Simone Zapata is a developmental editor and writing coach who provides mentorship in the process of publishing. She partners with writers of non-fiction, poetry, and hybrid/cross-genre manuscripts* who are ready to invest in their craft and elevate their work to its fullest potential.
Trained as an interdisciplinary poet, Simone is keen to bridge disparate themes across a manuscript while tending to the work’s sound and rhythm at the line level. She’s led writing workshops for the past fifteen years independently and in partnership with colleges and universities, school districts, non-profits, libraries, museums, and juvenile and adult detention centers. A 2026 alum of the Los Angeles Review of Books Publishing Workshop, Simone holds an MFA in Creative Writing and is currently pursuing a Certificate in Developmental Editing through the University of Washington.
Simone’s experience mentoring a wide range of writers and as a writer herself grounds her editing practice in care and respect for the writer’s voice. She knows firsthand how vulnerable it can be to open your work to critique, and she prioritizes building the kind of trust that makes meaningful revision possible. Simone is quick to identify and build upon a manuscript’s strengths, helping writers to align their work with their intended audience while cultivating greater confidence in their own creative instincts.
In an effort to expand access to the fields of editing and publishing, Simone offers her services at sliding scale consistent with the Editorial Freelancers Association’s market rates. She offers a complimentary 15-minute discovery call to discuss your work, as well as a sample edit to gauge her editorial approach. Out of respect for her clients’ intellectual property, Simone does not use AI in any aspect of her editorial services and is not interested in working with writers who recruit LLMs to generate their work.
*Simone is especially enthusiastic to work with innovate forms, such as: hybrid memoir, documentary/investigative poetry, speculative non-fiction, transgressive/experimental translation, autotheory, and multi-media/image-based texts.