Carole blake open doors project 2023 – Kate’s story

Kate Southam joined the Blake Friedmann team for two weeks in June 2023 as part of our internship scheme, the Carole Blake Open Doors Project – follow in her footstep by applying for the 2024 project now!

April 2023. I’m in London very briefly, nearing the end of my degree, facing many a rejection email, the best advice to just keep pushing. With no idea how to get into the industry, simply with the knowledge that I have to work with books, I feel pretty stuck. Cue a tweet landing on my ‘for you’ feed: ‘Applications for the Carole Blake Open Doors Project are now open!’ A mentorship, an internship, the offer of hybridity, a literary agency. Colour me curious. I followed the link to find out more, only to be thwarted by the depths of the London Underground.

I applied to the Carole Blake Open Doors Project on a whim, not really thinking I would have a chance but knowing without a doubt that it would simply be foolish not to. Upon applying, and even on my first day, I really wasn’t too sure what a literary agent actually did in the big wide world of publishing, so whilst I did have a little bit of trepidation, I was really excited for the learning experience.

I was genuinely surprised when I got the email asking to interview, even more so when the phone call offering me the position came through, and couldn’t have imagined how wonderful those two weeks were going to be. And so, I set off from Leeds to London, equipped with a shiny new planner (soon to be filled with an abundance of notes and emails), what I hoped was appropriate office wear (cobbled together after having worked from home for the last two years), an in progress dissertation (gradually chipped away at throughout the two weeks), and half a dozen books (soon to multiply by an obscene amount).

The two weeks flew by, and I genuinely would have stayed longer if I could. My days were filled with conversations with everyone in the agency to get a good understanding of what they do, meetings with other people in the publishing industry (which had been set up based on my particular interests beforehand), and shadowing the work of agents in meetings with editors. It was fascinating being able to see how agents fit into the world of publishing. I was also very grateful for the books I was given during these meetings, though I’m pretty sure my already wobbly suitcase was not.

Alongside these meetings, I drafted social media posts and news articles for the website, researched production companies, updated book reviews, and did lots of list checking. I also got the chance to read through submissions for the book and film department, which was undoubtedly the most exciting part. It was like a revelation – this is a job, and this is exactly what I want to do.

My time with Blake Friedmann Literary Agency was utterly fantastic. It helped me understand the publishing industry – which up until then seemed scarily opaque – so much more. On top of that, everyone was just so supportive, and made me feel like a part of the agency even though I was only there for a short period of time. They were always willing to answer any questions I had (even though some of them were probably pretty obvious!) and checked in with the workload. Even post-internship, they have kindly checked in, sent across job vacancies, and provided references. I really couldn’t be more grateful to everyone at Blake Friedmann (especially to Sian for looking after me for the two weeks!) and to The Book Trade Charity for providing me with accommodation for the duration of the internship.

If you are even thinking about applying for the Carole Blake Open Doors Project, and you meet just one or two of the criteria, I would wholeheartedly say to do it. Just because you are under-represented in the publishing industry, it doesn’t mean that there isn’t a place for you in it. It doesn’t mean that publishing isn’t for you.