Tag Archives: self published authors

Tellwell Books

Tellwell’s Top Books for Halloween🕸🕷

Fall has officially arrived, and with it our excitement for Halloween! In honour of the spooktacular holiday, the Tellwell team pulled together our top spine-chilling, hair-raising reads for October! 🎃

From horror books with demons and plagues to psychological thrillers with a thirst for revenge, we think you’ll love these eerie excerpts below. 👻

The Plague by Ryan L. Canning

She turned and ran. There was no end in sight. The bodies, the tents, the smell, they went on for miles. 

– Ryan L. Canning, The Plague

Get your copy of The Plague on Amazon.

Lit by Mark Anthony

The apartment filled with sounds from another world. Screaming, shouting, music with an unearthly twisted tune played out of the walls. A chorus of suffering, a background of nightmares and fears. It was angry, insulted and outraged.

– Mark Anthony, Lit

Get your copy of Lit on Amazon.

Deathless by Evan S Sullivan

“There are enemies approaching the gate,” a voice said through the dark. “Devilish things.”

– Evan S. Sullivan, Deathless

Get your copy of Deathless on Amazon.

Poppy Seeds on a Grave: A Collection of Short Stories by Mirko Markovic

Every ounce of blood in this man’s body drained from his skin and he froze in time, a statue paralyzed by the shock of what he had just seen.

– Mirko Markovic, Poppy Seeds on a Grave: A Collection of Short Stories

Get your copy of Poppy Seeds on a Grave: A Collection of Short Stories on Amazon.

The Book of Nodd: The Dreamwalker by B.S. Thompson

Suddenly he heard a snap and an electric bolt of pain shot down his arm, but the cottage did not stop rocking, and it would not be much longer before it collapsed on him completely.

– B.S. Thompson, The Book of Nodd: The Dreamwalker

Get your copy of The Book of Nodd: The Dreamwalker on Amazon.

Chains by M Todd

Before him, strewn about throughout the cavern from ceiling to floor, placed within the bluish rocks, were hundreds, or thousands, of human bodies. Men and women, their faces contorted in masks of horror and pain, frozen like macabre cadavers in a monster’s freezer.

– M. Todd, Chains

Get your copy of Chains on Amazon.

The Hallowmas Train by Gloria Pearson-Valley

The timeriders hesitated only briefly before entering the darkness. Shrieks and moans echoed eerily from the blackness that stretched before them. 

– Gloria Pearson-Vasey, The Hallowmas Train

Get your copy of The Hallowmas Train on Amazon.

Take Her by Tara White

Without thinking, I knew what I had to do. I tugged my sister out from behind me and moved her around me until we had switched places, me behind her with my hands on her shoulders. “Take her,” I said, and gave her shoulders a little shove forward.

– Tara White, Take Her

Get your copy of Take Her on Amazon.

Vindictive by Ryan Lawrence

Squinting, he focused with laser-like intensity to see what he could of the corpse below. He marvelled at the kaleidoscope of colours and textures the mangled body had created all over the urban canvas. 

Ryan Lawrence, Vindictive

Get your copy of Vindictive on Amazon.

Emergence by Ellie Beals

But Just Watching had become kind of a habit, and habits are hard to break. 

– Ellie Beals, Emergence

Get your copy of Emergence on Amazon.

Unhallowed by James D. Thorn

He choked as blood filled his airway. It spurted from his mouth as he exhaled, trying to get a breath. There was so much blood. 

– James D. Thorn, Unhallowed

Get your copy of Unhallowed on Amazon.

Finding Out by Ava Coughlin

Was my mom a criminal? Did she know something or do something that helped ruin this man’s life? Did Mathis know? Was it even true? There was too much to think about all at once. 

– Ava Coughlin, Finding Out

Get your copy of Finding Out on Amazon.

Have a spooktacular Halloween! 🎃 🕸 👻
From all of us at Tellwell!

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Author Success - In the media, awards, reviews

Authors in the wild: launches, and signings, and tours, oh my!

Now that the world is opening up to a new normal, our authors are diving back into the world of author events. This past month, we’ve seen some fantastic meet-and-greets, readings, and even a cross-country launch! We’re so happy and proud to see our Tellwell authors getting themselves out there to promote their books!

Paula Gregory – Dream High As The Sky

Mississippi-based children’s author Paula McClellan Gregory finished off the month with an adorable book launch at the Gumtree Bookstore to promote her inspiring children’s book Dream High As the Sky. Paula’s book launch included a fun read-along, a discussion about the children’s dreams, colouring time, snacks, exclusive bookmarks to go with signed copies of the picture book, and even a giveaway for a Dream High As They Sky t-shirt!

Dream High As They Sky follows little Zach (based on Paula’s grandson) as he discovers life’s possibilities and ways of achieving his dream of flying like the birds high in the sky. This high-flying children’s book encourages your little ones to follow their dreams. After all, Zach can tell you, “I dreamed as high as the sky, and my dreams came true.”

Paula has a couple of more events coming up soon so stay tuned to www.paulamcclellangregory.com to learn more! 

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Author Success - In the media, awards, reviews

Author Celebrations: Awards, Reviews and In-The-News!

We love seeing our Tellwell authors crushing it! From top award wins, to featured interviews, to rave reviews – we’re offering a huge congratulations to our authors for these terrific accomplishments! 

AWARDS

Madalsa and Zuivere’s intergenerational poetry collection Get Lost Dirty Covid-19! won the IndieReader Discovery Award for Best Poetry Book! Described by IndieReader as engaging, emotive and enormously relevant, this poetry collection comes from a mother-daughter duo, providing the perspective of two different generations on this world-changing subject.

The book features nine COVID-19 themes with heart-touching poems relating to the isolation and pain we all felt in early 2020, to the bright and optimistic hope we feel now as we enter the new, vaccinated world. 

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Author of the Month

How Miami-based children’s author Jennifer Segarra gained traction for her children’s book!

For May’s author of the month, we are celebrating Miami-based author, Jennifer S. Segarra!

Over the last few months, Jennifer has successfully been featured on a number of influential #bookstagram pages like @the_bookish_mind and @nerdybibliophilee, interviewed by notable outlets like KidlioMag, Children’s Literature and the Reading With Your Kids podcast, and has connected with readers all over the world through her social media!

Author Jennifer S. Segarra with her children’s hit – El Lechón Choncho otherwise known as Choncho the Pig

Tell us a bit about yourself!

My name is Jennifer S. Segarra. I was born and raised in Miami, Florida. My parents immigrated to this country when they were young. My father is from Cuba and my mother is from Puerto Rico but also half Filipino.

I am a married mother of two beautiful children, and have an Italian Mastiff fur baby. I am bilingual, speaking both English and Spanish. My husband is from Cuba and we have been married for 15 years.  

I love to cook, travel, discover new things, and LOVE reading books!

What inspired you to write El Lechón Choncho otherwise known as Choncho the Pig?

Since I was a young girl, I always loved reading, and this may sound quite weird but I loved being given assignments where I needed to write book reports, essays and stories in my own words. However, my mother always told me the story, since I was a little girl, of her favorite family pet pig named Choncho. I always told her she needed to make this a children’s book.

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Author Success - In the media, awards, reviews Tellwell Books

Tellwell Authors Promote Their Self-Published Books in the Media

As part of Black History Month we’re shining the spotlight on a few of the Black authors we’ve had the privilege of working with over the past year. These self-published authors are promoting their books in a range of unique ways. Take a look to inspire your own book promotion ideas!

Record a podcast at your launch event

Author Ray Byfield recorded a podcast episode to answer questions about his new book at his launch event. Last September, Ray hosted a socially distanced book launch to celebrate the release of This Business of Life and Business. He shared this video to his YouTube page; he posted it to his website; and, he promoted it on his Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook pages.

Creating one piece of quality content can go far when you adapt it for promoting on each of your platforms.


Pitch to journalists for a deeper connection with your audience

Arnelle M. Cruz was interviewed by The Hollywood Times to discuss her book The Survivor Story of Arnelle: A Girl from Africa. Arnelle opens up about what it was like growing up in Liberia, and she tells readers how they too can overcome adversity.

Interviews and feature stories, like Arnelle’s interview, give readers a deeper insight into your story.

Arnelle M. Cruz – visit her website here.

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Guest Post

Three major lessons learned in self-publishing: Tellwell author Rachael Bell-Irving shares her insight

By: Rachael Bell-Irving

Rachael Bell-Irving

I have been writing novels since I was young and it has always been a goal of mine to publish. I wanted to tie the bow on my passion project and be able to hold the result in my hands. This is why I chose self-publishing for Demons at the Doorstep, and did not attempt any traditional publishing route. Looking back now, a whole lot has changed, and there is a lot I’ve learned on this publishing journey.

Here are three key lessons I’ve learned through self-publishing, so far…

Be Professionally Edited

Demons at the Doorstep

Just do it. It is worth it. When you are publishing on a budget, there are ways you can cut corners to save money. Editing should not be one of them. No matter how many times you have friends, families, even strangers read the book – no one catches errors like a professional editor.

I tried to resist editing at first because of restrictions in my budget. It took my mother’s nagging (thanks mom) to finally get me to cave. When I received the edits back, my eyes went wide and I began to laugh. How could I have possibly missed some of these points? I was surprised by other suggestions, and shocked at how repetitive I had been with my vocabulary. Your book is read from a different perspective than how it is written. An editor is able to objectively critique the manuscript from this external perspective.

If you’re worried about losing your artistic license – don’t be.  You don’t have to agree with all the edits your editor makes. I do strongly recommend you listen to their suggestions. They are a professional for a reason – they have (hopefully) training, experience, and a different perspective. It will improve the quality of your content and add a level of professionalism to your book. Seriously – do it.

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