Saida Azizova
Literary assistant at C&W Agency, part of the Curtis Brown Group
Name: Saida Azizova
Matriculation Year: 2018
Subject: English
Occupation: Assistant at a Literary Agency
Employer: C&W Agency, part of the Curtis Brown Group
Sector: Publishing industry
I assist three literary agents at C&W Agency, part of the Curtis Brown Group. Studying English at Hertford was incredibly enriching and academically stimulating but I knew pretty early on that I wanted to work with books in a much more creative way. I did my best to attend any publishing-related talks at Oxford and it was a panel from Felicity Bryan Associates that opened my eyes to the world of agenting. After graduation, I completed a remote editorial internship with an academic organisation through the Careers Service and spent a few months applying for various publishing roles before landing my current job. What I love the most about literary agenting is working with authors from the first draft of their book and overseeing the entire publishing process. Every day is different and my responsibilities range from reading submissions, offering editorial feedback on fiction and non-fiction projects from existing clients, and communicating with the publishers to drafting contracts for new book deals, managing social media and being on top of emails and other admin. I love the social and people-oriented part of the industry, so I really enjoy attending networking events, book launches and author meetings. Alongside my job, I am part of the Society of Young Publishers committee and always happy to chat to anyone interested in getting into publishing.
If you would like to get in touch with Saida, message her directly on LinkedIn or contact the Development Office who can forward on your email.