This episode is going live months after I intended to publish it. The technical issues amid Riverside’s sudden system revamp almost buried me on this one. I hope you’ll look past any minor audio/visual snafus and enjoy this episode with Julia Whelan.
This episode truly lives up to the name Behind the Author Brand as it not only provides a peek behind the pen (or mic, or camera) with bestselling author, award-winning audiobook narrator, and actress Julia Whelan, but also shares a cheeky snapshot of our friendship. In this episode, multi-hyphenate creator Julia Whelan gives us a behind-the-scenes peek at her creative world.
So many of us have multiple creative passions, so few of us actually pull it all off. Julia is one of those people.
In this episode, Julia discusses her journey from child actor to writer, to audiobook narrator, and beyond. She also discusses how developing a sense of self early on played an important role in her career. She shares how she adapted when there was no clear roadmap for what she wanted to do as well as the important role storytelling has played across her career. We also explore the impact of AI on the evolution of the audiobook industry and the story behind Audiobrary, her direct-to-consumer audiobook platform. We even gab a bit about her upcoming projects and retreats! And of course, we make time for some of our own divergences on the entertainment industry, late-stage capitalism, and other fun topics. ;)
Julia was one of my first author branding clients in my first-ever author branding class almost a decade ago (in the same cohort as Naseem Jamnia). Over the years, as her career skyrocketed and evolved, she has become a steadfast friend and is, as always, a delightful human being. Julia is one of those people you just love to see win; she’s talented, she’s hardworking, and she’s real. I hope you’ll enjoy this conversation with my dear friend, the incomparable Julia Whelan.
About Julia Whelan
Dubbed "The Adele of Audiobooks" by The New Yorker, Julia Whelan is an author, screenwriter, lifelong actor, and acclaimed audiobook narrator; most recently, Spotify named her Narrator of the Year, as her voice was listened to more than any other in the app, globally. Her debut novel, the international bestseller My Oxford Year, is now a Netflix film. Thank You For Listening, her sophomore romcom set in the audiobook world, was a Best-of-the-Year pick at Amazon, Audible, and NPR. She is currently the founder of Audiobrary, an audio publishing company and retailer, seeking to change how creatives are compensated in audio. Casanova LLC -- the book-within-a-book from Thank You For Listening -- began life as an Audie-nominated Audiobrary original, as did her annotated Victorian poetry anthology, The Poetry Of My Oxford Year. Kensington Publishing is bringing Casanova LLC to print in Spring 2027. She is also a Grammy nominated audiobook director, a former writing tutor, a half-decent amateur baker, and a certified tea sommelier. You can find out more at audiobrary.com and jmwhelan.com.
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Learn More about Andrea Guevara and Author Brand Strength:
Andrea Guevara is an author brand strategist and identity expert, an award-winning entrepreneur, a UCLA X Writers Program scholar, and former advisory mentor for The Queen’s Young Leaders Programme (UK). Her pioneering work in author branding is showcased in Brand Strength, her proprietary branding methodology. Her expertise and writing has been featured in Salon, DAME, JaneFriedman.com, The Write Life, and others. She also shares her expertise by speaking for organizations like ALT Summit, CalState Long Beach, UCLA Extension, Bennington Writing Seminars, and others. She recently taught an attendance-record-breaking class for The Authors Guild. Find more information about her branding services, classes, and group program at AuthorBrandStrength.com.
Chapters: One of the technical joys we experienced in producing this episode was a code corruption that made it really difficult to generate chapters. So forgive me this time for not including them here.
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