Zennor Compton – Editor

Looking for an honest but empathetic editor to make your non-fiction book shine? Whether you have the nugget of an idea, a full manuscript or anything in-between, you’re in the right place.

I specialize in memoir, nature and entertainment books but I’ve also worked on self-improvement, spirituality, history, humour… Even colouring books! So please feel free to get in touch to see if I can help with your project. As a former publisher, I know what editors and agents are looking for so I can also help you prepare your query materials for submission.

I help authors realise their full potential by combining high editorial standards with clear commercial focus. Over my 12 years working at Penguin and Macmillan, I published dozens of bestsellers. In fact, I’m proud that half of the books I published in the year before I left Penguin hit the Sunday Times lists. Books I've worked on have won prizes, been bookseller picks and featured on countless outlets from The Times and Radio 4 to This Morning. I have worked with seasoned writers, experts, celebrities and major brands.

Highlights include:

Night People: How to be a DJ in 90s New York by Mark Ronson

The official book from hit show The Traitors

Me vs Brain: an Overthinker’s Guide to Life by Hayley Morris

Black and British by David Olusoga

North Road by Rob Cowen

Hermit: A Memoir of Finding Freedom in a Wild Place by Jade Angeles Fitton

The Book of Money by Monzo

The Boy Who Followed His Father Into Auschwitz by Jeremy Dronfield

Drop me a line! I'd love to chat.

Testimonials:

'Zennor has a genius for honing in on what the true story of the book is, where the focus should be. She seemingly instinctively senses the shape of a book with an omnipotence a writer too close to the page is unable to. Zennor is a sensible, sensitive guide with a gimlet eye for detail, gently nudging when a writer might have gone off course, while maintaining the all-important for a writer: faith and encouragement. I can say from experience that if she is your editor you are in a very safe pair of hands.' Jade Angeles Fitton, author of HERMIT