Two months after graduating from the University of Iowa, Samantha Gentry landed her dream job: an editorial position at Random House Children’s Books in New York.

She is the assistant editor at Crown Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books. A typical day includes reading new submissions, revising manuscripts, writing marketing copy for book jackets, and meeting with colleagues to discuss items from production to publicity.

The 2014 graduate says the four years she spent working for The Daily Iowan were invaluable. She worked as a reporter for the paper’s “80 Hours” arts and culture section for three years before becoming section editor her senior year. In the latter role, she managed eight people and copy-edited more than 10 stories a week—skills she employs in her current work every day.

“After interning at Bloomsbury Publishing the summer before my senior year, I realized publishing was my true passion and I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I owe my editing career to the line edits I made on countless Daily Iowan stories,” says Gentry, who earned a degree in journalism and mass communication and Spanish. “I was truly able to hone my skills there and prepare for this job.”

Other newsroom skills that serve her well today are teamwork, innovation, and time management. Gentry works on up to 10 books at a time, each title in various stages of production. “I’ve become very good at multitasking,” she says.

The best part of the job, Gentry says, is holding a finished copy of a book she worked on. 

“There is nothing more gratifying than knowing I saw the manuscript of that book early on and had the privilege to shape it into the book that kids and teens everywhere will get to read and hopefully embrace,” she says.

At Crown, Gentry has worked with authors including Morris Award winner Jeff Zentner, transgender activist Jazz Jennings, astronaut Scott Kelly, and New York Times best-selling authors Danica McKellar, Megan Miranda, and Raymond Arroyo. She says she is working on building her own list of titles to add to Crown’s catalog.

“The children’s market is ever-changing, and you constantly need to keep up with the trends,” says Gentry, who wants to develop young adult fiction with strong, distinct voices along with diverse perspectives. “I believe my passion and dedication not only to the work but also to the authors makes me a good fit for this position. I’m also very much a go-getter and am constantly coming up with new book ideas that we can pitch to potential authors.”

Gentry, who was born in Schaumburg, Illinois, says she has long been interested in storytelling and that the UI School of Journalism and Mass Communication was a major draw when she was looking at colleges. Working at The Daily Iowan was a bonus.

“I wanted to write because I loved the idea of being the person to bring stories to life,” she says. “My experience at The Daily Iowan helped me realized that I could be an editor. The skills I learned in the newsroom were invaluable, and I owe my success to the four years of experience I was lucky to have there.”