#1 Best Selling Author Kate Butler Inspires and Impacts Women and Children Through Her Books
Photo Credit: Virginia Rose Photography
By Rosa Linda Fallon
We often have fond memories of our parents reading us bedtime stories when we were kids. Cozy blankets, sitting next to mom or dad, and happy endings are usually what comes to mind. For New Jersey native and mom of two, Kate Butler, she discovered that she wasn’t always pleased with how these stories ended. As she read to her children, she often found herself dissatisfied not only with the stories’ endings, but also with the characters themselves. She started changing the stories as she read them. “I would be putting [my children] to bed at night, and I would read them stories, and I would make up different endings,” Kate says. “There was so much I wanted to [teach my kids] but I wasn’t finding it in these childrens’ books, so I started to make up my own stories,” she continues. She explains that she wanted the characters “to be stronger, to be able to choose their own thoughts and choose their own path.” Kate thought that if she felt this way, there must be other moms out there who felt the same way, too. She also came to the realization that she herself was not going after her own dreams, even though she was telling her daughters, “you can do anything you set your mind to.” So, her journey began.
Kate wrote and published her first childrens’ book, More Than Mud: Muddy Moments Made Magical in 2018. More Than Mud is a book about teaching children how to take the muddy moments in life and turn them into something magical. “In other words, we can’t control what happens to us in life, but we can control how [we respond to them], and we can control the choices that we make around situations,” Kate describes. “Although one person may see it as muddy, you actually have the power to change that, should you desire to, and that book teaches you [how to do that]. It’s something that I wanted to teach my children.” Kate not only wanted to teach this important lesson to her own children, but also to other children around the world. More Than Mud: Muddy Moments Made Magical became an Amazon Bestseller and stayed on the bestseller charts for one-hundred weeks straight. Kate then released two sequels, More Than Magic and Believe Big.
Kate believes that the power of storytelling is that it connects people and continues to help and serve others. “When people share stories, you feel closer to people, you understand that you’re not alone, and that other people have gone through similar things as you,” she says. “It continues on to help and serve people, and that’s really our mission.”
When Kate first started out writing a childrens’ book, she admits that she had no idea what she was doing. Now, ten years later, she owns her own publishing company, Kate Butler Books. Her children’s books have since gone on to win the prestigious Mom’s Choice Award for Excellence® and the Reader’s Favorite International Book Award®. They have also been endorsed by well-known children’s brands, Kidorable®, and the Garden State Discovery Museum™. While well known for her successful children’s books, Kate also helps women bring their stories to life, a mission she says she is very passionate about. “My passion is helping women really get clear on their story and bring their story to life in a way that is healing for them, in a way that leaves a legacy and leaves a mark on the world,” she says. She does this by offering coaching, mentorship, and writing workshops to help women discover their “core brilliance” and use it to “impact the world.”
Photo Credit: Abby Lynn Photography
Kate also assists women in turning their books into businesses, and she co-writes books with other women. Apart from childrens’ books, she is known for the Inspired Impact Book Series, a collection of nine books each telling the stories of inspiring women, including: Women Who Ignite, Women Who Inspire, Women Who Rise, Women Who Empower, Women Who Shine, Leading with Legacy, Women Who Dream, Women Who Influence, and Women Who Illuminate. Each book is a collection of stories from different woman authors. Kate says, “The goal really is to identify with all women so that you can find yourself [in that book]. It is more of a collaborative effort so readers can see what topic we are talking about from different angles.”
An encourager and a believer that all things are possible, Kate hopes to help as many women as she can discover their potential and fully live it out through the power of storytelling. “It’s really been a wonderful, wonderful journey,” she says. “I just want people to know that if they do have that dream of becoming an author, it can be easier and more fun and more powerful than they can imagine.”
For more information on Kate Butler Books or how you can work with Kate, visit www.katebutlerbooks.com