Latinx in Publishing (LxP): What do you do?
Gabriela M. Taboas Zayas (GTZ): I am responsible for editing the licensed and brands titles for Penguin Workshop such as Bluey, Mighty Express, Little Engine That Could, and more.
LxP: How did you get started?
GTZ: After completing my MFA, I started a summer editorial internship at Tor Books in Macmillan, then began as an administrative assistant for Licensing, Brands, and Media at Scholastic. After almost two years there, I was hired at Penguin Workshop in 2020 to work on their licensed titles.
LxP: What do you wish you knew before getting into the industry?
GTZ: Good question! That there is more to the industry than just editors—and that there is more than one kind of editor! Publishing has many layers that create a book. There are agents, designers, copyediting, marketing, publicity, production, administrative assistants, metadata, and more! Each and every position is important to helping a book be the very best it can be.
LxP: What book are you currently working on or reading?
GTZ: I’m currently reading The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix, Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo. Basically my entire to-read pile, jaja!
Gabriela M. Taboas Zayas was born and raised in Puerto Rico and is currently an Assistant Editor for Licensing and Brands at Penguin Workshop. She moved to New York City in 2016 to complete an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults in the New School University. She spends her free time writing Young Adult stories about brujas, monsters, and cursed mermaids.
