Hey, I’m Sabrina Estudillo Butler, founder of Unpolished Words.

And if you’ve been searching for a nonfiction book coach who understands your lived experience and will (lovingly) challenge you to write the best book you can, I’m your girl.

Because I love to help you figure out what makes you tick, why, and how that knowledge can help you(and others) grow. 

Before I keep talking about me, let me explain how some of my Eternal Truths benefit you. Or, if you really truly just want my (condensed) life story, ignore the next few paragraphs, and scroll down.

Why am I a Book Coach?

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Sabrina is sitting in a coffee shop wearing a beige hoodie and mint green headphones. She is holding an iced matcha drink with an open book and white and pink flowers on the table in front of her.

Two things have always been true about me: I’m a nerdy bookworm, and I give great advice.

For you, my nerdy bookworminess equals a wide knowledge of references to help you improve your writing skills and learn how to structure and organize your ideas. It also helps me recommend books you’ll genuinely enjoy (because reading is fun!).

And the fact that I give great advice? Well, tbh my job as your coach isn’t really to advise. It’s to ask you questions, give you information, and guide you while you embark on the incredibly involved and often challenging journey of writing a book.

AND sometimes you just need another perspective, an outside opinion, advice. When that time comes, I’m there.

From Architect to Nonfiction Book Coach

Instead of letting my lifelong love for all things books and writing and story inform my career path, I chose something “safe” and became an architect. 

Six months into my first big-girl Architect job, I knew it wasn’t for me, but I stayed (for another 6 years)! Why? Because I was a gifted kid, the smart cousin (I have tons of smart cousins), the first person in my immediate family to go to a four-year university, and I knew I had to do better than my parents, for my parents.

Talk about pressure!

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After LOTS of therapy, encouragement from my husband, reassurance from my mom, and training from Author Accelerator’s Nonfiction Book Coaching Certification Course, I decided to take this coaching and editing “side hustle” full-time.

And it’s literally the best career decision I’ve ever made!

Plus, all those years architecting gave me some great skills, like project management and being able to see details and the bigger picture all at once. It taught me how to parse through what someone says they want to figure out what it is they need (something you’ll likely be on the receiving end of if we work together).

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Why Unpolished Words?

In a historically white, gatekept publishing industry, I provide a writer-first sanctuary for BIPOC high-achievers and creatives (like you!) in need of guidance, encouragement, and accountability while they write the book they need to write.

My Core Values

Curiosity

Acting with and encouraging curiosity whenever possible.

Agency

Having agency over our creative processes and self-expression while operating within historically exclusive systems and industries.

Improvement

Continual improvement of the skills we need to be better at what we do–writing, coaching, editing, and relating to each other.

Compassionate Candor

Meeting vulnerability with compassionate candor.

Down for the cause?

 Okay, let’s get personal (in a fun way, I promise!)

  • Memoir: Crying in the Bathroom - Erika L. Sanchez; Maybe You Should Talk to Someone - Lori Gottlieb

    Fiction: I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me - Jamison Shea; Gods of Jade and Shadow - Silvia Moreno Garcia; Little Fires Everywhere - Celeste Ng

    Nonfiction: The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop - Felicia Rose Chavez; Wired for Story - Lisa Cron; Tribe of Mentors - Tim Ferri

  • The Office (Basic? Yes. Do I care? No)

    Parks & Rec (April Ludgate is my alter ego)

    Gilmore Girls (a problematic but nostalgic fav)

  • NOT BY COLOR! (Sorry for yelling, but this is serious business.)

    I do it alphabetically by author’s last name, separated by genre.

    Also don’t worry, I’m not judging you if you want beautiful rainbow bookshelves (well, I’m trying really hard not to, haha).

  • Pro. I am very pro.

  • I’m a mood reader, so my TBR is basically useless and neverending.

    Sometimes I write in books, but only nonfiction ones!

    I will stop reading midsentence and close the book because sometimes I have the attention span of a teaspoon.

Alright, do you feel like you’ve known me for years now? Well, I wanna get to know you (and your book), too!