"Connection not competition" + 18 Literary Agencies That Accept Interns & Advice on Landing Those Roles! | Part II
Zoe-Aline Howard and Cassie Mannes Murray talk about their literary careers
Catch up on Part I of this interview here:
What experiences (internships, classes, etc.) prepared and qualified you for your roles as a literary agent and literary publicist?
ZH: The many, many prongs of the creative writing program, taking everything I could on subjects as widely as I could, and I listened more than I spoke (which, of course, has its own merits and downsides). More than specific courses, I can think of assignments that sparked entire behaviors that are part of my work day: an essay I wrote breaking down the branding at Knopf that set me up to track fit at imprints (and among editors); an anthology proposal drafted for a “Diversity in Publishing” course, that framed both the look of a proposal for me and urged me to look for market gaps; baby’s first media list building during my internship at Lookout Books; and honestly, filtering workshop critique into applicable and… noise? Working in publishing, every day is more no than yes, and while I’d hesitate ever to claim thick skin, I can filter feedback into what will grow a book’s potential and what will change an author’s vision.
I always recommend getting on Linkedin (or Twitter, or wherever you find and build your community), and cold-message or cold-email folks with the jobs that you might want.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to ONLY POEMS to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.