Senior Willetts Finds Purpose in Publishing World

As a child, Katelyn Willetts was rarely seen without a book in her hands.

Stories filled her imagination, formed her values, and eventually clarified her calling. Now a senior English major at University of the Ozarks, Willetts is turning that lifelong love of storytelling into a profession. The Flippin, Ark., native is set to graduate with high honors in May while gaining real-world publishing experience through a remote internship with Quill & Flame Publishers.

For Willetts, the path to publishing began long before college.

"Stories have been a large part of my life from the beginning," Willetts said. "My parents read to me and raised me on audio dramas such as Adventures in Odyssey. Learning to read came naturally to me, and soon I was hardly ever without a book. Stories provided me with comfort, escape, motivation, and inspiration, especially during some dark times in my life; they became stars of hope for me. Talking about and sharing my favorite stories with others animated me like nothing else. I had been raised with the mindset of making a difference with my life and seeking a way to connect my passions, skills, and career. Given how much I loved stories and the power I knew stories held to help others, I knew I wanted to work in storytelling. It's been a long journey to discover what that would look like for me, but eventually I discovered that I have something of a knack for grammar and writing style as well as a love of helping others make their written work the best that it can be."

That clarity of purpose led to a providential opportunity last fall.

Willetts utilized initiative-combined with divine orchestration-to secure an ideal internship while attending the American Christian Fiction Writers annual conference in Springfield, Mo.

"One of the first sessions I went to ended up being a group discussion among authors, publishers, and others interested in the speculative fiction genre," she said. "Later at the conference's book signing event, I spoke with E. A. Hendryx, the author who had led the speculative fiction group discussion. When she remembered that I'm working toward being an editor, she immediately introduced me to AJ Skelly, an author and founder of Quill & Flame Publishing House. AJ was so graciously eager to help me advance my career and offered me an internship."

In her current role, Willetts is proofreading a contemporary romantic suspense novel, identifying grammatical errors before the manuscript is formatted for publication. The experience has further confirmed she is exactly where she is meant to be.

Last summer, Linda Fulkerson of Scrivenings Press connected Willetts with editor and author Jennifer Burrows, who mentored her one-on-one in the craft of editing.

"Jennifer's instruction prepared me to step into my current work with Quill & Flame," Willetts said. "I hope to also work on other manuscripts in earlier stages of editing where the content and writing style are refined," she said. "It's so gratifying and exciting to already be doing the type of work I plan to do in my career."

Her academic journey at Ozarks has also played a significant role in refining her goals. Through the University's LENS program, Willetts expanded her studies beyond English, adding minors in history, entrepreneurship, and psychology.

"I hadn't considered studying those areas before, but I quickly realized their connection to my goals," she said. "I enjoy history since it is the story of the world. Entrepreneurship has proved especially valuable in introducing me to business operations and giving me an opportunity for and guidance in writing a business plan. And my English senior thesis project based on The Lord of the Rings is capturing and refining my beliefs about the power of stories to offer hope to people who desperately need it."

When asked to name her favorite class, Willetts finds it nearly impossible.

"That's hard to answer because every single one has been valuable," she said. "Dr. Edward Ardeneaux's Eighteenth-Century Novel and Dr. Brian Hardman's American Romanticism come to mind; I enjoyed many of the works we read and learned so much from the discussions Dr. Ardeneaux led and from Dr. Hardman's lectures. I appreciate Dr. Amy Oatis's guidance and support for my senior thesis and my internship. Dr. Karen Frank's History Workshop and Historiography classes changed the way I see the world. And Dr. Christine McCain's encouragement and help with my business plan in Entrepreneurship Capstone means a lot to me."

Beyond the classroom, Willetts credits the Jones Learning Center for helping her thrive at Ozarks. Willetts has a medical condition called Turner Syndrome that involves abnormalities in the structure of her DNA, resulting in a specific profile of extreme cognitive strengths and relative weaknesses. February is Turner Syndrome Awareness Month.

"Specifically, my most prominent intellectual strength is my skill with words, and my ability to deal with non-verbal information is relatively smaller," Willetts said. "I understand and interact with the world through words more than visual imagery: words convey meaning to me more clearly than non-verbal gestures or pictures, and I generally have to put something in words to fully grasp it. An analogy that explains how some of my abilities outpace the others is that my brain's software is larger than its hardware. My personality makes me long to grasp and express ideas and experiences in a deep, thorough, and detailed way, and my verbal strengths enable me to do so; however, my brain sometimes physically struggles to keep up with what I want and am otherwise capable of doing. It's like all the information can overload my servers unless I manage it. With adequate time and space, I produce nuanced and sophisticated work. I cannot do everything, but my strengths uniquely equip me to edit written works."

Working with her JLC academic coordinator, Samantha Hoing, and her JLC social coach, Whitleigh Wilhelmi, has helped Willetts succeed both academically and personally.

"The JLC provides a place for me to use my verbal strengths to process all the thoughts in my head that otherwise can be overwhelming," she said. "Samantha's constant support and advice has been one of the biggest blessings of my life at Ozarks. From day one, she's provided a safe space for me to process everything going on. She's helped me learn how to deal with life and stay focused on what matters. I can't thank her enough for her friendship and care; my college experience has been immeasurably better because of her. Along with Samantha, Whitleigh has been greatly instrumental in helping me prepare for life outside college. The ladies there help me pull back to see the bigger picture I otherwise tend to miss for all the details, and they provide wise counsel on navigating the various life issues I encounter. Having that support system in place reduces so much of the stress of college for me. The JLC program is making my college experience so much better and helping prepare me for life after college."

Willetts also praised staff members Kerry and Matt Bewley for their personal influence.

"In their pastoring of Project Church, their nonprofit and social justice work, and their work at Ozarks, they have become personal and moral role models for me," she said. "Just by being who they are and by their warmth and care as my pastors, they gave me a much-needed view of what it can look like to live out my faith in this world."

With graduation approaching, Willetts is already looking ahead. She plans to launch her own publishing venture-Refine to Shine Editing-after college.

Her entrepreneurial vision traces back to her teenage years.

"As a young teenager, I was part of a group of volunteers working with author Brock Eastman to track story details for consistency as he wrote his middle-grade science fiction series, The Quest for Truth," Willetts said. "That experience introduced me to the behind-the-scenes work involved in publishing books and the need for author support. One of my close friends is a freelancer working in the digital arts, and with her encouragement and some wonderful opportunities provided by Brock, I began thinking in vague terms about providing general author/storyteller support services. I took some detours, explored different areas, and came around to the more specific idea of working in the publishing industry as an editor. Those in the industry informed me that most publishing houses hire outside editors on a contract basis and that I'd be more likely to get work as a freelancer than if I sought an in-house position. So I took my original freelance idea and focused it specifically on the typical editing services that publishing houses and self-publishing authors would need. My aim is to support authors throughout the process of refining their stories to shine like stars of hope. Thus, my brand is Refine to Shine Editing."

As she enters her final months at Ozarks, Willetts reflects with gratitude on the University that helped sharpen both her calling and her confidence.

"Solidifying and expanding are the two words that come to mind," she said. "I have become more solid, more certain, in who I am, where I'm going, and how I am to live in this world. At the same time, my perspective has been greatly expanded as I've learned more about the complex past and current state of the world and engaged with others who hold their own points of view."

Topics: Student Stories