Meet the Team: Introducing Charlene, your dedicated book-project manager

Aug 22,2023 / By Mark Mionda / No Comment

At Tellwell, we’re proud of the teamwork that makes book publishing happen, and at the forefront is Charlene, one of our skilled book-project managers!

Let’s explore her drive and inspirations, and how she makes books come alive. Join us to uncover the person behind the role and feel her dedication in every project.

Tell us a little about yourself.

My name is Charlene, but I’m used to being called by my nicknames: Yen or Charlie. And since I belong to a medical family, I hold a degree in nursing, but haven’t really practiced it.

I am both spontaneous and meticulous. I plan the small activities I need to do before starting a new day (what time to wake up, shower first or breakfast? Movie or reading?) Yet, so far I have never planned the huge things in my life (the major I took in college, my travel experiences, past jobs). Amazingly, things always turn out great!

My family and friends see me as the go-getter, but I feel otherwise. I just feel like I really do not show my full potential to people. And when I feel comfortable with something, I just stop there and make it a habit. But looking back, I think I had left my comfort zone a lot of times but never recognized it.

I am a dog lover! I am always happy to talk about the times I pet sit.

I’m a homebody, but not really. I can stay inside my box-like room for a week without complaining (as long as I have food, internet, music to listen to, movies to watch, books to read). But there are times that I crave traveling—I really want to explore places that are unfamiliar to me. Experience their culture. Taste their food. Have interesting chats with other travelers. It just feels so liberating!

Authorship, toy manufacturing, and living your dreams: author of the month Monika Blichar

Dec 21,2022 / By Ben St. James / No Comment

Polish-Canadian author Monika Blichar shares advice for aspiring creatives and provides insights on the people and places that have influenced her the most.

I have always wanted to write my own book and I still have some very detailed books I created from elementary school on my bookshelf!
Monika Blichar

Monika Blichar wears many hats. She is both a congenial creative and a goal-oriented entrepreneur eager to create growth and opportunities for herself and others. Monika’s latest project, My Magical Gnome, provides wholesome entertainment to children while fostering creativity and a sense of wonder. In addition to talking about her latest project, Monika also shares her experiences as an artist and entrepreneur.

The first time Tellwell readers saw you was as the illustrator of Murray The Dragon by Cristina Petersen. What sparked the move towards publishing your own story?

I loved working on the artwork for Murray the Dragon, and it was a great way to start learning about publishing, as the author, Cristina, is a good friend of mine who I have known since high school. It was great fun to work with a friend and a talented writer to launch our first real published book together. I have always wanted to write my own book and I still have some very detailed books I created from elementary school on my bookshelf! It dawned on me just before Christmas 2019 that I needed to launch my own book. I feverishly came home from the art studio and told my family all about my idea. For the next two years, I focused a lot on writing, illustrating and bringing to life my own story, which is inspired by my childhood and our hometown of Wroclaw, Poland.

What inspired the story of My Magical Gnome?

Introducing Tellwell’s Octavo!

Mar 23,2018 / By Tellwell Publishing / 2 Comments

Octavo is Tellwell’s easy to use, project management platform for producing a beautiful book, from the inception of your manuscript to the distribution of your book through online retailers. Essentially, Octavo is a series of steps and tasks designed to gather all of the required project materials from you, such as manuscripts, images, and of course, your ideas in an orderly fashion. These assets are then made available to our talented editors and designers so that they can produce an end product that matches your vision as closely as possible, and deliver an incredibly high quality product for you to share with the world.

If you are a new author signing on with Tellwell, your Project Manager will work with you on a day-to-day basis through Octavo, connecting you with the talent who will help your book come to life. Each step within the process is designed to gather the information that is needed at that point. For example, if you have a substantive edit within your package, you will be asked to fill out an Editor Questionnaire upon the submission of your manuscript within Octavo. When it’s time for you to provide information at each stage, we will send you an email with instructions on how to complete the task. Most of the tasks are simple, such as completing our questionnaires or uploading images for your book.

Octavo was crafted out of a vision that Tellwell had to streamline the production process within self-publishing, and is a product that has been built on a foundation of author input and feedback. We are always looking to further develop our new project management platform, so if you do have any questions, concerns, or feedback while using Octavo, please don’t hesitate in reaching out to your Project Manager. Octavo was created to meet your needs; so we truly value what you have to say about it!

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Tag Archives: Project management

Meet the Team: Introducing Charlene, your dedicated book-project manager

Authorship, toy manufacturing, and living your dreams: author of the month Monika Blichar

Polish-Canadian author Monika Blichar shares advice for aspiring creatives and provides insights on the people and places that have influenced her the most.

Introducing Tellwell’s Octavo!