01 Feb Meet The Book Editor: Kirsten Rees

Are you new here? 👋

Hello! I’m Kirsten, professional book editor, published poet and flash fiction writer, soon-to-be YA author 📚

My favourite (or favorite if you’re in the US) author is Sir Terry Pratchett. He wrote exceptional novels that crossed so many genres and he was ahead of his time. The first collection of books I bought for myself from age 12 and still read today.

I’ve worked with 50+ authors who all feature on my website portfolio. Since I consider it a partnership, I always have a call/video call before agreeing to work with an author – if we both think we’d get on (could happily go for a coffee and we like similar books) then we’ll feel confident that we’ll work well together on your book 😊

I have glowing testimonials which you can find on Google Reviews and LinkedIn Testimonials. And many of my lovely clients have thanked and name-checked me in their book/acknowledgement/social media. Quite a few of my authors (yep, they are mine!) are repeat clients.

I’ve worked with authors all over the world from the UK to the US, France to Romania, Australia to Ukraine, Senegal to Switzerland. I’m slowly building a map of authors on all continents, although Antarctica might be a struggle 😅

I love the outdoors which is just as well as I live in Bonnie Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Lots of walks in the country and cold water swimming 🥶

Every client I’ve worked with has a tree planted in Scotland to represent their book launching into the world 🌳Planted each of them myself with the guidance of an expert eco scientist & tree caregiver. I try to be as eco-friendly as possible in my business.

I have ADHD so I’m super creative but can be easily distracted (oh look 👀 books). Although my school reports said, “Consciousness and has great potential but needs to focus”, it led to me having the more interesting jobs over the years! And for the last 10yrs I’ve been an editor. 26million+ words!

I believe in equality, consider myself a feminist, and try to read as widely as I can across most genres written by a diverse range of authors. If you are, or are supportive of groups which are racist, homophobic, sexist, or likewise then I am not the right editor for you. Although, of course, this doesn’t include characters or people named in your books because I believe that many good books have terrible characters that we love to hate (and rightly so!). This is more about my values as a person and business owner and connecting with the type of kind, respectful people I want to work with now and in the future.

Would love to see you on my social media feeds, so follow me and I’ll likely follow you back if you love books and we share the same values.

Instagram

Twitter

LinkedIn

Kirsten 📚

Check out my portfolio: www.kirstenrees.co.uk/portfolio

14 facts about me in 2024:

I had my very FIRST coffee around the age of 30! My mother always had migraines when I was growing up and attributed them to red wine, coffee, and too much chocolate so I had a bit of an aversion to these things! However, I tentatively sipped my first Americano and spat it out (yuk) and eventually discovered lattes and mochas (yum).

There is a dog 🐾

I think we belong to him more than the other way around. Opie, Son of Anarchy (his actual pedigree name given before we adopted him and kept of course).

I have a bizarre phobia of a particular kind of fruit (childhood bad experience). Not sharing a photo or what it is here because there are always people in the world who want to pull mean pranks.

I met and got an award certificate from Theo Paphitis (of Dragons’ Den fame). During the pandemic, I got a notification on twitter followed by hundreds of new followers and tweets. Theo had posted that I was one of his chosen 6 small business owners and tagged me. It was super exciting, even though I had to wait 18 months to attend the event and get my certificate.

I have donated blood for as long as I can remember. Although I had to stop for long periods while I was going through a couple of health issues and my diagnosis of fibromyalgia plus the pandemic, I still try to go and donate. That reminds me, I must be due soon!

Swam with sharks, no cage, and did not get eaten. This is something that terrified me. Dark water and sharks were a combination that I never thought I’d be able to take on. I was 21 before I even swam in the ocean and I’m the one who stays in the group and can’t put her head under the water (I’d rather not see what’s down there, thanks). But having been someone who always did adrenalin junkie activitivies and annual fundraising things, I felt unable to do much since developing fibromyalgia. So this opportunity came up to start in the video advert alongside sharks at Deep Sea World in South Queensferry.

I have a slight obsession with sand timers. Think I have at least five of them so far (by ‘so far’ you’ll know I’m not done buying them). They vary in size so I can use them for 5, 10, 15, 60mins. Ideal for quick writing sprints or other tasks.

In school, I was reasonably self-assured but quiet … unless you got me talking about something I was passionate about and then I wouldn’t shut up (probably the ADHD). I was excellent at English, History, and Art but terrible at Math, Sciences, Music, Sports. Anything that had a fixed answer and you had to ‘show the work’, I struggled with. But give me a concept and let me daydream and I was confident.

I can problem-solve my way out of any situation. But I believe it’s important to remind kids that school is useful but it’s not everything. I got a 4 in computing and then learned how to do basic coding and built my very first website (not this one). I use my laptop every work day and any time there is an issue I can usually find a workaround. SO yeah I got a score that was one above ‘fail’ and yet it hasn’t stopped me from achieving.

I have a home library, not the one in the photo, that was a vintage book shop in Glasgow I visited. Mine is currently getting a makeover and I just bought some new bookcases. I read that if you have 1000 books, it means you have a library so I’m accepting that as fact.
Photo Credit: Erin Rose Kyle

I was shortlisted at the Jericho Festival of Writing for my YA fantasy novel. I had to read the opening of my story to a room filled with authors and publishing agents. Shaking like a leaf, I managed to read it through. The feedback was overhwelmingly positive and I felt proud of myself.  In 2024, I’m planning to pitch this to publishing agents.

I’ve climbed a few mountains and Munros in Scotland. Nothing quite like the feeling of being on top of the world. Well, maybe astronauts might have something to say about that. I’ve been following a few women in space (women in STEM) on Instagram recently and they are so cool and inspiring.

I co-wrote a book for a charity to help raise awareness of grief in kids. After my dad died from cancer, I felt compelled to do something to help this charity and the family they had selected to share their story about their own dad. I was flown down to London to meet the family and representatives. After the young boys left with their mother, the rest of us had a good cry. They were so brave and eloquent in sharing their family history and stories of their dad. I wrote the book and a talented illustrator created the images.

I place a lot of emphasis and energy on positive mental health and want to continue to be an advocate in this area. The mind is a part of the body just like any other. We spend a lot of time working on our physical health, trying to build muscle, maintaining clear skin, growing healthy hair & nails. We take so much pride in this outward appearance.

And so, I try to invest as much time in maintaining my inner health and mental health as well. I’ve worked on quite a few self-help books for clients which I take tips and advice from. But there is always insight and inspiration to be found in fiction and business books too.