Alyssa is Tellwell’s content creator and the voice behind the Demystifying Self-Publishing podcast. She’s passionate about storytelling, connecting with authors, and making self-publishing feel a little less overwhelming.
From creating engaging content to hosting insightful conversations, Alyssa brings creativity to everything she does.
Get to know her and what goes on behind the scenes!
Can you tell us about your role at Tellwell, and what a typical day looks like for you?
As Tellwell’s content creator, I have the privilege of exercising my creative energy through podcast recording and editing, creating videos for our YouTube channel, designing captivating thumbnails, or executing trendy Reels and TikToks for social media to enhance our brand awareness. A typical day might include researching an upcoming podcast guest and creating questions for our interview, recording a podcast or YouTube video, designing internal or corporate marketing assets, or hopping into an afternoon check-in with our team.
What do you enjoy most about working in the marketing side of publishing?
I love books. I’m a published children’s author, and I have such a passion for marketing, so being fortunate enough to work in a marketing capacity within a publishing company is really special. While my one-on-one interaction with our authors is minimal, this position provides me with the opportunity to develop our client-facing messaging and the way our brand is received and perceived by existing and prospective authors. I get to listen to the feedback from our team and our authors and then create compelling content that educates, informs, and inspires through our podcast, YouTube channel, newsletter, and social media posts.
What inspired you to start the Demystifying Self-Publishing podcast?
Tellwell is made up of thousands of published authors and dozens of team members who are experts in the field of assisted self-publishing. The podcast allows us to share self-publishing tips, industry news, ways to improve writing, how to pitch your book, and other insights with new writers who may just be starting out, or existing authors who may need some guidance in a specific area like marketing. With such a pool of knowledge and expertise it made sense to continue to build our brand awareness and thought leadership through the integration of a podcast.
Can you give us a glimpse into the kinds of topics and guests featured on the podcast?
So far, we have discussed everything from Tellwell’s origin story with Tim Lindsay (our founder and CEO), to book coaching, self-publishing myths, children’s book marketing, world-building, and more! We are really excited to continue to connect with more of our authors as well as industry experts to provide valuable insights to the world of self-publishing with our audience.
What’s been one of the most insightful or surprising conversations you’ve had on the show?
Many of the conversations have included a-ha moments, or turned into a topic that I didn’t initially predict. I think the beauty of podcasting is that you enter into a recording with a general idea of the subject matter for that particular guest, but depending on how the answers flow the subject matter can evolve and transform. The episode with Karen Harmon is a great example—originally my thought was that the episode would explore the basics of how to write a memoir, because Karen now teaches memoir writing classes after publishing three of her own. Very quickly, however, the conversation evolved into the cathartic nature of memoir writing and how healing the process of taking internal thoughts and feelings or belief systems and putting them onto paper can be.
Have there been any unexpected challenges or learning moments since starting the podcast?
The biggest learning moment involved my own preparedness. For the first few episodes my guided conversation involved upwards of 20 intricate questions, because I was so interested in our guests and wanted to ensure we were having the most comprehensive conversation possible. However, I quickly realized that allowing for the guest to lead the conversation and being an active listener allowed for me to engage more in a back-and-forth conversation as opposed to a formal-sounding interview. The episodes feel a lot more natural after making that adjustment.
Can you walk us through the process of planning and producing an episode?
I keep a running spreadsheet of guests and topics I would like to feature on the podcast. From there I send out email invitations to the guests and they book in for an interview. Once a guest has booked in, the exciting part of research and possible episode angles begins. I review their biography, their website, social media, perhaps watch other interviews they might’ve participated in previously, and then compile questions that support the topic of conversation I hope to cover. We record virtually through an online platform, and once the conversation ends I begin the post-production side of things. I edit the audio levels for consistency, remove any pauses or ums to make the content more digestible, and tighten up the responses or fluff as needed. After the episode has been edited, I export the video to YouTube and the audio file to our podcast RSS feed, write up the episode description, and then it becomes available on Mondays for our audience to tune in to.
How do you keep each episode engaging and informative for both new and experienced authors?
One of the ways I like to keep our episodes engaging is through the use of our final segment, “The Plot Thickens,” which is a user-submitted question segment. Ahead of having a guest, I post to our Stories on Instagram asking for our audience to submit any questions they have for the upcoming guest. This is a fun way to keep our listeners engaged and invested in the episodes while also ensuring we’re covering topics that are of interest to them. If you aren’t already, be sure to give us a follow on Instagram so you can participate!
If you’re an author or an industry professional who would like to participate in our podcast, please apply here!
When you’re not creating content for Tellwell, what do you enjoy doing?
I love spending time with my family. I’ve got two toddlers who keep me on my toes and are at such fun ages. The things they say are so comical! I also enjoy reading, crocheting, golfing, baking, being out in nature, and trying new experiences or exploring new areas. Most recently for my birthday I hosted a “ponies and pottery” event where we got to mingle with horses (my favourite!) while being led through a hand-building pottery class. Being creative and trying new things really fuel my soul.
