under the water, even the flowers.
This is the kind of content that makes a reader feel like they’re part of something, like they’ve been invited into the story instead of just handed a product.
Control is part of the magic
Camy’s blog lives at blog.camyTang.com. That matters because she controls it. She owns the domain. She decides what stays up, what it looks like, and where it points.
And because she owns it, she can link to those posts from her newsletter and from anywhere else she chooses—without worrying about a platform changing the rules.
Strategy 2: A “top of funnel” blog strategy that doesn’t feel like marketing
Here’s where Camy gets brilliantly specific.
She doesn’t just blog about writing. She blogs about something she genuinely loves—and then uses that interest to bring brand-new people into her world.
Knitting + fiction = a surprisingly powerful bridge
Camy loves knitting. She’s not trying to be a knitting influencer. She’s simply leaning into something she enjoys. She knew about Ravelry.com, a massive knitting platform with a huge pattern database. And she realized: knitters actively search for patterns all the time. That makes it a perfect “top of funnel” traffic source.
So she did something wildly creative.
In her Lady Windwood Spies books, her heroine wears a coral-orange lace shawl. Camy found an antique pattern, knit the shawl, then published the full knitting pattern on her blog—complete with photos, instructions, and charts.
Then she posted the pattern link on Ravelry. That post got “tons of hits,” because the audience already existed and was already looking for that exact kind of content.
Why the audience overlap matters
Sandy pointed out a really key detail here: Camy understood the connection between the hobby and her ideal reader. People who like lace shawls are often drawn to historical aesthetics—and may be more likely to enjoy historical romance.
Not everyone will convert, of course. But as Camy explained, this is the wide end of the funnel. The goal is to draw in a broad audience and let a percentage “trickle down” into book readers.
How Camy gently guides traffic toward her books
Camy doesn’t hide the fact that the pattern is connected to a fiction series. She adds:
- a graphic at the top explaining the shawl is featured in her Lady Windwood Spies series
- a graphic at the end inviting readers to read the book (including a “read this book for free” option)
And once that post is live, it becomes passive marketing. She doesn’t have to keep feeding it every day. It just keeps working.
Strategy 3: Patreon for fiction readers who want “early access”
When Sandy asked about Patreon, Camy’s answer was basically: fiction readers love to read ahead. She got the idea by watching litRPG authors who post serialized chapters publicly, then offer early-access chapters through Patreon. Readers pay because they don’t want to wait.
Why Patreon fits Camy’s story structure
Camy’s Lady Windwood Spies isn’t a typical historical romance series where each book stands alone. She intentionally wrote it with an overarching story arc—more like fantasy or sci-fi—where the full arc resolves at the end.
She even calls it a serial novel rather than a series so readers understand what they’re committing to.
That structure makes Patreon a natural fit.
What Camy’s Patreon tiers look like
Camy has four tiers:
- $5 tier: early access to chapters in the current book
- $15 tier: audiobooks
- $25 tier: book boxes sent three times a year
- Highest tier: a custom short story written once per year
She posts chapters as she writes them. When the book is complete, Patreon subscribers also receive a free copy of the ebook.
Camy isn’t pitching Patreon as a magic jackpot. But it is steady: she earns around $150/month from patrons who want early access or simply want to support her work.
And the bigger win? It builds reader investment. People feel like they’re part of the process.
Strategy 4: Kickstarter to fund audiobooks and offer special editions
Camy originally looked at Kickstarter because she wanted audiobooks, but the cost felt impossible. A professionally narrated audiobook can cost thousands per book—and she was already deep into a series. Kickstarter became a way to fund that next level of production without going into debt.
How Camy positioned Kickstarter for a genre that doesn’t “usually” win there
Camy noticed something important early on: certain genres perform better on Kickstarter (fantasy, sci-fi, dystopian). Contemporary romance and historical romance? Not as much. So she assumed she couldn’t rely on “Kickstarter discovery.” She would have to bring her people with her.
Treating Kickstarter like a book launch
Camy introduced the idea months ahead of time through her website and newsletter (which she sends twice per month—no constant hype spiral).
She shared:
- Early announcements
- Polls about rewards
- Sneak peeks of add-ons
- Cover reveals
- Previews of reward tiers
When the Kickstarter launched, her audience already understood what it was and why it mattered.
The reward that shocked her
Camy thought readers wanted a book box (because the poll said so). But when it came time to pledge, the book box didn’t do well. The thing that sold “like gangbusters”?
A special edition hardcover of book one.
She invested in details that made it feel truly collectible: a new double-sided dust jacket, upgraded interior formatting, and full-color chapter headers. She also offered a special edition paperback exclusive to Kickstarter. And that exclusivity was key. It gave readers a reason to go back there instead of waiting for the regular release elsewhere.
Removing friction with a walkthrough video
Because her audience was new to Kickstarter, Camy hired someone to create a walkthrough video explaining:
- How to create a Kickstarter account
- How to pledge
- How to cancel a pledge
That kind of support may sound small, but it removes fear, especially for readers who don’t consider themselves “techy.”
Where her backers came from
For Camy, the majority of backers came from her newsletter—not from Kickstarter browsing. That’s a huge reminder for authors: email lists still matter. A lot.
The real takeaway: Borrow what works, keep what fits you
Camy said something that will probably relieve a lot of writers: “All these ideas, they’re not mine.” She watched what other authors were doing, took what worked, and adapted it to her strengths. And she only chose strategies she enjoys. She’s not forcing herself into platforms that don’t fit. She’s building a marketing system that feels like her.
That’s the heart of Writing Off Social, right there.
A small first step you can take today
If you’re feeling that “overwhelmed in a good way” feeling, Camy’s advice is simple:
Start with what brings you joy—and what you already know.
Ask yourself:
- What do I genuinely enjoy doing?
- What communities already exist around that interest?
- Where do those people gather online (forums, databases, niche platforms)?
- What could I create that serves that community and naturally points back to my books?
Camy’s point was this: you don’t have to be an expert. You just need experience. And you’re often the only person who knows the specific overlap between your hobby, your world, and your story.
Keep Exploring What’s Possible
If you want to explore her work more deeply, you can find Camy and her books at camytang.com, where she shares her contemporary romantic suspense, and at camilleelliot.com, home to her Regency-era romantic suspense written under her pen name. Both sites offer a glimpse into how she invites readers into her story worlds beyond the pages of a book.
Camy has also shared that she’ll be posting the full breakdown of the insights she emailed after the Novel Marketing Conference on her blog at storysensei.com. If you were intrigued by her strategies around blogging, Patreon, or Kickstarter, that’s a great place to continue learning from her experience.
Several of the tools and ideas Camy mentioned are worth exploring on their own as well. Subscriptions for Authors by Michael Evans offers a practical look at how writers can build recurring income through reader subscriptions, and the Author Ecosystem framework can help you better understand your natural marketing strengths so you can lean into what already works for you.
Camy’s story is a reminder that you don’t need to do everything—or be everywhere—to build a meaningful, sustainable writing career. When you focus on serving your readers well and choose strategies that fit who you are, growth doesn’t just become possible. It becomes enjoyable.
This post was reformatted from our original transcript by ChatGPT and edited for accuracy by Mary K.
