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Meet the Team

Marketing consultant Katie Hennessey on her role in educating and empowering authors in their book marketing efforts

1. Tell us about your role at Tellwell.

As a marketing consultant at Tellwell, I am an author’s final point of contact in the publication process. I work with authors on creating the best strategies to promote and market their book based on their goals, time and budget. It is my goal to help educate and teach authors about all the extraordinary resources available. Children’s books are my specialty! 

2. What did you do beforehand?

I wore a few different hats prior to starting at Tellwell. After I graduated from the University of Victoria with a B.A., I worked in real estate, supporting agents with marketing and administrative duties. Real estate didn’t feel quite like the right fit, and I decided to go back to school to become an elementary school teacher. It was during this time that I became aware of an opening on Tellwell’s marketing team, and couldn’t resist the opportunity to become a part of an industry I feel so passionate about. 

3. How would you describe your personality?

I like to describe myself as Miss Congeniality. I love helping others and am highly organized. I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist. I typically see most things with my rose-colored glasses on, always wanting to see the glass half full, rather than half empty.

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Author of the Month

Award-winning children’s author, Kristin Pierce, helps both kids and adults find their “inner compass”

Award-winning author Kristin Pierce’s children’s books are full of empowering messages about finding our real-life super powers of creativity, imagination and intuition. And it’s that message the author, herself, has fully embraced by not only writing a series of children’s books, but taking the lessons learned in self-publishing and coaching others on how to bring their own story ideas to life.

“It has been a lot of work and a ton of learning, but it has been so much fun,” said Saskatchewan-based author and mother of two.

Children's author Kristin PierceThe inspiration to write a children’s story first came a few years ago when she was putting together a rhyming scrapbook for her son about his first six-months of life. The rhymes began flowing and the book ended with some empowering verses.

“I looked at those last couple pages and said to my husband, “Wouldn’t it be neat to turn these lines into an empowering children’s book?”

Pierce says she couldn’t believe she had said those words aloud. “For almost my whole life, I didn’t believe I was creative, so this idea didn’t align with who I thought I was, so I dismissed it,” she said.

But the rhymes wouldn’t stop flowing, and several months later, while her son was napping, she wrote the first draft of her first book, Your Inner Compass That Could, in an hour and a half.

You are the one who knows your true self the best
You have an Inner Compass inside of your chest
If you learn how to listen, it will be your best guide
On life’s wonderful, magical, adventurous ride

Your Inner Compass That Could - book cover Tellwell Publishing

Your Inner Compass That Could was published by Tellwell in early 2018. The story encourages children to connect to and trust their inner self to guide them in life. It teaches children that there are no limits to what they can achieve and to pursue their passions and share their unique gifts with the world.

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Author of the Month Tellwell Books

B.C.-based author Mark Lloyd wins top prize at IndieReader Discovery Awards for sci-fi novel

A Place to Stay Forever by Mark Lloyd -Tellwell

British Columbia-based author Mark Lloyd is quietly celebrating a huge win after his book nabbed top prize in the science fiction category at the IndieReader Discovery Awards.

The humble author was looking for feedback and submitted the book on a whim. “I was surprised. I didn’t expect the story would win anything,” he said.

The award winners were announced in May at the New York International Book Expo. IndieReader gave the book 4.8/5 stars rating A Place to Stay Forever “an imaginative and quirky story that simultaneously hearkens back to both Philip K Dick and Douglas Adams.”

A straightforward, absorbing tale that unfolds inside a beefy futuristic setting. – Kirkus Reviews

A Place to Stay Forever - Tellwell Publishing - Mark Lloyd

The concept of Lloyd’s sci-fi novel is a mix of the Matrix and Black Mirror’s San Junipero episode. The protagonist, Miranda Sage, is plugged into an artificial reality where she is living out her life peacefully as an old man, when a power surge abruptly awakens the crew in a spaceship hurtling back to Earth. The crew has to hack back into the alternate reality through its only access point – the town of Penticton – and awaken consciously to explore a way to end the simulation without harming their bodies.

“I wanted to write a story that makes the readers think about something they haven’t put much thought in before. This book is about immortality, and the perils of being immortal,” said Lloyd.

Despite the virtual reality/alternate universe premise – the story’s locale is very real. Lloyd who grew up and lives in the Okanagan town of Penticton, loved the idea of turning his hometown into the setting of a sci-fi tale.

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Book Marketing Tips & Tricks

The secrets to forum marketing for authors – how to promote your book online

Tips on how to successfully promote your book in online forumsmockupshots-monicamartinez14900-mock-00193

Online forums offer a huge opportunity for writers and poets to share their work, expertise, and advice with others as well as engage with readers and authors. Many online communities are dedicated to specific subjects where people go to seek information, share their experiences, opinions, and offer advice. These forums allow people to build community, engage and learn from each other on issues that are important to them.

 By being active in a forum, you are positioning yourself as an expert and are allowing for your content and book to be discovered by people who are actively seeking information (or even books) on the topics related to your book.

Here are our tips on how to use forum marketing to generate awareness and buzz for your book:
 
1. FIND THE RIGHT FORUM.
The key to forum marketing is finding the right community in your niche. You want to narrow your list to a handful of forums and then commit to being active on a few. Here are some tips on how to narrow your search:
·        Look for forums that have at least 1,000 members and 10,000 posts
·        Make sure the forum gets at least ten to fifteen new posts on a daily basis
·        Ignore forums that are overrun by spam
·        Avoid forums hosted by your direct competitors

Here are a few suggestions for you to check out:

 

·        Writing Forums
·        Published Authors Forum
·        Canadian Forums and Canadian Content: for news and politics
.        Maple Leaf Web: For all things Canadian
.        Reddit: Find a subreddit for your genre or subject related to your book
 
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Author of the Month

Tellwell publishing consultant Jennifer Chapin sits in the author’s seat to publish her new book

Saint Augustine, the Christian theologian and philosopher once said: “The world is a book. And those who do not travel read only a page.”

This sentiment echoes through the work of Jennifer Chapin who blends her love of the publishing industry with travel, philosophy, and a little magic.

By day, Chapin is a publishing consultant at TellWell whose main role is to inspire people to trust their work and take the leap of faith into self-publishing. By night, Chapin takes those leaps herself – travelling in her mind to ancient civilizations and fleshing out characters on paper.

granada-1

Chapin has just published her second book, The Poet and The Angel, which is connected to her current role at TellWell in that, as she brings the poet’s voice back to life and onto the page, she encourages authors to do the same with their voices. The novella also resonates with her former career in the non-profit sector.

“I have long been committed to the areas of social and environmental justice, through my pen and through being outspoken on issues that are of concern to me. Federico Garcia Lorca’s [the ‘Poet’] character resonates with me completely. I understand his defense of the downtrodden and I share his commitment to speaking out against tyranny,” said Chapin.

An avid traveller and photographer, Chapin weaves her first-hand experiences into her prose to successfully transport the reader to a new place. But don’t flag this as a fluffy travel novel. Chapin uses her writing as a vehicle to discuss bigger issues: freedom, tyranny and the truth.

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Tips & Tricks

Want to kickstart your next novel? Here’s how to launch a successful book crowdfunding campaign

You’ve already got one book under your belt. Now’s the time to work on the next. But how can you afford to do this? The answer for hundreds of authors is Kickstarter, the popular crow-funding website. By executing a successful Kickstarter campaign, you could be paid to work on your book while you’re writing it. True story. Here’s a few tips to get your started:

Do your research. Check out book campaigns that worked. Ask yourself – why were they effective? What language did they use to encourage support? Who provided the funding and why, do you think, they did so? Check out this Kickstarter success story for inspiration.

Do the math and set your goal. I’m sure most of us would like a cheeky million to sit on the beach in Mexico and pen our crime thriller but that ain’t gonna happen. Figure out how much it costs to make a book, and be reasonable and realistic. If it’s a good project, people will contribute. Make sure you factor in the ‘boring’ costs like printing and postage. Remember to add a 15% buffer to cover the Kickstarter, credit card fees and extra fees to run your campaign. Also include a budget for marketing. Enough to either outsource it or to make your own website and promotional materials. At the very least, you should budget for a consultation with a marketing professional who will identify the strategies most relevant to your book that you can implement yourself.

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Guest Post

How self-published author Don Levers landed major media interviews and got his book into 25 bookstores

By Don Levers

Author Don Levers pictured in Edmonton on Dec 9, 2017. Photo by Jason Franson.

Author Don Levers pictured in Edmonton on Dec 9, 2017. Photo by Jason Franson.

 

I have told people since publishing my book in August of 2017 that finishing and publishing it is only the beginning for an indie author. Arranging book signings, retailer consignments and getting as much free publicity as possible can become a full-time job.

PUBLICITY
Using a media list supplied by Tellwell Publishing, I contacted media outlets prior to launching the book. The big newspapers no longer have space to do book reviews. I arranged interviews with small community papers in areas where I would be doing book signings. You can see copies of all the articles and interviews I have done on my website. The thing is you need a hook. What makes your book different than the tens of thousands of books on the bookshelves of any major bookstore?

My persistence in contacting various media outlets paid off. I managed to get short interviews with major radio stations including the CBC. I have had a number of articles in local newspapers talking about the book and the story that inspired it. I was even able to get a live television interview prior to doing a signing in Kamloops.

My goal was to try to get an on-air or newspaper interview to coincide with a book signing. One thing I learned is that radio stations are not usually interested in doing interviews on fiction books.

Loot for the Taking book

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Author of the Month

Courtroom lawyer turned self-publishing success; Governor General’s Award nominee Leslie Hall Pinder on her life as a full-time writer

By Kate Bell

Tellwell author and Governor General’s Award nominee, Leslie Hall Pinder, puts her decades of experience in the courtroom on paper in her latest crime-fiction novel, The Indulgence. Learn more about the B.C.- based author’s career as a lawyer-turned-writer, how she got a testimonial from Margaret Atwood and why after traditionally publishing three books, she got decided to self-publish.

Photo Courtesy: The Georgia Straight

At age 12, Leslie Hall Pinder was told to write. She was encouraged by her school teacher and, following her teacher’s advice, Hall Pinder’s first short story was broadcast on CBC radio when she was 19-years-old.

Hall Pinder immersed herself into the literary world after high school and went on to complete her Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Saskatchewan and Dalhousie University. She then started a Masters Program in English at the University of British Columbia, however, her interest in school was beginning to wane; she often skipped class and eventually dropped out to pursue her dream of becoming a full-time writer. But the author’s plan was put on hold when she found casual work in the case report section of the Vancouver Police Department – the lure of the law became absolutely irresistible. She quickly enrolled back in school and, in 1976, she graduated with a law degree from the University of British Columbia. Shortly after, Leslie became the first woman litigator at a large Vancouver law firm.

After working nearly 20 years in law, alongside writing and publishing two novels (one of which that was nominated for a Governor General’s Literary Award), Hall Pinder decided to step back from the legal world and begin writing full-time. She has been a full-time writer since 2005 and the courtroom still plays a major impact on her work which focuses largely on characters who undergo the difficult and corrupting struggle of truth as defined by the law.

After traditionally publishing her first three books, Leslie Hall Pinder chose to self-publish her fourth book with Tellwell. The Indulgence is a story about what happens when love turns to hate and everyone turns to the law.

The Indulgence

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Author of the Month

At 15-years-old, actor, model and author Ricko Dupri Sample already has two books to his name

ricko-sampleAt 15-years-old, Ricko Dupri Sample has major achievements to his name. He published one book with Tellwell at age 13, then another at 14. He’s heavily involved in the arts, not just as an author, but as an actor, model, dancer, and musician. Oh, and on top of all that, he’s also several years ahead in school, so much so that in grade 7 he started taking grade 10 classes, and now at 15, he’s in his second year of college in Washington State.

“It feels like an accomplishment, but in my opinion, it’s just the beginning,” said the young author.

Two years ago, at 13-years-old, Sample, began acting, modelling, and attending college. That’s when he also began writing his first book Bigfoot Untold. It started off as a screenplay to submit to a writing competition, but then, being as determined as he is, decided to turn it into a book.

bigfoot-untoldIn Bigfoot Untold, Sample shares his mother’s stories of growing up in an Indonesian village and the encounters she and others had with a mysterious and elusive creature. Sample says his mother had gravel thrown at her by the creature, and in her village a child was kidnapped and put into a dumpster. The child wasn’t physically harmed but was emotionally and mentally traumatized.

“The general theme is that Bigfoot plays tricks on people and does strange things. He hides in the bushes and messes with people. He represents a mysterious spiritual creature in the forest,” Sample said. “People are always trying to find Bigfoot, but they never can.”

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Author of the Month

Doreen Crick chronicles the Caribbean’s dark history through the tears and laughter of women

doreen-crick   OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Doreen Crick didn’t dream about becoming an author, but at 83, she realized her three children and four grandchildren didn’t know much about the dark history of their Caribbean heritage so she began to research and to write.

“Like many people, they saw the Caribbean as a great vacation destination. They didn’t know the history of colonialism and slavery there,” said the author who is originally from Saint Kitts but now lives in Nova Scotia.

Over the next two years, she would write and publish two books with Tellwell. Seawater: Women’s Voices from the Shores of the Caribbean Leeward Islands is the history of several Caribbean islands, told through the laughter and tears of the women who were slaves.

“I wrote about how we survived around slavery. I didn’t focus too much on the devastation but rather on how we managed to cope with it, how we conquered our emotions to survive,” said Crick.

Seawater book

Seawater chronicles what happened in the 17th century when the British arrived in the Caribbean Islands of Anguilla, Nevis and Saint Kitts with slaves from Ghana to set up sugar and cotton plantations. But, in the book, Crick focuses on the women and children rather than the men.

“My school history books were about European men – whether they were scoundrels or heroes,” she said.  “I wanted to share a different history about women and children.”

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