Monday I arrived at work about half an hour early. My supervisor wasn't there. She was out sick, and so I spent most of the morning reading a manuscript I'd been working on the previous week. As the hours went on, I soon discovered I needed more things to do. I didn't want to look like I had nothing to do, but the truth was I finished all work assigned the previous week. So I scrounged. I read anything I could find. Went through manuscripts, letters, and finally read the book I'd been reading last week. I also attended a meeting and took some notes. With the odd jobs and meeting the day went by very quickly. I had an hour lunch with my core group, during which the 6th and final member finally arrived. Apparently interns start at different times throughout the summer, for some unknown reason. This new girl works in publicity. She says she has not done too much work so far, but as the weeks go by more projects should be assigned to her. I really enjoy the core group experience because each of us interns can talk about our various responsibilities while sharing in the bond of interning. It's nice to learn about other people's projects and their supervisors and their experience in general.
Tuesday my supervisor was back. She still felt ill, but needed to come back to work. I felt bad about asking her for additional projects since she was sick and didn't want to be bothered, but eventually I did find the courage to speak up, and so a few hours later she gave me two huge manuscripts to read. I started reading immediately. And was immediately engrossed by said manuscript. I kept reading it for the rest of the day.
And Wednesday.
Before I talk about Wednesday, however, there was one important meeting I attended Tuesday. This was a meeting for interns specifically, at which the CEO of Penguin spoke to us about having success as an intern and transitioning from intern to employee, if the chance arose. He also provided us with statistics. Shockingly, 82% of employees working for Penguin arewomen. That number amazed me, not because I thought men were more commonly associated with publishing, but that such a high number of employees at Penguin are women in general. I love that fact. It gives me hope that maybe I, too, might make up that 82%, or raise it from 82% to 83%....possibly. I'm not sure if that number applies specifically to Penguin USA or if it is the entire Penguin international organization, but regardless - that number is pretty incredible.
Now on to Wednesday. Wednesday was a slow day. I didn't do much aside from reading. I did go to a meeting in morning and again in the afternoon, but neither meeting lasted too long, so I spent the majority of my day at my desk. I did go out to lunch for a change. One of my friends was visiting, and so she and I met and had a nice lunch at a nearby restaurant.
One of the highlights of that day was that I had the opportunity to email manuscript requests. In my odd jobs of Monday, one of the projects I busied myself with was going through the slush pile. Two manuscripts caught my eye. One solicited and one unsolicited. When my supervisor arrived back to work Tuesday I told her of my findings, provided her with a reader report for each one, and then waited for her suggestions on what to do next. She said that since I felt strongly about these pieces I could contact the submitters and ask for the full manuscript, keeping in mind that the unsolicited manuscript was not acceptable under company policy. Still, this thought of contacting submitters and reading their finished products thrilled me. I emailed them right away and anxiously waited for a response. No word arrived, however, until
Thursday. I got into work just as the clock reached 9am. That is the first time I have been on time....usually I arrive much earlier than 9am, and for some reason the fact that I got there "on time" irked me. I guess it's become a habit for me to get there earlier, so I view 9am as late, even though it's perfectly acceptable to arrive then or a few minutes later. I started the morning by reading and attending a meeting. At the end of this meeting I agreed to meet for lunch with one of the interns at 1pm, then returned to my desk. I was surprised to see an email waiting. It was from the literary agent of the solicited manuscript I'd written the day before. She said the author would provide me with the full manuscript by the end of the day.
Wow. An author was contacting me! This was beyond exciting. When the email from the author arrived in my inbox, I was afraid to open it at first, wondering what the contents held. Would he expect me to accept his manuscript? What if the manuscript wasn't as exhilirating as I initially thought? The gravity of the situation hit me. I could make or break this person's authorial career.
By the end of the day on Thursday I had only read a few pages of the manuscript, wanting to wait until next week to make a full effort at reading the document in its entirety. I have enjoyed it so far and hope that maybe I can make it work for some imprint in Penguin, if not Berkley's. How cool would that be?!
Today (Friday) was my day off. I woke up early and spent the day relaxing. It was nice to just have a day to enjoy and to reflect on my week. I also got dinner with my friend Annie and her roommate at one of the cafeterias. They do have pretty good food for a university cafeteria!
Well, that is all I have to say for now. Hope you enjoyed reading, and tune in for next week's update!
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