Hannah Smith

Hannah Smith – Editor

A successful Publisher at Penguin, I aim to bring out the best in your work so that it's ready for the publication journey.

Overview

A Publisher specialising in commercial romance, historical and women's fiction for Penguin Random House. I love both the strategic and editorial side of publishing, getting to work closely with authors, I always aim to bring out the best in your work. I work with my authors throughout the editorial process, across editorial letters outlining bigger structural changes - plot, pace, characterisation etc. - to line-edits which take a more granular approach to reviewing the story at an inline level.

Drawing on years of experience, and numerous bestsellers across digital and print publishing, I've helped authors achieve magnificent reviews on Goodreads and Amazon. I'm here to help work manuscripts into their best possible shape ahead of publication or submission and querying.

Having worked across a number of bestselling authors, both internationally and domestically, my aim is to work collaboratively with authors to make their work the best it can be. With an eye for creating bestsellers I can offer advice on developmental edits, copy-editing and publishing strategy.

Services
Fiction
Action & Adventure Chick Lit Contemporary Romance Espionage Historical Fiction Historical Romance Psychological Thriller Romantic Comedy
Languages
English (UK)
Certifications
  • Proofreading - Publishing Training Centre
  • Copy-editing - Publishing Training Centre

Work experience

Penguin Random House

Oct, 2022 — Present
Publisher at Penguin Michael Joseph, the home of commercial fiction in the UK. Here I publish authors such as Carley Fortune, Emily Rath, Bea Fitzgerald, Elliott Rose, Fiona Schneider and Fiona Valpy. At Michael Joseph I work with authors across commercial fiction with a primary focus on publishing romance, historical women's fiction and general fiction. I also lead our romance publishing programme from a strategic stand point. Alongside this strategic work, I have my own curated list of authors that I work with editorially from the point of submission to publication. I work closely with my authors through the editorial process, offering editorial letters brainstorming larger ideas alongside my line-edits which looks at the manuscript at a much closer level.

Bonnier Books

Feb, 2021 — Sep, 2022 (over 1 year)
I was a founding member of Embla Books, the commercial fiction, digitally focused list at Bonnier Books. As part of the team at Embla I published global bestsellers - Dandy Smith's ONE SMALL MISTAKE, Becca Day, Lucy Coleman and others. I also advised on publishing strategy across the company ranging from Sunday Times bestsellers to audio number ones.

Head of Zeus

Jul, 2018 — Mar, 2021 (over 2 years)
Editorial Director for Aria and Aries. Specialising across commercial genres fiction I was responsible for the overall publishing of the list as well as the editor and publisher for authors such as Faith Hogan (I published the number one bestseller THE LADIES MIDNIGHT SWIMMING CLUB), Julie Houston (A VILLAGE AFFAIR), Andie Newton, Mandy Baggot and Lucy Coleman. Authors that were USA TODAY bestsellers, Number One Amazon Bestsellers and have sold hundreds of thousands of copies. With Aries I published across action and adventure as well as historical fiction aimed in the 'swords and sandals' category. Titles I published include THE NIGHT AGENT (now a Netflix TV show), Simon Turney, Tim Hodkinson and Matthew Harffy. Within my remit I managed the Aria/ Aries team, lead on our publishing strategy - from cover design to pricing and have years of experience seeing a book through from manuscript delivery to becoming a bestseller.

HarperCollins

Jul, 2016 — Jul, 2018 (about 2 years)
Working primarily on the Mills and Boon and HQ Digital lists, I built a portfolio of successful digital-first authors. These included USA Today bestselling, Terry Lynn Thomas, UK Kindle bestsellers Darren O'Sullivan, Rebecca Raisin, Amanda Brittany and Rachel Burton.

Portfolio

Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment Book Coaching
The Christmas Orphans Club: A Novel

Freeman, Becca

Penguin Books

Daughter of the Reich: A Novel

Fein, Louise

William Morrow Paperbacks

One Golden Summer

Fortune, Carley

Berkley

Then Things Went Dark: A Novel

Fitzgerald, Bea

Sourcebooks Landmark

Developmental Editing Copy Editing Editorial Assessment Book Coaching
Developmental Editing Copy Editing Book Coaching
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment
The Paris Affair

Fiona Schneider

Developmental Editing Book Coaching
Night Shift (Daydreamers, 1)

Crown, Annie

W by Wattpad Books

This Summer Will Be Different

Fortune, Carley

Berkley

Developmental Editing Book Coaching
Editorial Assessment Book Coaching
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment
Developmental Editing Editorial Assessment
Developmental Editing

Hannah has 7 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Noreen N.

Noreen N.

Apr, 2025

Pinned
Hannah was a fantastic editor to work with. She helped me strengthen my plot and fix errors that can easily be overlooked. Her feedback was thoughtful, clear, and always encouraging, which made the editing process much smoother and more enjoyable. Thanks to her input, my manuscript is in a much b...
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James C.

James C.

Dec, 2023

Pinned
Hannah is spot on with her story editing. I so much appreciate her eyes on my project and highly recommend her.
Karyn F.

Karyn F.

Nov, 2025

I thoroughly enjoyed working with Hannah on my romance novel! I was pleased by how quickly she worked and that she kept me updated on her progress. Her developmental feedback and line edits were spot-on (particularly around my characters and their romance arc), and will tremendously improve the o...
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Mette D.

Mette D.

May, 2025

Hannah supported me through the editing process of my first novel, and I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. She provided both a developmental edit and an in-line edit, and her work was exceptionally thorough and insightful. Hannah has a sharp eye for detail—she caught even the smallest ...
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April V.

April V.

Feb, 2025

I loved working with Hannah - she was responsive, thoughtful and thorough. I appreciated the speed with which she worked, and how she kept me informed of her progress during her edit. Thank you!

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