Ten years ago, Tellwell began with a simple idea: authors deserve dedicated guidance and support, transparency, and 100% royalties. What started as a side hustle for our founder, Tim Lindsay, quickly grew into something much bigger. Within just a couple of months—and an early wave of author sign-ups—Tellwell became a full-time venture, complete with a small but passionate publishing team and our very first office on Fort Street in Victoria.
From there, everything moved quickly. Within our first year, we were celebrating early wins with authors and earning recognition in our local community, including VIATEC’s Startup of the Year finalist, Douglas Magazine’s Top 10 to Watch, and a spot in Canadian Business’ Startup 50 lineup of fastest-growing companies. But the real joy came from the growing list of writers who trusted us with their manuscripts and dreams.
In 2018, we expanded internationally and opened our Cebu office. Over the next few years, our author community continued to grow across the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, the U.K., and Ireland. We also welcomed our first Australian team members and purchased a small indie publishing company, IndieMosh, further strengthening our presence and support for authors in the region.
And then came 2020, a year that reshaped the world. We went fully remote, embraced virtual collaboration, and expanded our team. With more people writing from home, we published a record-breaking number of books.
Fast forward to 2025: Tellwell is now a global team of more than 50 full-time publishing professionals—editors, designers, illustrators, marketers, and author-support specialists—all working together with one purpose: to help authors create the best possible version of their book.
This past year, we launched our podcast and YouTube channel, Demystifying Self-Publishing; sponsored and attended Canada’s largest book festival, Word on the Street; and hosted our first-ever Empowered Author Summit with over 800 attendees. And to date, we’ve proudly supported the publication of more than 6,000 books from authors across the world.
None of this would be possible without our wonderful authors, partners, and supporters.Thank you for trusting us with your stories, your ideas, and your courage. Thank you for sharing your experiences and continuing to inspire us with your eloquent words.
Ten years in, our mission remains the same: to support authors in shaping professional books that contribute to our universal library.
Here’s to the next decade, full of creativity, a connected author community, and the many beautiful books still to come.
Warmly,
The Tellwell Team
