Hello. I'm glad to see you here!
I'm an author, entrepreneur and creative community advocate.
As founder of Gutsy Creatives, I help professional authors reach massive audiences to share their message and earn impressive revenue. We provide consulting, publishing and marketing services to writers across genres. Publisher at Avasta Press, an indie press dedicated to publishing literature, non-fiction and lifestyle books.
I split my time between Olympia (WA), San Francisco (CA) and Kandy (Sri Lanka).
Passions and Current Projects
I captain the wonderful team at Gutsy Creatives, overseeing new book promotion and author platform building services.
Recently, I served as interim CEO at MACH (Mobile Applications for Connected Health), an early-stage biotech company. MACH creates mobile products to improve health and wellness through evidence-based behavior change. As an early-stage startup expert, I assist with business value creation, launch strategy, product development and fundraising.
An enthusiastic, frequent speaker, I present talks and workshops on publishing, marketing, entrepreneurialism, and startups at conferences and events, including Book Expo America, Artists Trust, PubCamp, the Whidbey Island Writers’ Conference, Northwest Bookfest, and Book Publishers Northwest.
I support authors across genres publish their books, sharing my experiences with launch strategy, publishing on various platforms, marketing, and author platform building. I have worked with Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, CreateSpace, Google Play, Blurb and many other publishing tools. I have publishing industry knowledge, publishing experience with emerging technologies, technical expertise, and business and teaching experience.
Work and Experiences
Previously, Instructor of the Business of Digital Publishing course at the University of Washington.
I was co-founder and CEO of Writer.ly, an online marketplace that connects writers to publishing professionals. (Angel funded and backed by Guy Kawasaki.) I served as vice president of growth and outreach at Brown Paper Tickets, where I led marketing, outreach and re-branding efforts. I served on the boards of the Certificate in Digital Publishing, the Seattle Free Lances association and the American Marketing Association. As editor-in-chief of ToteMs, a Mensa newspaper, I cemented my love of the printed word and the art of publishing.
I earned a BA in writing and art activism from Evergreen State College, completed graduate coursework in the publishing arts program at Antioch University, and taught English at Kwansei Gakuin University in Japan. When I'm not helping writers achieve their publishing dreams, I'm at work on a new novel, “The Secret Life of Sensei Shi,” and “Book Lush,” the what to drink with what to read guidebook.
I believe in building writing community, both online and offline. While I have quite a large online following, I also greatly love supporting local writing groups. I founded and currently run multiple meetup groups: the Seattle Daylight Writers, Seattle Women Writers, Portland Women Writers and Book Lush.
If you are looking to hire me for publishing and book marketing assistance, please review my services here.
FInd me online!
Twitter: @Kelsye
LinkedIn: Kelsye Nelson
Facebook: AuthorKelsyeNelson
GooglePlus: +KelsyeNelson
Pinterest: KelsyeNelson
YouTube: My Channel
Amazon: My books
Goodreads: My Profile
Wattpad: KelsyeNelson
