Kay Bell

Native Texan, professional journalist, tax geek.

Kay Bell is a proven professional in both journalism and corporate communications.

Her career includes almost two decades in Washington, D.C., as Congressional staff, as well as in the private sector, and several years writing for mass-circulation publications and Web sites.

Her forte: Translating difficult subject matter into lively, readable copy.

Her promise: You've found the best writing and editing services "write" here!

Taxes, taxes and more taxes
Since 2005, Kay has been contributing editor and principal tax reporter for Bankrate.com, a preeminent personal finance website.

The Bankrate job, in which she writes copy, edits and helps manage the site's annual tax guide, is a natural for Kay who, for five-plus years, was in-house tax writer/reporter/editor for Bankrate.

She joined the company in October 1999 to help launch the website's tax channel, which follows federal and state tax developments with an eye toward often-overlooked moves that could save taxpayers money. During the tax off season, Kay's in-house Bankrate responsibilities included editing general personal finance stories and, for several years, managing the site's small business section.

Blogging (and more) about taxes
In addition to her Bankrate tax responsibilties, Kay writes two respected, popular tax blogs, Don't Mess With Taxes and Bankrate Taxes Blog.

Her daily posts, humorous, pointed and insightful, have earned her a large following, both at her blog and within social media.

Don't Mess With Taxes has been named one of the Internet's 10 best tax sites by Top 10 Sources; cited by Moneysmartz as one of the Web's best tax information blogs; recognized as a Web Star of the Week by WebCPA; twice tapped as one of Austinist's best Austin blogs (February and August 2006); and included in the Top 10 Tax Stories of 2005 by TaxProf, a listing that was subsequently reprinted in the respected tax journal Tax Analysts.

But one blog is not enough for Kay. She also writes Bankrate.com's Taxes Blog, a perfect complement to her journalistic contributions to the website.

In 2009, her first solo book, "The Truth About Paying Fewer Taxes" (FT Press) was published. It examines ways individuals can make the tax code work to their filing advantage, whatever their stage of life.

SKB Editorial Services LLC
Only Kay’s desire to return home to her native Texas could lure her from a full-time tax writing job. Fittingly, on Tax Day 2005, Kay cleared out her cubicle and a few weeks later headed back to the Lone Star State.

As soon as she unpacked her PC, Kay started her own firm, SKB Editorial Services LLC. As principal of her Austin-based compay, Kay provides, on contract and freelance basis, writing, research, editing and communications consulting services for a professionally and geographically diverse clientele.

Kay produces general interest stories on topics ranging from auto maintenance to home remodeling to holiday planning. Her stories frequently have been published on such Web sites as USAToday.com, CBS.MarketWatch.com and AOL.com, as well as in numerous newspapers and their Web sites nationwide. A collection of Kay's Bankrate stories on the taxation of gambling winnings also is included in the book, "The Gambler's Guide to Taxes: How to Keep More of What You Win" (Kensington Publishing, 2003).

Kay also has been hired to:
• Create a new feature column for an Austin, Texas, magazine
As writer of "Worth," a regular editorial feature debuting in the June 2006 issue of austinwoman magazine, for more than two years Kay has provided Central Texas readers with financial information and money management advice, ranging from the serious subject of how couples cope with combined finances to the more lighthearted, but fiscally important, issue of budgeting for beauty.
• Develop and update online tax content for a major Maryland-based mutual fund company
T. Rowe Price marketing department hired Kay to write and design a new Internet section so that potential investors in the company’s Program for Charitable Giving can better understand the tax value of philanthropic gifts.
• Design and produce a financial management course for a Florida law firm
Under new bankruptcy law, individuals who file for bankruptcy must now complete a federally-approved financial education course before the bankruptcy can be discharged. A Palm Beach County, Florida, law firm retained Kay to create such a proprietary online course. The curriculum includes detailed lessons and accompanying exams, as well as various worksheets, illustrative tables and student exercises that emphasize financial management concepts and skills.
• Write investing articles for private newsletters published by Motley Fool Income Investors, Brinker Fixed Income Advisor and First ROI
These respected financial advisers sought out Kay to provide informative and accessible explanations for their clients of complex topics such as the foreign tax credit, municipal fund tax considerations and home equity loan pros and cons.
• Contribute to a nationally-recognized small business Web site
Kay created content for the Tools and Tips section of the National Federation of Independent Business. Her stories covered business-related concerns ranging from company retirement plans to business expensing options to special tax breaks for companies along the hurricane-damaged Gulf Coast.

Kay's diversity as a writer is displayed in her other regular, non-financial writing gig. Since March 2008, she's been the motorsports columnist for various Randall-Reilly Publishing publications that serve the trucking and transportation industries. As both the Crazy Woman Driver featured in "Changing Lanes" magazine and as the fan with Views From the Grandstands for the company's flagship publication "Truckers News," Kay rants and raves about all types of auto racing.

Other clients and links to examples of Kay's work can be found in the left column.

Multimedia
Kay also is experienced and comfortable writing TV/radio copy. In her capacity as tax editor at Bankrate.com she provided regular reports on tax and other personal finance topics for AP Radio and appeared on-air for expert interviews, live and taped, on AP and Bloomberg radio networks, ABC, CNNFN, Marketplace and other traditional and new media broadcast outlets. Just click to listen to a couple of her most popular radio tips: online bill payment options and tax season scams.

One of Kay's most widely heard interviews was with the NPR program Marketplace on tax responsibilities of prize winners. You can read a transcript of the interview or listen to it.

Professional Associations and Memberships
Kay is on the National Professional Advisory Board to the College of Mass Communications at Texas Tech University. Her three-year term began September 2009.

She served as a member of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP) from 2006 through 2009. TAP is a group of volunteers dedicated to helping the IRS identify ways to improve customer service and satisfaction. TAP is a Federal Advisory Committee established under the authority of the Department of the Treasury, which must approve an individual's membership on the panel.

To stay up to date on journalistic developments, Kay belongs to the Society of Professional Journalists, the Association for Women in Communications, the Society of American Business Writers and Editors, the Writers' League of Texas, Texas Non-Fiction Writers, the National Tax Association and the Online News Association. She's a former president of Freelance Austin and remains on that group's advisory board.