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June 28, 2002

Tor Internships
Posted by Teresa at 06:55 AM *

Up-and-coming Tor editorial luminary Anna Genoese thinks we’re not getting enough applications from prospective interns. Our current working theory is that it might help if more people knew that Tor does student internships.

It’s too late now to apply for this summer, but if you’re a student and you’re interested, you’re in good time to apply for a winter internship. Send snailmail to Anna Genoese, Tor Books, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010, or e-mail to anna.genoese@tor.com.

Comments on Tor Internships:
#1 ::: Chris Quinones ::: (view all by) ::: June 28, 2002, 12:09 PM:

I've copied the text of this post to E-mail to my nephew, who would probably find this right up his alley. Thanks for the info.

#2 ::: anna ::: (view all by) ::: June 28, 2002, 12:53 PM:

i'm a luminary! (well, an up-and-coming one, but still.) how exciting!

#3 ::: Cassandra Phillips-Sears ::: (view all by) ::: June 28, 2002, 12:54 PM:

What exactly is involved in the internship? Or do we find that out only after we write in for the secret decoder ring?

#4 ::: anna ::: (view all by) ::: June 28, 2002, 01:25 PM:

the spiel:

you write in with your resume and cover letter. if we like you, we send you a letter explaining that this internship is unpaid, and we don't help you find a place to live or a part-time job while you're interning, but you do get to hang out at the tor offices and meet lots of super people and take home as many books as you can carry. the letter also explains that you're going to be doing a lot of filing, making a lot of photocopies, and reading a lot of unsolicited unagented manuscripts, but that your main job will be to write reader reports on manuscripts that editors give you. with the letter we'll include a book, and ask you to write a reader report on the book, and we'll give you the specs as to what a reader report should look like and include.

after all that, if you still want to be an intern, we'll take you out to lunch and scare you with stories of drunk editors and crazy authors and general insanity, and if after that you're still excited about interning for us, we plan your schedule.

sounds great, right? i can tell you from firsthand experience that it actually IS a ton of fun and lots of work and very interesting and amazingly educational.

#5 ::: James Macdonald ::: (view all by) ::: June 28, 2002, 01:57 PM:

"Crazy authors"? I ask you! We prefer the term "psychotic."

#6 ::: Mary Kay Kare ::: (view all by) ::: June 28, 2002, 09:05 PM:

It sounds so good I wish I were a student. I don't suppose you let superannuated librarians in?

MKK

#7 ::: Teresa Nielsen Hayden ::: (view all by) ::: June 28, 2002, 09:49 PM:

Two words: commuting distance.

#8 ::: Avram ::: (view all by) ::: June 29, 2002, 10:41 PM:

Find an apartment? I thought you just stacked the interns up like cordwood behind the couch in Tom's office each night.

#9 ::: Kevin J. Maroney ::: (view all by) ::: June 29, 2002, 11:49 PM:

Avram: Why do you think they keep the Tor offices so cold? It keeps the interns from spoiling overnight.

#10 ::: Cassandra Phillips-Sears ::: (view all by) ::: June 30, 2002, 05:48 PM:

No worries, we can just burrow into the slushpile.

#11 ::: Teresa Nielsen Hayden ::: (view all by) ::: June 30, 2002, 10:23 PM:

A mildly gormless programming committee once wanted to put Tom on a panel called "Strange things I found in the slushpile." As I observed to Patrick at the time, the strangest thing Tom's found in the slush was probably an intern who'd fallen asleep.

If Tor had shower facilities, you could almost make it work.

#12 ::: anna ::: (view all by) ::: July 01, 2002, 12:18 AM:

even as an intern, i often lamented the lack of a shower in the office.

(three words: Tor slumber party)

#13 ::: Laurie Mann ::: (view all by) ::: July 01, 2002, 08:04 AM:

Thanks VERY much for posting this.

I have a "real life job," developing various
Web sites for the University of Pittsburgh.
One of the Web sites I maintain is the
Internship site. This is currently my
lead-off internship:

http://www.pitt.edu/~intern

#14 ::: Shalanna ::: (view all by) ::: August 06, 2002, 11:53 PM:

>this internship is unpaid
*BUT*
>you're going to be [...] reading a lot of unsolicited unagented manuscripts

Hmm . . . it's a tough call. Eat and have safe shelter, or live under the bridge and *finally get to be the one who says whether the novels get stuffed back in the SASE, or get read by the editor* (equivalent to powers of a minor ghod).

If I lived within commuting distance (or had a teleport capability), I'd pay for the privilege of seeing what the competition is up to out there. Actually getting to see what "slush" reads like . . . it has its appeal.

But then that's prolly because I've never done it.

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