Sophia
Lyons
Editor, Journalist, MLIS Student
About Sophia
Sophia Lyons (they/them) is an editor and journalist specializing in nonfiction, academic work, equitable language and AP style. They hold a B.S. in communication with a journalism concentration from Appalachian State University with departmental honors and a minor in philosophy. Sophia is working on a Master of Library and Information Science at the University of North Carolina–Greensboro and expects to finish in December 2026.
Sophia is available for freelance editorial services. Contact Sophia to discuss services via email here (they also have an Upwork presence). They have experience with community journalism, business-to-business publications, white papers, and academic papers and full-length manuscripts.
Their main role is currently assistant editor for nonfiction and academic publisher McFarland, which entails line and nonline editing, managing in-house production for the North Korean Review and the Journal of Territorial and Maritime Studies, acquiring titles across a broad spectrum of subjects, hosting booths at academic conferences, and high-volume correspondence with authors, among other tasks. In this role Sophia has worked on books including, but not limited to American military history, health topics and disability, queer studies, gender studies, sex and sexuality, memoirs, scholarly edited collections, and general nonfiction.
While enrolled at App State, Sophia was chief copy editor at The Appalachian, award-winning student-run news organization and North Carolina College Media Association’s “Best in Show” 2021 for both print and online editions, leading a team of editors and directing content editing. Sophia was also news director at 90.5 WASU-FM, award-winning student-run radio station, leading and training news team members to script, record and produce daily news breaks. They also worked as a writing consultant at the Appalachian State University Writing Center, collaborating with writers as an experienced peer on anything from pieces of a thesis, to professional documents, to papers from numerous disciplines across the university (regularly including nursing, communication, English, political science, criminal justice and sustainable development).
Sophia also covered ACES 2021 Online after being selected to join the student newsroom, writing overview and teaser articles to be viewed by the top editors in the business.