Hunting for a Potential Best-Seller

Internship Reflection

Spring 2024

By: Skylar Sena

In my year working with Harvey Klinger, I’ve had one of the most fulfilling experiences thus far throughout my college career. 

Throughout my time as a Literary Agency intern, I’ve gotten a firsthand look at the ins and outs of the publishing industry and learned a lot about the trends that carry books from manuscript level to publication ready. In communicating directly with authors about their work, I’ve gained priceless insight into professionalism in the industry, and the ability to hone my eye for what works in the book market.

 I was able to tell authors what worked and what didn’t work about their manuscripts and used my knowledge from monitoring industry-wide trends to offer sound advice and insight for improving their work. Most importantly, I was able to engage in the process of conducting a reader report on a completed manuscript, an opportunity most at the intern level aren’t afforded. 

This report not only gave me hands-on experience in a common process throughout the book industry but allowed me to offer future employers an additional opportunity to view my work, and see that I have been able to engage in traditional industry practices. To this end, I have also had the most supportive mentor, Andrea Somberg, throughout my time as an intern; from scheduling meetings to discuss the nitty gritty details of the publishing process to back and forth emailing about marketing myself for future positions, I have felt constantly and unconditionally supported in my role and in my career endeavors. 

Having a mentor who is always willing to offer advice and her own time and recommendations has been invaluable throughout my time as an intern, and made me feel confident in my ability to get a position at a company I desire in the future.

On the day-to-day, I’ve been able to hone my time management skills more than ever, and balance my review of queries with my other obligations, including classes, part time jobs and newspaper work. I’ve also been able to improve my communication skills, including my conversational skills with my higher ups, as well as with the authors I speak to. 

I have also learned how to manage my dialogue and communicate in professional language with industry terminology, as well as in a manner that is easy to understand. Interestingly, one of the manuscripts I have passed along to my mentor is being considered for a full manuscript; this experience has helped me better gauge what to look for in a successful hook and manuscript and kept me aware of what industry professionals might be looking for in potential representation. 

Overall, I’ve been exposed to so much interesting writing, and read so many scripts in a variety of genres and age levels, helping me become more comfortable with many different types and styles of writing; it has also helped me to feel confident in my knowledge of industry trends and my ability to identify comp titles. 

I’ve developed a keen eye for detail in these manuscripts, as well as an intense desire to work with science fiction and fantasy works in my future career, as those are two of the premier genres my mentoring agent works with. Being able to identify my strengths as an editor and as an agent has helped me to better understand the area of my industry in which I fit best and geared me in the direction of companies and agencies that would help me cultivate this type of work.

I truly cannot imagine having a better experience in my internship. I am eternally grateful to Andrea and the team at Harvey Klinger for allowing me to get my foot in the door of publishing and offering me invaluable connections in the industry that will provide me with the start necessary to launch my career in a field I love so deeply.