Dear Sarah, Polly & team,
I hope you don’t mind my asking this this here – I didn’t want to send it to the ‘Submissions’ address but also couldn’t find an email address for general enquiries. Thus, here I am on this page. How very adventurous of me.
I’m writing to ask whether you ever take on any interns, or would ever consider doing so, if you were to stumble across the right person (I think I might be the right person!), and that person were to offer you all of their enthusiasm (of which there is a LOT) and commitment and their soul (if you want it?) and promise to work their little socks off for you.
A shameless bibliophile from the moment I learnt to read, I have for years dreamed of finding a place in the ‘Book World’. I never knew exactly what I wanted to do when I grew up, only that there was nothing I loved more than books, not even chocolate. Now – alas! – I am a grown up, and many things have changed, except for that unfaltering book-love. I have come to treasure the feeling of finding a good book and immersing oneself in its world, the tiny heartbreak that comes with finishing the book and can only be remedied by diving into another. I would dearly love to be a part of the process that searches for these stories and helps shape them and make them accessible to people who will enjoy and appreciate them.
As a student of literature, I somewhat naively assumed that loving books would be enough. I thought I would just waltz into a job in the publishing sector, pictured myself an editor, sassily walking into my office wearing a very nice suit and getting three books published in a day. Then I realised I live in the real world. Unfortunately. The issue is that everybody wants you to have experience, but it is rather difficult to gain it if nobody will give you a chance in the first place. Which leads me to here, gulping tea on a dreary Thursday evening and hoping I don’t sound too pathetic and/or desperate, and crossing my fingers, toes, everything, that you might be willing to offer me a chance. I would even jump at the chance to do your photocopying, if it might mean I could sneakily watch you in action and learn more about what goes on in these hallowed literary agency halls. What I may have yet to gain in experience, I more than make up for in enthusiasm and a sincere desire to learn from the best, from industry experts such as yourselves who have such an extraordinary wealth of knowledge. I’m an incredibly hard worker and a perfectionist, I take on every challenge I encounter with a determination to do my very best and all I need is an opportunity to prove myself – for a week, a month, it wouldn’t matter.
I really appreciate your taking the time to read this message, and I hope its not too presumptuous. Please do let me know if you would consider taking on an intern. If not, thank you anyway!
With very best wishes,
Yours faithfully,
Laura Rutherford