Notes on an internship: Mae
Hi, my name is Mae, and I have been working as an intern at Mushens Entertainment for two weeks. This experience has only cemented my decision to study English Literature at university and progress into the publishing industry. At first, like many others, I was a little nervous to begin working in an area I previously knew little about, but everyone here has been tremendously helpful and kind, offering me help whenever I was struggling or had questions. I found that the environment was very comfortable and bright, with insightful chats about authors and current news providing an entertaining background to my work, whilst also giving me more of an interactive internship. My schedule was also amazing! I was provided with a range of tasks that covered a few of the many things that agents do, from admin work to reading manuscripts and writing reports that could be sent back to authors with feedback.
Overall, it has been very interesting learning about the different sections of the publishing industry, and how they fit in together to result in the publication of a novel. I had a couple of meetings with Emma about this, and it was intriguing to hear about the life of a book from submission to publication, and the processes of selling a book. Additionally, on one of the days I worked from home, a webinar was held, and everyone discussed their career journeys, and how they each progressed into their current roles. This was a really helpful conversation, as it gave me an insight on how to approach entering the industry.
My first task was to read a manuscript, which ended up being a fantasy novel after Emma asked me about my favourite genres. The novel was spectacular, and I loved the writing style of the author, so this definitely helped when I was writing up my reader report as I enjoyed it so much. This report included constructive feedback and my own thoughts on things like character development, or if there was anything that was a little bit confusing to understand. I liked this task because I learnt how to read a book in a style I hadn’t considered before, and it allowed me to delve more into the presentation of the characters and the setting. Any questions I had regarding this task were handled by Emma, who gave me examples of previous reports to read through in case I needed any help with the structure. Furthermore, after writing it up, we went through it together, pointing out the highlights of my report, and sections that needed some improvements, which I found very helpful. I also liked being a part of the process of publishing a book.
Finally, Alba and Catriona talked to me about Foreign Rights, and the tasks they do, which I found very interesting. I liked hearing about different parts of the publishing industry which I had previously known little about. They both explained the concept of co-agents (who work to sell books to publishers in a particular foreign territory, or territories, in this case on behalf of UK agencies) and why it isn’t just one agency working across the entire international market, as genre popularity and style varies from country to country. I also sat in on a team meeting one day, and it was interesting to learn more about the updates from each member of the Mushens team, and how busy the schedule is. What I liked most about this was probably discussing international contracts, and potential authors that might be offered representation.
I’m so grateful to have spent these past few weeks working with Emma, Juliet, Rachel, Catriona, and Alba, everyone has made me feel so welcome, and I looked forward to coming in every day! I appreciate being given the opportunity to witness the behind-the-scenes action behind the editing, publishing, and promoting a book, and I hope that my hands-on experience will help me further my ability to appreciate this process. Thank you so much to the amazing team who made my experience truly wonderful!