Juhea Kim
Beasts of a Little Land
(Literary historical, December, Ecco)
“An epic story of love, war, and redemption set against the backdrop of the Korean independence movement.”
Portland, Ore. My literary debut was a short story called “Body Language” in in 2016, followed by another story in . At the time, I was working full-time. I’m grateful for the financial independence that gave me, but I didn’t publish anything new for quite some time. In late 2018, I quit my job. After that, I published many shorter works in rapid succession. the shift in energy was instant because I took a risk to serve my purpose. the first time I talked to my agent, Jody Kahn, about this book, I was nervous that she wouldn’t, in 2016. To my astonishment, she loved my idea. the opening and the last chapters came almost entirely whole; they barely changed through four years of drafting, revising with Jody, and editing with my Ecco editor. I once worked as an editorial assistant for Knopf. After I wrote “Body Language,” I emailed Gail Hochman, whom I got to know at Knopf. She forwarded it to one of her colleagues, Jody. Jody said she loved the story, but would I be up for sending her four additional ones? this was May 2015. I sent her more stories by June. She said she loved them, but would I be up for sending her a short story collection? I hyped myself up and decided, “You can do this!” I delivered that on August 31, 2015. In November, she told me I was incredibly talented, but the stories were all the same and the collection wasn’t salable. I thanked her and offered a different perspective on some of her comments. Jody asked to get on the phone, and toward the end of the call, she said, “Fine, you’ve convinced me.” Trade manuscripts with three or four trusted writers. See where their comments overlap, because if more than one reader is pointing out the same thing, you should fix it. If there was even a slight opening, I put everything I had into it. If you conduct yourself with reliability, respectfulness, and integrity, you will stand out. I would have traded manuscripts with peers earlier! I like the fact that I trust my own instincts, but getting feedback is also priceless. In 2013, I founded , an online magazine at the intersection of sustainable lifestyle and ecological literature and reportage. A lot of fans wrote to congratulate me and to tell me they pre-ordered my novel. Being a writer comes with a responsibility to serve the greater good, and my mission saved me from countless moments of despair. But you can’t just be good-hearted, you have to also put in the work to strengthen your craft. I’m working on an ecological short story collection. After that, I’d like to work on an essay collection, maybe polish the “Body Language” collection, and start my sophomore novel about ballet.
