Literary agents are gatekeepers to major trade publishers (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Penguin Randomhouse, Simon & Schuster, MacMillon, Harper Collins, etc). Generally, authors cannot get their book manuscripts to editors (except small presses) without having an agent. Literary agents accept queries, proposals, and complete manuscripts from writers, but will only accept those projects that the agent believes s/he can sell to an editor. See descriptions of agencies/agents below.
Location: Online/Remote
Position: Assistant to Literary Agent (1 Opportunity )
Job Description:
Serve as a first-stage reader of queries, proposals, and full manuscripts submitted to the agent; submit critical summaries of works submitted to help agent determine worthwhile projects/authors to represent
Serve as liaison between the agent and authors seeking representation (i.e., responding to queries from authors; determining which queries/projects will advance to the next stage; other general correspondence with authors)Qualifications:
Excellent literary criticism skills
Knowledge of craft analysis for fiction and nonfiction in multiple sub-genre (i.e., understanding strengths and weakness of plot, structure, character development, scene-making, and line-level writing)
Excellent organizational skills
Excellent written communication skills; ability to succinctly summarize book-length works
Optional: Basic familiarity with the publishing industry (i.e., what an agent does, how authors submit works, how books are marketed)
Optional: Experience in publishing, submitting work, editorial work, critique of manuscripts in workshop setting
Selection Process:
Applicants from all concentrations and all levels of matriculation are welcome to apply to Professor Maureen Stanton (Maureen_Stanton@uml.edu) to be considered. Priority will be given to qualified applicants in final year before graduating.
Submit a professional resume that details your experience/coursework related to the listed qualifications.
The selection process considers the compatibility of the applicant’s writing/reading and literary interests with the agent’s interests (i.e., if your main interest is science fiction/fantasy, you may not fit with an agent who only represents literary nonfiction or realistic fiction). Write a cover letter highlighting your qualifications.
The internship must be taken for credit, as a part of the UMass Lowell Internship 1 course. (This course may be able to serve as a Capstone Course; ask your advisor.) Once offered the position, you will simply let the Internship Coordinator know that you have been selected and then enroll in the course.
There is one agency with whom the English department has an ongoing arrangement to accept UML student interns. Availability of this internship varies from semester to semester, however. Students must apply for this position ahead of time through the process outlined above. The positions is with the following agency:
Lauren McLeod with The Strothman Agency, a highly selective literary agency operating out of New York and Nashville, TN, dedicated to advocating for authors of significant books through the entire publishing cycle. Recent Strothman Agency authors have won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Lincoln Prize, and many other awards, and their books have been New York Times bestsellers. Lauren McLeod’s interests are young adult fiction and nonfiction, middle grade novels, as well as highly polished literary fiction and narrative nonfiction. For more information, visit their webpage. http://www.strothmanagency.com
Contact Professor Maureen Stanton (Maureen_Stanton@uml.edu) for more information. She will be selecting the interns, and once students are awarded this opportunity, they will register for the Internship 1 course (ENGL 4960) to earn academic credit.