About Me
From librarian to literary translator, editor, and now tech editor—my career journey
2012-2016
“In the beginning, there was nothing, which exploded.”
― Terry Pratchett, Lords and Ladies
During my childhood/teenage years, in the early 2000s, we didn’t have Internet at home, and even when we did get it, it was painfully slow. So when I found myself with too much time on my hands and none of my friends available, I usually went to the library.
I was always fascinated by libraries and librarians so it’s not surprising that I graduated from Eötvös Loránd University as a library and information scientist, which is a fancy way of saying: a librarian. I wanted to become this wise and awe-inspiring owl of a person with the universe at his fingertips.
Following graduation, I worked at two quite prominent libraries, first as a cataloguing librarian, then as a reference librarian. And while I never became a wise and awe-inspiring owl, certainly not at 27 years of age, both were exciting opportunities, I met many great people, including one of my best friends. I also started contributing articles about speculative fiction to SFmag, an online magazine.
2016-2018
“I kind of lost track of time…”
“For two hours?”
Elend nodded sheepishly. “There were books involved.”
― Brandon Sanderson, The Well of Ascension
I was always fascinated by books. As a teenager, I aspired to become a writer—we had a writing group in high school where we read and critiqued each other’s work. That’s when I first got interested in editing and translation, too. I attribute it all to Tamás Boldizsár Tóth, the Hungarian translator of the Harry Potter books. Between 1999 and 2008, the series left a big impression on me, regardless of how the author’s public perception changed since then.
In 2011 and 2012, while at university, I attended a literary translation workshop where we each had the opportunity to work on texts both as translators and editors. At the end of the year, these texts got published in two anthologies that I’m still immensely proud of—my first proper translations were two short stories by Sir Terry Pratchett.
By 2016, I had a number of short stories and shorter novels under my belt, and I started working with a Hungarian publisher of science fiction and fantasy works—in my free time, of course, since by then I had a job at a well-known Hungarian publishing group. It was during this period that I learned how to effectively manage deadlines and establish healthy boundaries.
2018-2023
"And he dreamed the dream of all those who publish books, which was to have so much gold in your pockets that you would have to employ two people just to hold your trousers up." ― Terry Pratchett, Maskerade
I like learning new things. So when I received my first editing assignment, I was over the moon. And it was a book by Brandon Sanderson! I already worked as a translator on his works, but editing some of them as well was a dream come true.
By the end of the year I felt like I had ample experience to start freelancing full-time. And I never looked back.
I love the people I work with, and since I’m an introvert, I enjoy spending a lot of my time alone with one text or another. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows, but I am able to set much healthier boundaries for myself, like not working after 5 p.m., and not working on the weekends. Sometimes it’s unavoidable, but most of the time no lives are lost if I rest and recharge a bit.
2024-
“I have found, through painful experience, that the most important step a person can take is always the next one.” ― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer
In the last few years, I’ve been exploring new hobbies.
I’ve had a short fling with UX/UI design, a fascinating area I’d love to revisit someday. I also began drawing fantasy maps, initially for our homebrew game, but now I have a blog and even a Youtube channel under the name The Flightless Manticore—it’s an inside joke.
Then at the end of 2021, I took up knitting. I just had to try it. And I haven’t stopped since. The idea of handmade clothes isn’t foreign to me (my dad is a tailor), and since sewing machines intimidate me a bit, knitting is the next best thing.
I have a shamefully large stash of yet-to-be-used yarn, including quite a few hand-dyed hanks by some lovely indie dyers. I love attending fibre festivals and meeting new people who share the same hobby. As an introvert and a bit socially awkward among new people, that’s saying a lot. Knitting is something I could do 24/7 if my hands allowed it.
As for tech editing, the lightbulb moment came in December 2023, when I was happily knitting away, not a care in the world, watching Roxanne Richardson’s channel about some technique or another, and a video popped up that immediately caught my attention: Knitting Tech Editors and Why They’re So Important. I never realised knitting tech editors even existed! Of course they did, but why didn’t I know about them? Why didn’t I know this would be an ideal career for me? I knew I had to try it, so I immediately took a deep dive.
This job combines my love of editing with my love of knitting, yet it’s so different from my usual novels and short stories. It’s not better or worse, just different—refreshing.
I’m not planning on giving up literary translation and editing novels. But tech editing is something unexpected, and I can’t wait to see where it takes me.