Author: kgiffin

This summer, I set out on my internship with the goal of gaining insight, experience, and references and resources within the writing industry— an industry I had only ever sought to enter as a writer, but which I have now gotten to know as someone on the publishing end at Harvey Klinger Literary Agency.

While I set out to gain knowledge about the publishing process and what it takes to make it in the industry—and got exactly that—I also gained new knowledge about myself. I learned that, in the workplace, I am not only a committed and talented worker, but a passionate one. The work I did at Harvey Klinger truly felt exciting and personal to me, and it showed me that, in my future career, the work I do should not only ask for this passion from me, but be worth the energy I will put forth.

From this internship, I also came up with new questions for myself about what I want out of a career. As I discussed in my previous blog post, I had a Zoom meeting with my supervisor, Andrea Somberg. During the meeting, I had asked her how I as a writer could fit into or learn from the industry, and she answered honestly that being a writer wouldn’t necessarily contribute to my experience and skills in publishing, and that working in publishing could interfere with the time and energy I could otherwise dedicate to writing, although the level of success and enjoyment those who were both writers and publishing employees achieved really depended on the person.

And so, the questions I ask myself now are, will I prioritize my writing rather than go into publishing, or can I do both? I don’t dream of “working,” but of creating, so what part do I want to play in creating within the literary world? And if I do continue to pursue publishing, what specific positions or departments would most interest me and best allow me to also be dedicated to my writing?

Currently, my career goals have come to include pursuing more internships and fellowships in writing and publishing through college, applying for MFAs in creative writing post-graduation, then seeking either, or both, writing and publishing opportunities with organizations that focus on queer Asian experiences, such as the Asian American Writers’ Workshop.

The advice I would give to future interns at Harvey Klinger is to not stress or overthink the tasks of reading queries. The workplace is extremely easygoing, flexible, and friendly, and the more one trusts their instinct as a reader, and the experience they gain as they read more and more queries, the better and more confidently one will perform. Within the publishing industry in general, I would advise students to not overly romanticize the work they are doing—although it is tempting to do so with literature—to be flexible and easygoing, and to understand where one is a writer, a reader, or fulfills another role entirely, because it is important to not let one’s literary passions overwhelm the task at hand. 

Overall, my experience as an intern this summer at Harvey Klinger Literary Agency was priceless, and I am ever so grateful to the agency, especially Andrea Somberg, for the opportunity and experience, and to the World of Work program for contributing greatly to my educational and career pathway.

A week ago, I had a Zoom call with my boss, literary agent Andrea Somberg, so that we could finally meet each other face-to-face— or as close to it as possible. During the call, I asked her questions about the writing industry, such as the best ways to network and seek education, how she became a literary agent and her daily tasks as one, and more. She gave me the opportunity to develop a realistic idea of what it would be like for me to be in publishing as a career.

The World of Work has differed from academic life in university by requiring me to seek out more specific career goals and as a result develop specialized tasks and workloads, whereas the university has prepared me to have skills and knowledge applicable to a greater variety of academic and career options. Skills I am building as a result of this internship, for instance, include a greater ability to judge and select quality writing, not just based on technical skill, but also on subject matter and agent/industry interest. Learning to understand the role I play between writers and readers has been key to my on-the-job education and development.

The Zoom call with Andrea also allowed me to add a more human aspect to my job, and put a face and voice to a name, so that the work I do feels more personable as I continue to intern virtually this summer.

Working virtually this summer has brought with it the common conveniences of remote working, such as avoiding commutes, more flexible worktimes, creating my own relaxing work environment, and the ability to travel without missing out on my responsibilities. Of course, it also removes the everyday social interaction in the workplace that not only makes networking easier, but also adds an element of excitement to the work routine.

As the internship continues, however, I am looking forward to making the best of the virtual arrangements, and continuing to develop my skills as a literary agent intern as well as networking connections with my boss, and possibly present and future coworkers.

Reading through the queries in my inbox, I’m reminded of my younger self. I wrote these exact letters six years ago, when I attempted to write and publish my second novel. Dreaming of being a writer, I not only worked on writing as a craft, but also began teaching myself everything I would need to know about the industry. Since then, I’ve learned a lot about writing as both—enough that I now find myself here, working as an intern for Andrea Somberg, an agent working for Harvey Klinger Literary Agency in New York City.

Last fall, when applying to spring and summer internships, I had no idea where I wanted to end up or what kind of work I wanted to do. My interests spanned teaching, community organizing and activism, research, curation and conservation, art, and of course, writing. However, I hadn’t taken my writing seriously in a year or two. But I took the chance to apply to a handful of internships in writing, editing, and publishing, and I’m glad I did.

Each morning, I wake up and log into the email account used by the interns, and I open up the folder filled with queries—of historical fiction, fantasy, young adult fiction, memoirs, self-help books, you name it—for me to read through. My very first day on the job, reading the hopeful letters and fresh book ideas of potential authors, I was struck with a sense of excitement. As a writer, I understood the gravity of the words written and felt a fellowship to these people. As a reader, I felt amazed at reading stories never told before and honored to be one of the first to read them. As an anthropology major, I felt joy at being able to witness so many stories from different cultural, geographical, ethnic, racial, gendered, and queered perspectives, to watch the world unfold before me in so many people’s eyes and writing.

At the same time, I understand the responsibility I hold in this position, because I get to have a say in the stories and voices we hear— this means I am able to push forward stories that increase meaningful representation and tell beautiful, unique stories, and weed out stories riddled with queerphobia, racism, misogyny, and the like. This also means, however, that I am responsible for sending rejection emails to writers I decide to pass on, and as a writer, I know both the disappointment and immense growth that comes from such rejection.

Of course, most queries we interns place into the folder of possible queries for Andrea to review will also end up getting rejected by her. But every once in a while, there’s a story that captures her attention. 

One day, she emailed me saying that she had requested to represent one of the books I had read the queries of and flagged for her to read. Although the part I play in reading and relaying may be small, moments like those make it feel larger than life.

As I approach nearly a month through the internship, I imagine what my younger self would think if they knew I was where I am now, working in what is no less than my dream internship, and I plan for the future of this summer, and of my life career. I will continue to learn all I can about writing, to network and gain insight into the writing industry, and to pursue my dreams of being a writer and making a difference in the industry, and one day, I may find myself in Andrea’s place, representing the newest voices in the literary world, or maybe I will find myself in the place of the authors sending queries and eventually getting published.