We have an extensive assortment of author successes to celebrate this October. Join us as we round up 5-star reviews, new chart-toppers, and award-winners!
Publicity
Parimalasri Docktor reached #1 on the Hot New Release charts in Children’s Reptile and Amphibian Books with Tortoise Goes to the Vet. In addition to soaring on the charts, Parimalasri Docktor and her book have been featured on CBS News!
Daniel McMillan was recently featured on the Inside Scoop Live! podcast discussing his book Badger and Turtle Face the Storm. His book follows a pair of friends who learn to work together under stress. This book is meant for not only children to enjoy, but as a tool for families to better understand a common, hurtful pattern that can occur, particularly between parents.
Brother Bo recently scored a #1 hit on two charts with his book on sacred masculinity, The Father’s Seeds. Learn more about this chart-topper.
For the month of September, we are thrilled to introduce you to Mark, one of our team’s gifted book-marketing associates. In this interview you’ll learn what keeps Mark inspired creatively, what a typical day at Tellwell looks like for him, and how he enjoys spending his free time when he’s not bringing author visions to life!
Tell us a bit about yourself!
Hey there! My name is Mark and I’m one of the book-marketing associates here at Tellwell. I recently celebrated my first work anniversary with the company in July.
My journey in the marketing world began back in 2018. I kicked things off by working in digital marketing for a jewelry brand. After that, I took a detour and worked as a consultant in the government sector. Now, I’m thrilled to be a part of the amazing Tellwell team as a book-marketing associate.
What does a typical day look like for you?
My workday starts with my ritual cup of coffee. With my caffeine fix in hand, I dive into the day ahead. Firstly, I go through emails and over my to-do list, ensuring that no important tasks in my book-marketing projects are missed.
As a book-marketing associate, my role is all about collaboration. I work closely alongside our marketing consultants, offering a helping hand whenever they need it. Whether it’s creating book backgrounders, designing promotional materials, setting up ad campaigns, organizing book blog tours, or tackling various other marketing tasks, I’ve got my hand in the mix.
I also take care of our website section. It’s my responsibility to keep track of website renewals for our authors, providing them with prompt, helpful responses to any website-related queries, and keeping their websites updated.
In a nutshell, my days are a blend of coffee, collaboration/teamwork, and ensuring that our authors’ book-marketing journeys are as seamless as possible.
Welcome!
You’ve done it. You’ve committed to the writing life. How are you feeling? Excited? Scared? Bored? Lonely? Us too. Welcome to the band—we’re delighted that you’ve decided to join us. We’re a bizarro group and legion, all of us utterly, fantastically, bewilderingly unique, except for one little idiosyncrasy: we all have stories screaming and punching and kicking inside of us that we need to wrestle into the world. There are many out there with the same constipation as us, but they may let it loose through interpretive dance or song or watercolours, or by yelling it into the faces of people in line for the bus. But not us. Not we. We’re the scribes, the men and women of letters. We adore specificity and nuance. We love the tranquility of words nestled on a page, the calm, rational, and quiet way they present themselves to our audience. Our hearts beat for that alchemic conversion of action and imagery and diaphanous emotion into the solidity of language. We’re the Hobbits of the storytelling tribe, and we don’t give a fig if you haven’t yet been paid for your writing. If you’ve managed to set a word down on a page and followed it, tentatively or resolutely with another, you’re one of us and you are welcome here. Make yourself comfortable and we’ll put the kettle on.
As a brand-new author, the first thing you need to be clear on is that all those concerns you have about what comes next and exactly how this whole writing puzzle works—samesies! We’re right there with you, in one way or another. This, like all great and worthy art forms, is a mentorship trade, like sculpture or carpentry. The longer you do it, the more sense it makes, and the more your lovely, unique, necessary voice rings out melodically to the readers who need to read that thing in that way at that precise time, and they will be grateful in ways none of us can hope to fathom. Delightfully, unlike most mentorship trades, our mentors are all around us: our bookshelves groan under their weight, our end tables disappear beneath them, our bathwater occasionally reshapes them for us.
Read and find inspiration
The all-time, number one, pin-it-to-the-top-of-your-list chunk of writing advice from anyone worth listening to will always be: Get your nose in as many books as possible. Find the authors who talk in the way you want to be talked to and ingest their work.
The second piece of advice toward becoming a better writer is—no surprises here—to write a whole bunch. It’s a close number two, but make no mistake, number two it is. It would be hard to build a nice house if you’ve never been inside of a nice house, no matter how many nails you’ve hammered into a board. However, in the wake of these bits of obviousness, the sea of writing advice starts to get a little choppy. What is revelatory for some from here on forward may be pure bilge for others. There is a freakish amount of writing advice out there to shovel up if you choose to dig for it. Give it all due consideration, but understand as you do that there is no specific method applied by another artist that is also exactly your method. This is the essence and provenance of art. If some “genius” advice doesn’t resonate with you, it ain’t your soup—chuck it and move on.
Celebrating the works of some of our talented authors during Black History Month
This February, we are honouring some of our talented Black authors in their contributions to the literary world! Spanning genres that range from business to children’s and religious to memoir, our authors have stories they have carefully and courageously shared with the world.
Lamar Jackson
I Dream, You Dream, Let Us Dream! was written to inspire children of all ages to never give up on their dreams. When accompanied by hard work, dedication, consistency, and faith, your dream can turn into your reality. Do not allow others to tell you that your dreams are impossible and can’t be done. Even if it’s never been done before, you’re just the one chosen to do it. Dream big, work hard, and live your reality! You can do it!
Get ready to escape reality and embark on a journey beyond the pages. Let the books you read transport you to different worlds filled with adventure, fantasy, fun, and magic. So if you want to immerse yourself in the power of imagination and discover the beauty of storytelling, we got you!
Now, curl up with a good book and let the magic begin with these amazing reads from our Tellwell authors offering their books for free for you to enjoy!
Searching for your next great story or activity to share with the kids?
Get ready for a wild ride filled with magic, adventure, and fun with this mesmerizing children’s book from our February book promo, My Magical Gnome Story Book by Monika Anna Blichar.
Magic is everywhere. You just have to believe. Follow Edy on his magical adventures into the human world while he tries to save the last Golden Believer left on earth. A magical adventure for young and old alike!
Step into a world of magic and adventure with these must-read fantasy fiction books! Start your journey today and discover the magic for yourself with the book The Secret of Alviton from L. V. Clark!
Alviton was a strong, prospering country full of light. The people worked side by side with the Fae, creatures blessed with magic. But that was before the war. Massive genocide and fear of the Fae touched everyone, as brother turned against brother. Years later, and still reeling from the war, the new generation has clawed and connived to remove the stains left by their predecessors. Sheltered from this reality, Nydia lives her life relatively happy and ignorant, surrounded by smoke and mirrors. But eventually glass shatters and smoke settles. As she struggles to unveil the truth about herself and the people around her, danger lies on the horizon, threatening to extinguish the small flicker of light in this dark and twisted country.
Up for your next favourite transformational journey?
Ready to take on another incredible transformational journey with this incredible self-help book? Here’s to personal growth, transformation, and becoming the best version of ourselves with Azim Jamal’s book Spark: Journey from Success to Significance.
In a world vigorously chasing classic ideals of success, find your spark and become significant. Your journey starts here. Meet Steve, a hotshot lawyer fighting to climb the corporate ladder in this inspiring fable. His life transforms seemingly overnight as he is sent to India for a task he considers pointless. But things quickly fall apart. Steve, forced to reconsider his path, realizes that the curveball life has thrown at him is an opportunity to find his true purpose. This spiritual odyssey is about to transform him beyond his wildest dreams. A powerful lesson follows each chapter, making up the SPARK that transforms Steve’s life: Selflessness, Purpose, Attraction, Resilience and Knowing. This SPARK is hidden within you too. It may be dormant now, but awakening to it will catapult you from the “Present You” to the “Best You.” It’s time to light up your SPARK today.
If reading more or supporting independent authors is part of your resolutions for this new year, we’ve got some great options to get you started!
Three of our authors are offering their books for free for you to enjoy! These promotions won’t last forever, so make sure to get your copy while you can.
Searching for your next favourite story?
This book promo features a variety of great books to lose yourself in, including My Magical Gnome Story Book by Tellwell author Monika Anna Blichar.
Magic is everywhere. You just have to believe. Follow Edy on his magical adventures into the human world while he tries to save the last Golden Believer left on earth. A magical adventure for young and old alike!
Looking for the perfect warm and fuzzy story to get you through these winter months? The Forever Heart by Diana Bolianaz is the perfect read to grab!
Liza is a beautiful nineteen-year-old girl who comes from a strict Mennonite background. She lives at home with her mother, brother, and domineering father. When Liza meets Melvin, a handsome young Black journalist, they fall madly in love. She has to keep the relationship a secret from her family because she knows her father would never approve. When Liza becomes pregnant, her world is turned upside down.
If you’re on the hunt for books to enjoy this holiday season, look no further!
Three of our authors are offering their books for free for you to enjoy! These promotions won’t last forever, so make sure to get your copy while you can.
Looking to change your life for the better in 2023?
This book promo includes a variety of books to help you improve your life, and perhaps cross some New Year’s resolutions off your list!
Featuring Tellwell author Dr. Haissam Dahan, and his book, Heal Your TMJ:
It’s that time of the year! We bet you are thrilled that Christmas is getting closer day by day. And to make the countdown more exciting, Tellwell is featuring 12 Books of Christmas to make this yuletide season even more festive!
A new Christmas tradition to bring the whole family together!
Featuring our first book for this holiday, Christmas Treasure Hunt, by Leslie Hoolaeff and Tyler Hoolaeff.
This book tells a charming story of Santa preparing to deliver a game on Christmas Day. Beyond the fun of the story, the heart of this book can truly help create a better, more memorable Christmas that is accessible to anyone.
A daily Christmas laugh for everyone in the family!
Here’s our second book for Christmas! 22 Christmas Without You, written by Christopher Ross.
22 Christmas Without You is the true story of a father and son separated for the first time at Christmas. Told in playful real time with elf rhymes, and illustrated with whimsical, warm-feeling art, a father remains close to his son leading up to the holidays.
Now for our third book of Christmas, The Christmas Adventure, written by Stephen James Moore.
Murgatroyd, a member of the elite M.I.N.U.T.E. (Mice International Network Unit Team Elite) tactical team, and his young cousin, Archimedes, set off on a Christmas Eve raid on the refrigerator. This annual yuletide caper had been meticulously planned earlier by senior mice, but, as the poet Robbie Burns once said, “The best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry.”
Following the plan to the letter, Archimedes and Murgatroyd discover only fridge tracks. Horror of horrors: it’s been stolen! Join our intrepid adventurers on their quest to find the missing appliance and steal it back.
Through it all, one little mouse will need to stand tall to save Christmas—with a little help from Santa, of course.
Now for our fourth book! Enjoy reading Belle’s Christmas Surprise by Carrie Joy & Schafer Krause.
This story is written for the enjoyment of children, but also to intentionally create discussion and learning regarding the passage of time, traditions and the changes to living that time can bring. It is also meant as a picture book for families, libraries and classrooms to share.
• Stories provide important opportunities to bring history to life. Through stories, people share information, values and attitudes about history, culture and heritage.
• Stories provide learners with opportunities to understand the dynamics of people, cultures and places.
• Stories provide learning opportunities for children to value diversity, respect, dignity and equality among all people.
Featuring our fifth book, The True Meaning of Christmas, written by Jenna R Peters.
Freddy sets out to find the true meaning of Christmas, and why we celebrate this very special day each year. What exciting news will he discover? Will Freddy find the true joy that comes with the Christmas season?
Here’s our sixth book for Christmas! Have fun reading Joey’s Christmas, written by Samantha L. Douglas.
Joey the baby kangaroo is off on another grand Christmassy adventure! He and his mother, Mother Kangaroo, have never celebrated Christmas before, and Joey wants to find the best Christmas present for his mom. But what happens when his plan goes awry? Find out in this brand-new adventure of Joey, and how he looks for the perfect Christmas present. Will he find it?
Take a holiday with this twisted tale of Christmas!
You definitely don’t want to miss this unusual Christmas tale with our seventh book: Hel Takes a Holiday, written by Ryan L. Canning.
Something unusual is going on in Santa’s village: the naughty and nice lists are being tampered with, and Santa seems to have more secrets than usual. Hel, the ruler of Helheim, master of Krampus and Death itself, sends a spy to Kris Kringle’s snowy home to uncover the scheme robbing her of souls to torture. When the Queen of the Underworld discovers the dark deceit unfolding at the North Pole, she puts Santa on her own naughty list—not a good place to be! Unleashing her battalions of demons for a Krampusnacht no one will ever forget, she rejoins a war that stretches back thousands of years. However, nothing is as it seems in these lands of myth and magic, and there may be an even greater villain hiding in the shadows. As December 25 draws near, will the truth be revealed, or will Christmas be cancelled forever?
More Christmas fun with our eighth book: Christmas: Christmas Stories, written by Pamela Rose Rasmussen.
This book is children’s fiction stories about Christmas, with lots of fun along the way. It’s all about the love others show and enjoy at Christmastime. There are three stories in this book of fun and happiness.
Featuring our ninth book of Christmas: Josie the Christmas Saving Cat, written by Chris Quigley.
What has a three-legged cat, a pack of crazy dogs, sick reindeer, amazing illustrations, a message for kids of all ages and takes place in the North Pole at Santa and Mrs. Claus’s home? This book, so give it a read!
An adventure that brings out the light of the holiday season!
More exciting Christmas escapades with our tenth Christmas book, Santa’s Very Own Christmas Tree, written by Steven Prince.
This is a story about a boy named Belcher who lives in a cabin in the far north. He’s just finished reading a book about trees and has learned that they can’t grow at the North Pole because it’s far too cold. This fact makes him curious to know if Santa Claus has a Christmas tree at his toy workshop. It’s almost Christmas Eve when he decides to visit Santa to find out the answer to his question. Follow Belcher on his adventure and meet his new friends, Snort the helpful brown bear and a lonely little tree named Sprucie.
Featuring our eleventh Christmas tale, The Tiny Angel: A Christmas Story, written by John and Julia Stirling.
The Tiny Angel begins her journey at the gates of heaven where she meets the Greeting Angel. The Tiny Angel soon finds out that all new angels are asked to study and practice their heavenly skills before they can become special angels and receive their wings. Over time the Tiny Angel’s friends were growing taller, which made her feel different and sad. Would she ever learn enough, know enough and sing well enough to be accepted as a Special Angel and receive her wings? As time goes by, she discovers there is a purpose for all in heaven and her own destiny becomes clear.
We’re finishing up with vibrant colours and creativity in our twelfth Christmas Book, Joy and Jesus: Learn About the Bible Through Coloring and Activities, written by Davia Boston.
This activity book is designed to help young children discover their God-given joy through biblical stories, positive affirmations, crossword puzzles, word searches, and colouring sheets. This twenty-page book encourages the youth to feed their spirit and dive into their creativity and self-expression.
Our book-marketing team is made up of skilled professionals who are passionate about helping authors showcase their projects through a variety of personalized services, ranging from bespoke marketing strategies and attention-grabbing press releases to engaging social media content and graphic-design assistance. We chatted with Ben St. James to learn more about how he serves his authors and what he enjoys most about the work he produces.
What inspired you to join the Tellwell team as a book marketer?
It seemed like a great fit. I had been working with indie artists and authors and wanted to do more of that! The timing was incredible, as I had just returned to Canada and finished up a contract that required similar competencies.
What do you enjoy the most about your work with Tellwell?
I enjoy the variety of activities I get to be involved in. It’s rewarding working with such a great group of people and collaborating on projects for the blog and newsletter, certain marketing activities that require a team effort, and one-on-one work with our talented authors. Because we work with so many unique authors, no duties are ever quite the same—it’s always new.
Through a brave story of reflection, trauma healing, and heroism, one author blazes a trail toward better communication
November 15, 2022 / by Ben Graham
This month we celebrate Blaise Hunter, an engaging and insightful author who has turned adversity into empathy and grown as a writer and leader. More than an author, Blaise is also an international speaker, podcast host, copywriter, fertility expert, and certified human rights advocate. A breaker of chains, she tackles the realities of issues women face, from low confidence and lack of identity to social injustices. In 2020 she won the Influencer Award at the Canadian Women of Inspiration Awards.
I am continually birthing my purpose. It is my vision to see others fulfill their dreams as well. – Blaise Hunter
What inspired you to write Captain Communicator?
In all honesty, the meaning behind my work is to stay alive. I wrote this book because I refuse to wither and die emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Disease, miscarriages, trauma, pain, and heartache don’t define me. By reconnecting the communication portals, I starve a rare autoimmune condition and inject healing into my inner and outer world. My book is a deliberate provocation to trigger us forward. Communication is connection. We must connect to the nemesis and let it propel us into growth. We can all relate to experiencing trauma, miscommunication, conflict, and illnesses. My vision was to take the reader along my healing journey and inspire others to heal the dis-ease in their lives by exploring various aspects of communication. Captain Communicator demonstrates the importance of being hungry and desperate to live. Benjamin Franklin is attributed with saying, “Most people die at twenty-five and don’t get buried until seventy-five.” Emotionally not dying is the key to my not dying physically. The words in this book are my battle cry. Vulnerability, humility, courage, and a relentless spirit provoke connection.
Captain Communicator is your second book. As an author, what type of growth did you experience between the first and second book?
Great question. I see exponential growth in my writing skills and confidence with this book. We all began somewhere, and I loved my raw, blind ambition with Heroine: Embrace Your Flaws & Own Your Awesome, but with experience comes wisdom. I have acquired many tools and strategies but saw the most growth with my actual execution of the book launch. Knowing what I want and advocating for the vision to be birthed indicates a blossoming. I also challenged myself to be even braver with my words and vulnerability. Heroine was a courageous step forward in discovering freedom and power. Captain Communicator highlights a woman who has come into her own and is the hero of her story. She still has giants in her life, but she co-exists with them like a true protagonist. I am proud of each stage and how they’ve shaped me into a seasoned writer.
