Leah Trouwborst
I'm a senior editor at Crown, a nonfiction imprint within Penguin Random House. I'm drawn to a range of expert-driven and narrative nonfiction in the big think, science, business, technology, current events, and memoir categories, particularly when an author draws on original research or reporting, reveals hidden patterns shaping social, economic, or environmental outcomes, offers new language for understanding the human experience, or presents counterintuitive frameworks for thinking and living well.
My specialty is in helping brilliant people shape their research, ideas, and experiences into a book that puts their intelligence on full display and takes readers on an engrossing, transformative journey. I’m also deeply involved in coming up with memorable vocabulary to fuel word of mouth, and in helping craft the exterior of the book so that it resonates as not just a text, but a cultural object.
Previously, I held positions at the Simon Element imprint of Simon & Schuster and the Portfolio imprint of Penguin Random House, where I acquired and edited four New York Times bestsellers and nine Wall Street Journal bestsellers.
Over the course of my career, I've worked with Julie Zhuo, KC Davis, Annie Duke, Frank Abagnale, Marie Forleo, Ryder Carroll, Christian Davenport, Liz Fosslien, Mollie West Duffy, and Nicole Walters, among other best-selling and award-winning writers.