Latinx in Publishing (LxP): What do you do?
Mara Delgado Sánchez (MDS): I’m an assistant editor at St. Martin’s Publishing Group. I assist two editors in managing their lists and their administrative work, as well as meeting agents and read submissions to continue building my list.
LxP: How did you get started?
MDS: I landed an editorial internship in Entangled Publishing reading from the slush pile and advising for acquisition. In 2018, an editorial assistant position at Macmillan opened up and I interviewed at the recommendation of two friends. The rest is history.
LxP: What do you wish you knew before getting into the industry?
MDS: That we're a deadline-driven industry. The industry machine is constantly working on several books behind the scenes. Cover conference, acquisitions, contracts, editing, marketing and publicity, it’s all hands on deck within a publisher. It takes a book a whole year to go through the production pipeline, and while this is happening, there’s always something else happening for the book.
LxP: What book are you currently working on or reading?
MDS: I just got in revisions for Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove by Rati Mehrotra, a YA fantasy publishing on Fall 2022 from Wednesday Books, so I’m currently in the editorial cave! The book is set in an alternate medieval India, in which a queen’s bodyguard and bondswoman struggles against her unwitting role as a major pawn in the political games of a monster-filled land on the brink of war. Some behind the scenes goodness is happening for Reclaim the Stars, a YA scifi and fantasy anthology helmed by Latinx voices and edited by the wonderful Zoraida Córdova, so I’m excited for that as well! This one is coming out on February 15, 2022. And lastly, I’m also brainstorming with Andrea Hannah and her agent, Victoria Marini, about Where Darkness Blooms, a supernatural thriller about four girls stuck in a blood-thirsty town who are forced to reckon with the grim reality of what really happened the night their mothers slipped into the sunflower fields and never came back. This one is also coming in Fall 2022. Publishing employees work on multiple books at a time and that has never stopped being fascinating to me, even as I’m doing it. As for what I’m reading, I’m reading submissions and looking for the next book to fall in love with!
Mara Delgado Sánchez is an assistant editor at St. Martin’s Publishing Group. She holds a BA in English, Literature from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez and an MFA in Creative Writing from Rosemont College. She’s actively building her list and is a vocal advocate of marginalized voices. Character-driven stories, and the emotional nuance of relationships, are a particular favorite in any book she likes. In YA, her sweet spot is fantasy, especially from marginalized voices. I’m contemporary, she gravitates toward the light and fluffy, with characters living their best lives. Her taste in the adult market aligns with her YA taste. When not editing, Mara can be found hunting for the best udon bowl in New York City, playing video games, or working on her YA fantasy novel.
