Zeynep Sen

Zeynep Sen – Editor

Experienced literary and freelance editor focusing on literary fiction, memoirs, biography and young adult novels and nonfiction.

Overview

I graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a B.A. in Literature and Creative Writing. Following graduation, I started working at the Jennifer Lyons Literary Agency, where I honed my skills as an agent. A few years later, I moved to WordLink Literary Agency, as their new senior and foreign rights agent. At WordLink I represent my own authors and am in charge of handling the foreign rights deals of all the authors of the agency. I edit the books of the authors I represent, pitch their work to editors and negotiate their book deals.


I’m a very collaborative editor. When I read an author’s work – assuming said work is around 300 pages – it usually takes me less than a month to get back to them with editorial notes. Once I’ve read the work, I prepare an editorial letter for the author, addressing the more overarching changes that need to be done. These letters usually address matters like narrative flow, voice, character development and plot or include scene-specific edits. Where line edits are concerned, I usually use the “Track Changes” and “Insert Comment” features of Word Doc. Once the author has read the editorial letter and the notes I’ve given, we discuss them together. I treat the edits I give as “suggestions” that I encourage authors to take or at least consider and discuss with me, if they don’t agree with them. In the event that the author wants me to implement the editorial changes myself, I oblige but always prepare two versions of the work: one where editorial changes are clearly visible in red, thank to “Track Changes” and one where editorial changes are not visible. After the first edits are completed, I re-read the work and discuss it with the author, to see if any further edits are necessary.


As a literary agent, I know the publishing market intimately and can offer editorial feedback that will help position the book well in that market. I also know the exact format that query letters need to follow, what needs to be included in a query letter to make it stand out and how it should be polished. As such, I’m able to provide help in this regard as well.


TESTIMONIALS

"Working with Zeynep as my editor was a true pleasure. Her keen editorial eye helped to propel my work forward and keep me motivated, all the while ensuring I felt supported throughout the process." - Alexander Kaufman

"I recommended Zeynep S. to a friend of mine who wanted to publish a book. To this day my friend keeps thanking me for referring her. She not only edited his book that took 5 years to write, she even got it published too! She is takes full responsibility fromStart to Finish." - Neslihan Elbaz


Services
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs Children’s Non-Fiction
Fiction
Literary Fiction Young Adult
Languages
English (UK) English (US) English to Spanish Spanish to English

Work experience

Word Link Inc

Jan, 2016 — Present

At WordLink I represent my own roster of authors, edit their work, pitch them to editors in the US and abroad and negotiate their book deals. In cases where I pitch works to publishing houses in countries where Spanish or Turkish is the main language, I translate the works myself. My most recent book deals have been with Bloomsbury which acquired the memoir entitled "Un-American: A Soldier's Reckoning of our Longest War" by Erik Edstrom, Macmillan - Roaring Book Press which acquired the YA memoir entitled "Hurdles in the Dark" by Elvira Gonzales, Arte Publico Press which acquired Airy Sindik's illustrated children's book "My Grandmother and Covid-19" and Yeni İnsan Publishing House in Turkey, which acquired the Turkish rights for Daniel Messino's YA novel "Buenos Dias Avril: Estas en Kyoto".

Zeynep has 17 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Roy K.

Roy K.

Mar, 2025

Thank you, Roy
Victor M.

Victor M.

Feb, 2025

Zeynep Sen, your proofreading was prompt and accurate. Also, communication was professional and easy to understand. A big thank you for superior performance.
Jesse S.

Jesse S.

Feb, 2025

I could not have asked for a better experience than I had with Zeynep. She was professional, courteous, and very kind. I asked her for help proofreading my manuscript, and she went above and beyond with some pointers to help guide me in the right direction. I am so grateful for her help, and I wo...
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mally K.

mally K.

Feb, 2025

Zepney's comments show she carefully read my story, understood what I intended, and thought about it. She wrote about its strengths and described a number of area for improvement, which were worth considering.
larry C.

larry C.

Jan, 2025

Great editing skills and very helpful! HIghly recommend!

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