I am a writing coach and editor who loves to help writers develop their manuscripts .  

As an award-winning published author who has been edited by some of the finest editors in the industry, I know how to bring a project to fruition.  I also have many years teaching creative writing, and have developed intuitive and inspiring approaches to keep a writer going over the long haul.

I offer insight, big picture thinking, advice, and generative writing prompts.  I can help to shape and sculpt your manuscript and offer line editing.  I’m proud to say that a number of my clients have gone on to successfully publish their works.

Our work might include:

  • Brainstorming
  • Accountability
  • Support
  • Generative prompts
  • Story mapping
  • Time management
  • Reading suggestions
  • Deep dive questions
  • Honing to the essence
  • Structural suggestions
  • Sculpting for dramatic shape & pacing
  • Line editing

I work on:

  • Novels
  • Memoirs
  • Adult
  • Young Adult
  • Middle Grade
  • Selected nonfiction

Please message me at marinabudhos@gmail.com if you are interested in knowing more.

TESTIMONIALS

Marina Budhos is an invaluable editor.  She was able to do what other expert readers could not: help me hone my work so that it achieves greater velocity without losing voice and vision.  I think this is because she is both an insightful audience, steeped in contemporary fiction, and a seasoned, well published novelist who can look at a manuscript from the inside, as it were, and not only diagnose but suggest exciting, apt fixes.  Marina is so smart and clear that I was actually afraid to hear her critique.  Instead I found myself jazzed on her ideas, and couldn’t wait to get back to work.  —Bonnie Friedman, author, WRITING PAST DARK & DON’T STOP,  (forthcoming, Europa)

I feel honored and very lucky to have had the opportunity to work with Marina Budhos. I would not have been able to publish or get an agent for my debut novel, City Girls, without her expertise, guidance, and insight.

Marina read multiple drafts of my manuscript and each time offered direct, concise, and essential feedback that helped me shape City Girls into a book I’m very proud of. City Girls, is narrated by three different characters, Marina had amazing ability to step back and look at the project as a whole, making sure each voice tied into the next, which was something I really needed support with while writing the book. Marina also helped me understand the middle-grade market and the publishing world which I knew very little about.
–Loretta Lopez Author of CITY GIRLS, selected by the American Bookseller Association as one of the top 10 debut novels of 2024

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I had the great fortune to have Marina Budhos as my MFA adviser. She worked diligently with me to not only create and edit my first historical novel but also helped me transform from working journalist to fiction writer. Her insights and edits, while often profound and deep, were always delivered with kindness and compassion, and with useful reading assignments and writing exercises to specifically help me develop in the right direction. I am pleased to say that the manuscript we worked on together sold to a major publisher the weekend I graduated from Goddard College. If you have the opportunity to avail yourself of her fantastic brain and insight, jump on it!
—Karen Essex, national and international bestselling author of KLEOPATRA, LEONARDO’S SWANS, and others.

Marina helped me find the structure and shape of my novel, which I had been writing for four years.

—Jaime Manrique, OUR LIVES ARE THE RIVERS, a historical novel

 

Marina’s superpower is how much she cares about your writing, as if it’s her own.

After graduating from an MFA, it is very easy to fall off a cliff. I was incredibly fortunate to work with Marina Budhos as part of the one year We Need Diverse Books mentorship program.

My writing is in safe hands with someone who wants to nurture, not just my novel, but also me as a writer. She truly cares about writing, about the reader, and also about you as the author.

I have learned so much from Marina about character and structure and have actually leveled up as a writer since graduating due to Marina’s mentorship. My favorite thing is to chat with Marina and brainstorm and discuss ideas. We dive deep into craft and difficult topics that come up in writing. If you are BIPOC or queer, you can feel safe with Marina. Also, Marina gives amazing book and movie recommendations!- Beste Filiz, We Need Diverse Books Mentee

 

Working with Marina has been one of the most transformative experiences of my creative life. She sees what most people don’t — the spaces between words, the places where a story hides from itself. Marina has an uncanny ability to recognize when I’m skimming the surface of something deeper, when an emotion hasn’t been fully lived on the page. Her insight guided me to return, peel back the layers, and reach the truth at the core of my story.

Her editorial feedback didn’t just make my memoir stronger — it made me stronger. Marina creates an environment of complete safety and support while maintaining a level of professionalism and rigor that elevates every draft. She is intuitive, wise, and deeply attuned to both language and the human heart.

If you are writing something raw, personal, or transformative, you couldn’t ask for a more gifted or compassionate editor. Marina is everything you hope for in a creative partner — brilliant, loving, and wholly dedicated to bringing out your most authentic voice.–Alex Skylark, memoirist