Notes on an internship: Esmée

Hi, my name is Esmée, and I spent two days as an intern at Mushens Entertainment. As a GCSE student who has been a keen reader from a young age, I was very interested in the world of publishing. I have learnt so much in the past two days and am glad to have been welcomed into such a nice and kind space. 

On the first day, I attended a meeting listing updates from the week before during which I was bombarded with many new terms and phrases used in publishing, which the team helped explain to me. Then, I was given the task to read a manuscript and feed back my notes. Finally, I had a one-to-one meeting with Emma talking about roles in publishing and what they do, what I should look out for when reading submissions, and writing feedback and editorial notes. I really enjoyed the first day as it helped me to understand many publishing terms, as well as the many different roles there are in the publishing world.

 On the second day, I attended a meeting in which the team looked at authors submissions. After that, I attended an introduction to foreign rights meeting, which is something that interested me as I love languages. The meeting covered how foreign rights are influenced by other countries’ cultures and references. We also covered the advantages of learning a language and the roles that foreign rights have within a literary agency, as well as the key events of the year for the team. I enjoyed the second day a lot as it really put into perspective what can happen if a book goes big internationally and how my love for languages can tie into publishing.

Working as an intern at Mushens Entertainment taught me the many different areas of publishing and the way in which the industry works. I’ve learnt how to read manuscripts and what to look out for, how to write good notes and how submissions can fit into certain spaces in the book market, as well as how foreign rights helps push books onto markets outside of the UK and US. Overall, I found this experience extremely interesting and fun to do.

I am so grateful to have been given an opportunity like this due to the kind and welcoming atmosphere and the helpful nature of the people who work here. I loved it, thank you!