The interns are doing it too
JA
August 17
There are numerous blogs out there from writers and designers and other hipsters, but, as it turns out, the interns are doing it too. Lately I’ve come across a few sites run by the folk along the entire gauntlet of the publishing industry, from editors to publicists to agents. Most are anonymous, deprecating and funny, as well as giving a pretty good insight into the various daily oddities of the biz. The ones I’ve come across so far seem to be from the US – if there are any Oz equivalents I’d love to know. Meanwhile, here are some linkages.
The Intern
Evidently, words from the life of the unpaid intern. Plenty of funny descriptions of the big cheeses, Head Ed and Exec Ed, and a few personal anecdotes to boots. I’ve been tuning into this one pretty regularly – I think I have a soft spot/open curiosity here, having spent two years as an intern oh not so long ago. Not for those who hate writers who refer to themselves in the third person.
Pimp My Novel
A charmingly named blog from a toiler in the sales department of a major trade publisher. As expected, full of advice and stories about ‘amping it up’ and ‘networking networking networking!’.
Editorial Ass
Former editorial assistant (hence the name) who is now a fully-fledged editor (under this logic, I could possibly blog as ‘Mean Ass’?). She goes by the alias of Moon Rat. Check out ‘Reasons to Make Your Delivery Date’ for a good recent post.
Editorial Anonymous
I’ve linked to this blog before – run by a children’s book editor who I think is Australian. Mainly an advice blog for the hapless with some news and thoughts thrown in for good measure, so send your queries in.
And finally, here are two blogs for getting into the headspace of a literary agent: Nathan Bransford from Curtis Brown (US) and Janet Reid.
Our Friends
- Overland
- Alien Onion
- Ampersand Duck
- Andrew McDonald
- A Pair of Ragged Claws
- Arts Victoria
- Australia Council for the Arts
- Ben Eltham
- Bookshow blog
- CAL
- City of Tongues
- Crikey
- darkly wise, rudely great
- David Astle
- Elmo Keep Does Stuff
- The Ember
- Fly the Falcon blog
- Going Down Swinging
- Griffith Review
- Hackpacker
- Harvest
- HEAT
- Island
- Killings blog
- Literary Minded
- Lorraine Crescent
- Lynden Barber
- Mandy Ord
- Marcus Westbury
- Matilda
- Meanland
- Melbourne University Publishing
- Mel Campbell
- The Monthly
- Musings of an Inappropriate Woman
- Oslo Davis
- Paul Callaghan
- Read, Think, Write
- Sleepers Publishing
- Sorrow at Sills Bend
- SPLOG
- Tom Cho
- Virgule
- Wet Ink
- Wheeler Centre
Comments
17 Aug 09 at 14:18
Hi there
This is a great list -- all blogs that I subscribe to in my RSS reader. Just one thing: I'm pretty sure that Editorial Anonymous is American, not Australian.
There is an Australian agent blogging anonymously at http://callmyagent.blogspot.com, if you're looking for locals.
Sarah
P.S. I solemnly swear that I am not the anonymous person behind any of the above. grin
...17 Aug 09 at 14:36
Thanks Sarah. Yes I wasn't sure if Ed Anonymous was US or Oz, being anonymous, it's hard to tell! Call My Agent looks like a good one too - cheers for the link.
...17 Aug 09 at 19:45
Alien Onion, anyone?
http://alienonion.blogspot.com/
...17 Aug 09 at 20:08
oh, I see they are already known here.
...17 Aug 09 at 20:58
I love Cheryl Klein's blog. http://chavelaque.blogspot.com/ She's an editor at Arthur A. Levine (home of Harry Potter in the US) and her editorial website contains some talks she has done on editorial craft. Great YA/editorial blog. Far from an intern but it recounts her journey to her current senior role, so worth a dig through the archives.
...18 Aug 09 at 9:56
Urggh - someone beat me to it! I would also recommend 'Call my Agent!', a blog by an anonymous Sydney lit agent - http://callmyagent.blogspot.com/ . As a struggling Australian writer, her blog offers great insight into how to get above the slush pile. She recently did a series on query letters, where she compared/contrasted/rated several sample letters to illustrate what can work and what can't (and that there's no style formula per se).
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