About Me

I grew up in a family of musicians who supported and encouraged my early love of books. As a child, I devoured fiction and adored theater and art. As a grown-up, I am happily married to a painter, and my closest friends are writers and editors. I know the ups and downs of maintaining a rigorous creative practice, and the challenges and joys of making your passion your profession.

I am currently a senior editor at Union Square & Co., an imprint of Hachette, where I am building a list of middle grade and young adult fiction. Previously, I spent nine years running an editorial consulting company, Abby Ranger Editorial, LLC. Earlier in my career, I was a senior editor at HarperCollins and an editor at Disney-Hyperion and Scholastic. The shelves of books I’ve edited include picture books, early readers, chapter books, and numerous middle grade and young adult novels—from lush fantasies and intricately plotted mysteries to contemporary love stories and madcap classroom comedies.   

My authors’ books have been #1 New York Times bestsellers, Edgar Award nominees, New York Times Notable books, and Junior Library Guild selections, and have earned multiple starred reviews. Nothing is more satisfying to me than helping writers radically improve their work while staying true to their voice and vision.

I also love teaching, public speaking, and mentoring. As an adjunct instructor at Portland State University, I developed and taught graduate-level courses in book publishing and developmental editing. To even better support writers and other creative professionals, I spent a year training and getting certified as a life coach.

I was born in Colorado, grew up in British Columbia, earned my BA at Yale, launched my career in New York City, and now live in beautiful Portland, Oregon.