We recently connected with Kelsey Budd and have shared our conversation below.
Kelsey, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you share a customer success story with us?
One of my writing coach clients was having trouble coming up with a title for her novella, which is a futuristic retelling of a Bible story. To help her, I asked her questions about her story–the plot, characters, and themes. Once I had a clear vision, I came up with some title names. She did end up picking one I made and loves it because, as she told me in one of our sessions, “It perfectly captures the tone and theme of the story.” I was so happy to be a part of her creative process and help her through a creative writing block. And that is what my freelance editing and writing coach service is all about–to help the author create and craft the story of their dreams!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Kelsey Budd, and I’m a freelance book editor and writing coach. Ever since I was little, I loved stories, especially anything with fantasy. Despite my learning disability, I went to college as an English major with a writing emphasis. By the grace of God, I graduated at the top of my class in 2018 and got to act in some plays and be an editor on my university’s literary journal. During 2020, I researched and taught myself about copyediting and copywriting, taking online courses and reading books on the craft of writing. My love of storytelling grew once I joined American Christian Fiction Writers, learning from established authors. We even each wrote a short story we complied into an anthology we published in 2023. Thanks to feedback from fellow writers, I discovered I had a knack for helping others improve their stories, pulling out the weak parts and helping the good parts shine. Then, in 2021, I started my freelance editing business and got my first client. From there, I also joined The Christian PEN, a group for proofreaders and editors, and learned more about the craft of editing. Soon, I worked my way up from being an emcee at their annual online conference, PENCON, to being a speaker this year discussing how to edit YA fantasy. Speaking at PENCON opened my eyes to how much I enjoy helping writers with their stories from the ground up, and so I established a writing coach division of my freelance services. While my freelance work is only part-time right now, I really enjoy what I do! My tagline is “May your stories bud, bloom, and blossom!” Being a part of ACFW has also really encouraged and pushed me to become a better writer, inspiring me to attend writers’ conferences and enter writing contests, some of which I came in first place. And thanks to the wonderful people at The Christian PEN, I will get to teach a whole class on editing YA fantasy next year at their teaching division, The PEN Institute. I’m surprised I’m not burnt out on stories because I’m still an avid reader and am also working on writing my own epic fantasy series. In the meantime, you can buy our anthology, “Charleston Light: Stories Inspired by Sulivan’s Island Lighthouse,” on Amazon and learn more about me and my services on my website at Mybookbuddyeditor.com. You can also follow me on Instagram as @theartsybookeditor since I also love to make jewerly and paint.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
Yes. Even though I’m a slow reader, I’ve always loved the power of storetelling and how a story can take you to other worlds, introduce you to interesting people, and take you on journeys you’d never be able to go on without them. I can recall the stories I grew up reading that did that for me and opened my imagination and view of the world and myself. I want to write books that influence others in the same ways. To create someone’s favorite book or even one that inspired them to write would be a dream come true! And if I can help other writers create and craft those stories that uplift and inspire others, that would also be a wonderful thing to be a part of.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
A lesson I had to learn was that I should have incorporated my grandfather’s advice to “always ask questions” as soon as I began my freelance editing career. The story behind this comes from my first editing client. Although I did have a few basic questions for him initially, I soon learned I needed to add a lot to that list before I start editing a client’s story. It was only until I got deep into reading and editing his story that I asked him about a plot point, and he told me he did that on a whim without considering how it affected the story. He admitted this needed fixing, and we started brainstorming. Since then, I’ve created a detailed list I call my questionnaire for my clients to answer before I start editing their story. That way, I get to know who they are as a writer, what their story is about, and their plans for their story. This might take them some time up front for them to answer them all, but I assure them that it will save us both time and confusion down the road. I even had a client tell me how writing out her character’s goals, motivations, and conflicts was a great exercise for her.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Mybookbuddyeditor.com
- Instagram: TheArtsyBookEditor
