Meghan Houser – Editor

As an acquiring editor at Penguin Random House and Macmillan I specialized in narrative and idea-driven nonfiction, with titles across memoir, journalism, history, cultural criticism, and popular science. Authors I have worked with include Rachel Maddow, Emmanuel Acho, Ted Koppel, Daniel Libeskind, Ai Wei Wei, Nicholas Kristof, Lauren Markham, Matt Alt, and Gary Krist, among many others. I have edited New York Times Bestsellers, winners of the Whiting Award, the Ridenhour Prize, the California Silver Book Award, the Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science, titles shortlisted for the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize, PEN Awards, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and an Oprah’s Favorite Things pick.

As an independent editor I draw on the breadth of my experience with each project, seeking to bring new voices, and books, to readers everywhere. My clients include memoirists seeking to frame their story or just get everything down on the page, academics finding a voice for a trade audience, and authors structuring their first outline, preparing a manuscript for submission, or retooling a proposal after feedback.

Whether you know what you're looking for in an editorial partnership or want to explore possibilities, don't hesitate to get in touch. I look forward to reading your story!

N.B.: I do not work on anything created, whole or in any part, with the assistance of generative A.I. Work in this vein will be declined without exception.