Joanna Szabo (zay-boh)

I’m an editor based in Portland, Oregon, and I’d like to edit your book.

I graduated with my master’s degree in book publishing from Portland State University, where I worked for Ooligan Press—a small press run by the program’s graduate students—for roughly two years. During my time at Ooligan, I edited manuscripts at all stages of the process, wrote countless pages of marketing copy, developed social media strategies, and fell even deeper in love with storytelling.

I also worked as one of the Acquisitions department managers. In this capacity, I acquired several exciting new books for the press, responded to queries, evaluated proposals, wrote developmental edit letters, and managed a team of graduate student evaluators and editors.

Recently, I worked as a bookseller at Powell’s for one blissful year surrounded by books and book lovers before the mass layoffs in 2020. One of my favorite parts of working at Powell’s, other than getting to know the incomparable booksellers, was watching the books I’d acquired at Ooligan hit the shelves. The publishing journey can be difficult and stressful, but the end of it—connecting a reader with a book they’ll love—is beautiful and entirely worth it.

When I’m not editing, I’m either reading (I have a particular love for YA books and adult romance), baking, playing Dungeons & Dragons, listening to Broadway musicals, or begging my sister to text me more pictures of my nephew. I started acquiring plants in quarantine and I can’t seem to stop.