Employment Communication Information interview

A prospective change of career would be one in which I would become a novelist and I would be able to write my books, do research in various places, set my own working hours and get recognition for my work. In order to gain more insight into this field, I have met with Karen Malloy at Raider Publishing. I decided to meet with her since she is in charge of discovering new talents and she also seemed interested in seeing me and discussing my issues; her motivation was represented by the potential of future collaboration.

The interview commenced at 10 A.M. On a Wednesday and both participants arrived in time. Miss Malloy asked her assistant to bring us some coffee. We then exchanged a few pleasantries and got to talking about writing. Before having the opportunity to ask my own questions, Miss Malloy wanted to know what kind of interest and expertise I have in the writing business.

We then moved on to discussing the questions I had prepared, which refer to the following:

1. How would a novice writer go about in setting up a meeting with a publisher?

2. Would it be necessary for the writer to come to you with the book already...

How about the payment procedures? How do these develop?
4. Last, what kinds of books and topics are mostly popular among readers?

I offered Miss Malloy a paper with all of my questions so that we could discuss them as freely as possible. To my first inquiry, she said that the procedure to meeting with a representative of a publishing house is a rather simple one, similar to the one I had used to make an appointment with her. The writer would just have to contact the agency and ask for an appointment with an editor. They could contact the publishing agency through either telephone, email or personally, in the office. The secretary would make an appointment -- based on the availability -- and would communicate the date of the appointment to the writer.

The second question referred to the need of the writer to come up with a whole book, or just an idea. Miss Malloy stated that for established writers, an idea would sometimes be enough to convince the publishers and also to have them grant a loan for a book. Nevertheless, in the case of novice writers, it is necessary for these to come to the meeting with their work almost completed. Such a measure is…