Emma Dawson: Twelve Things I’ve Learnt in Twelve Months

Emma Dawson, Assistant to Juliet Mushens, explores twelve things that she learnt in her first twelve months at Mushens Entertainment

1.        I’ve learnt that I thrive when I’m given a 360 degree look at the whole of the publishing industry. I love our regular seminars. We can request that Juliet talk to us about any publishing topic that we’re interested in and ask any questions that we like!

2.        I’ve learnt that collaborative offices make us better agents. We’re a small team that work really closely together at ME, so we generally know what each agent is working on. Therefore, it’s not likely that an agent will offer representation, for instance, to an author without at least some of the team having read and discussed their work. Generally, you get the expertise of multiple people at ME, rather than only the expertise of your agent, which I think is ideal.

3.        I’ve learnt that collaborative offices also provide more learning opportunities for junior team members. We regularly discuss submissions, whether to offer representation, and editorial feedback as a group, alongside exploring every other publishing-related question under the sun, so there is abundant opportunity to expand your knowledge.

4.        And finally, due to working closely with Alba and Catriona in the Foreign Rights and having attended the London Book Fair for the first time, I now fully understand how selling international rights works works!

5.        Most meetings in our offices happen in our sofa area, rather than in a meeting room, which means that you can hear all the intriguing things that our visitors have to say about publishing. So I’ve learnt that I can split my brain between work/the meeting and focus on both and you’d be amazed at the sheer amount that you can learn from overhearing conversations.

6.        I’ve learnt that there are far more income streams available to authors than selling book rights, or film & TV rights.

7.        Mushens Entertainment’s partnership with US-based Azantian Literary Agency to sell their foreign rights has also been educational, as I’ve never worked for an agency that co-agented before. ME and Azantian are such a fantastic fit for each other and it’s intriguing to see how the co-agenting process works.

8.        When you go to book festivals, I think that almost everybody finds them overwhelming to some degree. There’s so many events and endless networking, so my top recommendations are: bring snacks and where possible, take breaks, or naps!

9.        Another critical learning around literary festivals and fairs is to book everything ridiculously in advance.  Otherwise, you will find to your horror that all the accommodation/tickets/restaurant reservations are booked up! It’s competitive out there.

10.  I have formed a lot of strong opinions in the last year about which bookshops are the best destinations for book launches. My favourite so far is Daunt Books Holland Park because it gives you lots of room to move around, while still feeling cosy.  

11.  Thanks to the amazing book recommendations from the ME team, I have discovered that I enjoy reading lots of books that I never would have chosen for myself. Therefore, I’ve learnt to give a wider range of books a chance before deciding that they are not for me!

12.  Our office is in Shoreditch and arguably my most critical learning is to fear the local cyclists. They literally appear out of nowhere at the speed of light! They’ve taught me to proceed with the utmost caution and then you’ll reach your destination safely.