Lauren Spieller is a literary agency intern who has read more queries than the rest of us even want to contemplate. She has kindly agreed to answer a few questions about her job.

First off, let me say THANK YOU for having me! I love talking about querying and writing, so this is a treat.

We’re glad to have you! You’re an editorial intern at a literary agency. Can you tell us what that involves?

I’ve had two internships. The first involved reading the slush—a lot of it—and deciding which queries to forward on to the agent. I loved doing this because it a) taught me how to get a feel for a manuscript from only a few pages, and b) helped me hone my editing skills.

My current internship—with P.S. Literary Agency—is a tad more editorial, which is fabulous. So far my focus has been on reading…