Diary of an Intern: Gwen
We’re joined on the blog today by the lovely Gwen, who has spent the week interning for us at Mushens Entertainment! Read all about her experience in the office, what it’s like to read submissions, and what she’s learned about the industry.
Hi everyone! My name is Gwen and I have had the pleasure of interning at Mushens Entertainment for the past week. This is my first dip into the book world, and thanks to the wonderful team at ME, I already know I’d like to be back for more!
Like any workplace in the industry, every day at Mushens Entertainment has been different. There are such an interesting range of tasks to be done, whether it’s communicating good news to a client, meeting potential future industry links, or drafting material for the London Book Fair. That’s not to mention all the logistics behind contracts, event planning, and book launches. Mushens Entertainment has been extremely successful at selling rights to their books across various territories, and through working with Liza DeBlock, I’ve had the opportunity to see how rights are sold across international markets through co-agents. I’ve also gained an understanding of how the different pieces of the industry interact: publishers, agents, and scouts, in addition to customers.
Every day at Mushens Entertainment involves submissions reading, where the team look out for authors that they’d like to build long-lasting relationships with. As the team sort through submissions, I have had the privilege of reading a few manuscripts from every genre, whether thriller, historical romance or fantasy. As I read, I take notes that go on to form a basis for discussion with the different agents, as each agent has a different taste and capacity to take new authors on. I have very much enjoyed reading the variety of submissions that the team have received, just as I have enjoyed learning about their varied tastes. I’ve learnt how to express my opinions for the industry and to trust my gut, as well as to always probe further. I’ve also seen exactly how much effort, thought and care goes into every book deal, which has led to a newfound appreciation of the importance of supporting authors where we can!
Above all, I’ve seen the value that a personal touch can bring in this industry. The agents at Mushens Entertainment truly invest into collaborative, long-term, personal relationships with their clients and are involved every step of the way, which leads to a thoroughly fulfilling end product. Through this experience, I have gained so much knowledge on agenting, the book world, and how much of a family a workplace can be. I cannot thank the team at Mushens Entertainment enough for having me!