Notes on an Internship: Shabnom
We were delighted to be joined in the office by Shabnom, who has been interning with us for the last two weeks! She’s been an enthusiastic and warm addition to the team, and we’ve absolutely loved having her. Read about her experience as an intern at Mushens Entertainment here…
My time at Mushens Entertainment was my first experience of the world of agenting, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. The lovely team made me feel so welcome straight away, and the new office is such a nice environment to work in!
In my time at Mushens Entertainment, I learned about all aspects of how the publishing industry works. Interning at a small agency meant that I was able to work alongside everyone as opposed to just one department, and it was particularly interesting to be able to see the process of agenting for both fiction and non-fiction, as these can be quite different. I learnt such an incredible amount in a short space of time, from foreign rights to negotiating deals as well as the process of choosing submissions and taking on authors. It was a busy couple of weeks as October is typically taken up with the Frankfurt Book Fair, which is a very big deal when it comes to foreign rights! We have also had seminars on everything from book auctions to international co-agents, which has been fascinating. Most of all, the team were always happy to answer my questions no matter how busy the week became, and as a result I really have gained an in-depth insight into book publishing.
I got to read exciting new manuscripts, and one of my favourite tasks was providing feedback and bouncing ideas around with the team. I’ve learned to be confident with my ideas and suggestions for a text because I’ve learned just how editorial and involved agents can be with the text, shaping the vision for a book as well as making it the best possible writing it can be. I was also seriously impressed with how fast agents can read a manuscript and understand exactly what it needs, which definitely comes with experience!
It was really interesting to see just how collaborative an agent and author’s relationship can be. The right agent will not just help an author to shape a manuscript, but guide their long-term careers, so it is very much about trust and having a shared vision. I’m also impressed by the sheer breadth of the work agents do, from negotiating contracts, chasing finances, selling publication rights to individual international territories, and finding TV and film adaptation opportunities. It is definitely a role that requires you to use a lot of varied skills and work with a lot of different people to take a book from its very first state all the way to publication and beyond.
Ultimately, Mushens Entertainment has been a wonderful agency to work with, with an incredible author list and a team of extremely talented agents, and I’ll be forever grateful that I had the opportunity to work here.