World of Publishing

I promised this post nearly a week before, but I just haven’t found the time to sit down and write it. I’ve been surprisingly productive for the most part and I’m keeping up with my school work. So I’m sorry that I’m trying to be a hardworking student.

Anyways, I am continually looking forward to Wednesdays. I think it’s a bit odd not to go to school midway through the week and head on over to New York City instead, but I love what I’m doing. My internship at Scholastic is seriously making me reconsider my options for college. It is something that I am really having fun doing, and I can definitely see myself doing this in the future.

My internship consists of reading manuscripts that are subject to approval or rejection. My mentor is one of the senior editors at Scholastic, so it’s only normal that she gets a lot of unsolicited manuscripts in the mail. It’s my job to go through the mail every Wednesday and pretty much read for the rest of the day.

Unfortunately, it’s rare to get something brilliant in the mail. I’ve only gone through the mail once, and I’ve already encounted terrible picture books. Sure, it might sound hard to botch up, but making one is harder than it seems. Since I’ve only started, I have only rejected one manuscript myself so far, and I’m slowly gaining confidence to reject a bad submission. I know, I’m crushing someone’s dreams.

Fortunately for me, I do get to read some good stuff every now and then. I will also be able to read through upcoming books for 2010 and spot for any errors and inconsistencies. I think this is my favorite part of my internship just because I get to read something before anyone else can.

The best perk of all would have to be the free books bins. Right before I leave for the day, I rummage through the piles to find anything to bring home to my siblings. There’s nothing better than a free brand new book.