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ABOUT ME

INTRO

Hello! My name is Sophia.

I am merging into the publishing industry as the founder of the little things literary magazine, a Book Editor for Hold My Hands by Earl Oaks, and a Marketing & Publicity Intern for June Road Press. Eventually, I hope to be an editor championing for diverse and exciting romance, fantasy, and coming-of-age YA novels.

With a strong passion for combatting book bans, promoting diversity, and building connections, I would love to utilize my 4 years on literary magazines, over 4 years in customer service, and 3 years of leadership experience to assist in publishing books of all kinds.

Some of my favorite books are:

Tilly in Technicolor by Mazey Eddings
The Land of Stories by Chris Colfer
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Sweet by Emmy Laybourne
I Want to Eat Your Pancreas by Yoru Sumino
When Haru Was Here by Dustin Thao

This is my portfolio of creative and journalistic work. My blog, "for the love of books", is for book reviews, bookish articles, and reflections.

PUBLISHING EXPERIENCE

In my first year at the University of Iowa, I participated in the Iowa Chapbook Prize as an editor, which catapulted my love for books and the publishing industry. That same year, I was on three different literary magazines as a writing assistant, artistic editor, and beta reader, respectively.

I joined the oldest literary magazine on campus, earthwords: the undergraduate literary review, as a poetry editor in my second year and have been involved since then. I was fortunate enough to earn the position of earthwords Executive Editor for the 2024-25 school year.

Throughout university, I took writing and literature courses on a variety of genres and styles: fiction, poetry, nonfiction, playwriting, screenwriting, fairy tales, and Irish literature. Learning about a variety of genres has been a consistent factor in my growing love for reading, writing, and publishing.

These experiences have given me hands-on and real-world opportunities that piqued my interest in all steps of writing and publishing. Everything from writing to acquisitions to editing to proofreading to copywriting to event planning to design to production to marketing and everything in between. I want to be a part of bringing diverse, fun, and emotional stories to life.

JOURNALISM EXPERIENCE

My journalism experience began in my junior year of high school when I decided I wanted to further my writing skills.

We focused on team-builders, which was very exciting for me because I love talking to and meeting new people and finding ways to help them. A main takeaway from the team-builders is that peoples' minds work in different ways, so it's important to identify how others process and work through situations to help everyone work together.

I caught up quickly with how to use InDesign as well as how to put together stories and conduct interviews.

As the year progressed, I consistently put myself out there, trying to help in any way I could and volunteering for any opportunities that arose. This led to my advisor encouraging me to come back for my senior year.

Over the summer of 2020, I enrolled in free journalism classes through Ball State University and a podcasting class through the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association (MIPA). The classes taught me about how to write certain types of stories and how to create a close atmosphere between newspaper staff members. The podcasting class was in-depth and my favorite since I learned a new skill to incorporate in many aspects of life, whether I want to continue podcasting, start making YouTube videos or try something else.

Throughout my senior year, I moved up the ranks shifting to Editor and then to Co-Editor-In-Chief.

During my time at the University of Iowa, I enrolled in an editing course, where I made use of AP style and put together a news package about book bans in Iowa City: "Reading into book bans".

Overall, the skills I learned throughout my two years of journalism experience— such as: working under a deadline, bringing together a team, being a leader and learning new programs quickly— will continue to benefit me and my actions as I go through life.

I thank my journalism advisor, professors, and peers for assisting, leading and teaching me so much that I will hold onto for the rest of my life.