photo: Joan Beard
Justin Kramon is the author of the novel Finny, which Random House is publishing in July, 2010. A graduate of Swarthmore College and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Justin’s fiction has appeared in Glimmer Train, Story Quarterly, Fence, Boulevard, and TriQuarterly. He has received honors for his fiction from the Michener-Copernicus Society of America, the Hawthornden International Writers’ Fellowship, The Best American Short Stories, and the Bogliasco Foundation. Now twenty-nine years old, he lives in Philadelphia. You can find additional information about Justin and his work at Justin’s website: www.justinkramon.com.
Hi, Justin-
I think your blog is incredibly helpful. Thank you for sharing all of this wonderful knowledge and your personal experiences. I’m currently working on some writing and internet (podcast, website) projects and look forward to referring back to this great information from time to time.
-Susan
(Gotham student of Justin’s)
Hi Susan,
So glad it’s helpful. Please feel free to post comments or questions anytime, and I’ll do my best to reply to them.
-Justin
Hi, Justin-I think your blog is incredibly helpful. Thank you for sharing all of this wonderful knowledge and your personal experiences. I’m currently working on some writing and internet (podcast, website) projects and look forward to referring back to this great information from time to time.-Susan(Gotham student of Justin’s)
+1
Hi Justin,
I wanted to say that you provide great advice. I’ve done quite a bit of research and you provide wisdom and care in your posts. You’re very modest too! Something of a rarity these days.
Please continue the good work. Writers like me appreciate it.
About myself, I’ve written 2 books and have submitted them to the Faulkner contest, so we’ll see what happens. I’m currently writing furiously sending out short stories to various contests. I think getting that recognition is key to getting published in literary magazines for regular non contest submissions. For money, I’m a lecturer at a university in Korea, but off to do my PhD in linguistics at U Wisconsin.
I’ll check out your upcoming book, too. I like the premise. Thank you so much again for your helpful advice (especially the editors and agents comments. you really went above and beyond what others do).
Cheers,
Rian
Rian,
This comment makes me really happy. I’m so glad the information on the blog is proving useful for people. Thank you so much for taking the time to write me about this.
Regarding what you said about contests, I agree that they help writers get recognition. But I’d also just mention that, in my experience, I actually started publishing in journals before I won any awards. (And I still haven’t really won any contests.) I always found it helpful to try everything — contests, regular submissions, residencies, awards, etc, etc. It’s so hard to predict where you’ll be able to break in, so I just wanted to maximize my chances.
If any specific questions come up while you’re submitting, please feel free to post them on the blog, and I’ll offer any info I have. Good luck with your submissions, Rian. It sounds like you’re doing it in a serious way, and I think you’ll get results.
All best,
Justin