Eleanor Hawken

Editor

Children's author, editor and tutor

Children's

Young Adult

Eleanor is an author and experienced fiction editor.

Eleanor has had nine novels for children published under her own name. Her titles include Sammy Feral’s Diaries of Weird (winner of the Lancashire Library’s Fantastic Book Award 2014), Felix Frost (Quercus Books), The Blue Lady and The Grey Girl (Hot Key Books). Eleanor has also written under the pseudonym Zed Storm, devising writing and working as a series consultant on the Will Solvit books. She has also written Book of the Film novelisations for movie studios, and countless activity and story books for various Disney films and franchises in her days as an editor in licensed publishing.

She loves discovering fresh talent and working with new authors to hone their story-telling skills.

Find Eleanor on X here: @ehawken

If you’d like to work with Eleanor, get in touch with our Writer Support team; tell us about your book and what you’d like support with, and we’ll help you identify your next steps.

The right direction

I just wanted to quickly reach out to let you know how pleased I was with Eleanor’s report of my manuscript! Already I feel like her suggestions are helping steer me in the right direction as I prepare for my re-write.

Laken B

Can't wait to start improving it

Thank you so much – firstly for your kind remarks but most importantly for the incredibly helpful job you’ve done with advising me on where to improve my manuscript. I think you’ve done a magnificent job in your report and really do thank you for all your help and advice – you have given me so many areas to revisit I can’t wait to start improving it. I also thank you for your comments about my first effort at fiction – your encouragement is gratefully received. I knew joining Jericho Writers was a good idea!

Gloria B

Fantastic feedback

Fantastic feedback. Thank you so much! It just the kind of intel I was after.

Andy G

Out-of-this-world good

I wanted to say thank you, so much, to Eleanor for her outstanding helpfulness in guiding me to think about important improvements to my novel. Her notes were out-of-this-world good, and I’ve used them to make strides already. I feel both lucky and grateful to have been paired with an editor who connected so closely with the vision of what I’m trying to accomplish.

T. W

Valuable feedback

I just want to thank you for teaming me up with Eleanor for my Manuscript Assessment. She has given me some valuable feedback that now I just need to act on!

B. M

Thrilled with my report

I'm thrilled with my report. I'm sure Eleanor's feedback will help make it a much better manuscript.

Jamie M

A source of encouragement

Firstly, I want to thank you for such a truly helpful document. Not only has it been a source of encouragement, but it’s also become an incredibly valuable guide for my continued refining, clarifying, tuning and tweaking, reading and re-reading over and over. Every dot point is so insightful - I’m honestly yet to find something not worthy of actioning.

Jimmy C

Manuscript Assessment

Signed by Farshore

Eleanor worked with Claire Hatcher-Smith on a manuscript assessment of her debut children’s murder mystery, which would go on to be published in 2025 by Farshore (HarperCollins) as the first book in The Mizzy Mysteries series.

Learn more

Eleanor's specialties

Fiction

Children's

Young Adult

Why we love Eleanor

Eleanor’s knowledge within the children’s market is exemplary. So much so, we are proud to say that she was the lead tutor on our Writing for Children course in 2022. The enthusiasm that Eleanor brings to each project leaps off the page; you can feel your passion for writing re-ignite with every word. This is why it’s always a pleasure to read Eleanor’s reports. Eleanor’s concise reports are crafted with care and packed with commercial know-how. Confident across the children’s market, including YA, we believe Eleanor can give any children’s author the tools to achieve their dreams, along with the encouragement to believe they are attainable.

What Eleanor says about editing

I have always loved stories, and am passionate about reading, writing and telling them. I remember vividly what it was like to be a rookie writer with no industry experience at all. Plenty of people helped me along the way, and now it’s a privilege to be able to help others.

Since beginning my editorial career I’ve had an eye for commercial children’s fiction. I’m particularly drawn to books that may appeal to reluctant readers – the more children we see with books in their hands, the better!

My passion and experience in how to create a commercial hook are key elements that I bring to editing.

I aim to look at each project with a view of how it could be the best possible version of itself. How can a book be funnier? Scarier? Better paced? How can we create characters that leap off the page and into the reader’s hearts? I genuinely enjoy the opportunity to work with new authors, helping them to hone their storytelling skills and begin their publishing journey.

By purchasing any of these products, you'll have the opportunity to express your interest in working with Eleanor.