Meet the Troubador Team

Alex is an experienced leader with a demonstrated history of working in SMEs. As Managing Director of Troubador and its sister company The Book Guild, Alex works alongside both teams to coordinate business development initiatives and programs, streamline our internal business processes and coordinate new business development initiatives to ensure that we work with as many authors as we can. Alex loves nothing more than researching and deploying a new bit of technology that helps us streamline the way we work, and loves cooking, being outdoors and Leicester City FC.

Chloe studied English Literature at Cardiff University. After graduating, she worked at Osprey Publishing (part of Bloomsbury) in Oxford, where she performed a variety of roles in publishing administration and editorial. In 2017, she joined Pan Macmillan’s Editorial Management department, working on a variety of fiction and non-fiction. Authors she has worked with include Louis Theroux, Adam Kay, Elizabeth Macneal, The Secret Barrister, David Nott, Toby Wilkinson and Megan Hunter. Chloe has many years of experience working alongside authors and across departments to see books through to successful publication.

Lauren has worked at Troubador since 2011 after graduating with a degree in journalism. Originally trained as a copy editor, Lauren has held a variety of roles including Editorial Manager and Group Customer Services Manager giving her detailed knowledge of the publishing industry. As the Customer Services Manager, Lauren's team works directly with authors to ensure that they start their publishing journey in the best possible way as the people that authors will speak to first at Troubador.

Carolina is part of our customer services team and answers queries on all aspects of the publishing journey while establishing new relationships with prospective authors. Carolina graduated with a first-class degree in Creative Writing and Journalism and, soon after, started her publishing journey as an intern for Indie Books. In the past, she also managed an independent bookshop, curating varied stock alongside delivering excellent customer service to her local community. Carolina enjoys a gritty memoir and getting her hands stuck in clay in her spare time.

Amy recently joined Troubador in late October 2024. Her background in science encouraged her interest in reading a range of literary texts, ranging from academic papers to poetry and even high fantasy fiction. She has over 3 years of customer service experience, including working within the magazine industry and has provided excellent customer service for a range of prestigious organisations and clientele. Acting as the first point of contact for Troubador, she enjoys assisting authors with their queries and supporting them through Troubador's publication process. In her free time, she enjoys learning Korean and German, reading and walking her two fluffy dogs.

Julia has over 20 years of experience working in accounts and payroll departments, working across many different sectors. Her role at Troubador sees her supporting all departments and the company directors, dealing with all aspects of the accounts, from raising invoices to allocating payments.

Chelsea heads the busy Production Department, which takes authors from final manuscript submission to printed book. With her vast book production experience, she ensures that production staff are supported, timescales and high production standards are met, and that customer service is delivered. Chelsea is an experienced cover designer and loves creating across a wide range of genres she works on, one of her favourite aspects of her role. Chelsea is also one of our trained Mental Health First Aiders, who work together to ensure that staff always have someone to talk to, arrange activities to promote the importance of wellbeing in the workplace and ensure that staff wellbeing is kept firmly on the agenda.

Fern coordinates and executes the majority of the typesetting work that we execute in-house for our author's books. She also regularly advises those who are producing printed books on all aspects of the production process, including typesetting, cover design and printing. Fern enjoys helping authors bring their hard work to life and loves seeing the beautiful books when they arrive from the printer.

Beth joined Troubador after gaining a degree in English Literature and a range of experience across copywriting, teaching and educational publishing. In her role as Production Controller, she enjoys guiding authors through the production process and helping them turn their manuscripts into beautiful books worthy of all the hard work that goes into writing them. She is also a trained typesetter, assisting the production team with typesets and amends across many different genres and styles.

Jess joined Troubador in January 2024. She has always had a love and passion for publishing and anything related to books. In her role as a Production Controller, Jess enjoys guiding authors through the production process, from the final manuscript to the printed book and supports them throughout the journey. In her spare time, Jess enjoys painting, learning German and Spanish, and travelling as much as possible. 

Holly studied English Literature at Swansea University, the place in which her love of literature was cultivated and, subsequently, where her desire to work in publishing was sparked. She has a vast knowledge of the book industry since interning for The 2021 Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize, working as a Bookseller and at Parthian Books, an esteemed independent Welsh publisher. Holly joined Troubador in 2023 as a Production Controller and endeavours to provide her authors with the best publishing experience possible.

Lauren joined the Troubador team in September 2024 as a Production Controller. An avid reader from a young age, Lauren has a real love for literature. With a passion for building meaningful connections and as someone with extensive experience in the customer service sector, she is committed to understanding and meeting each author’s needs to ensure a positive experience throughout the production process. Lauren’s love of reading keeps her curious and continuously learning!

Chloe joined Troubador in 2023 after gaining a Bachelor Honours in Graphic Design and Illustration, and a Masters in Children’s Book Illustration. She loves to get immersed in the creation of a book cover, from children’s fiction to philosophy, to fantasy, crime and the rest. The more variety the better. When she’s not busy designing, you can find her out hiking in mossy woodland, swimming, paddle boarding, drawing or buried deep in a good book.

Before joining the company in 2017, Jonathan worked for more than 30 years in many different areas of the book industry. Starting in book retailing, where he was a book buyer and bookshop manager for some of the largest London bookshops, he then moved over to publishing, where he has worked for big-name publishers such as Oxford University Press, Chrysalis Books, Anova Books and Phaidon. He has worked in the UK book trade, spent some time in International sales, and lived for a number of years overseas while continuing to work in publishing. Jonathan has extensive knowledge of all aspects of book publishing and retailing and enjoys nothing better than talking about all aspects of book sales and marketing.

Sophie works as part of the busy publicity team, drafting press releases and creating bespoke campaigns, as well as liaising with journalists daily to secure as much coverage as we can for our authors. Her love of the written word has also propelled her into her writing career, as she publishes romance books in the American market.

Emily works in the publicity department, planning and sending out campaigns, and acting as the liaison between the author and our media network. Having started at Troubador as a Customer Service Assistant, Emily has a friendly and helpful attitude and is committed to giving her authors a high level of customer service. Emily loves watching films and uses her experience of freelance journalism to draft enticing press releases.

Ella studied English and Creative Writing at Birmingham University. After graduating, she interned at Bounce Sales and Marketing (representatives of over forty independent children’s publishers) and gained valuable industry experience working as a bookseller at Waterstones. Having joined Troubador, and is usually the first point of contact for new authors discovering our self-publishing services.In her spare time, she enjoys performing, reading and socialising with friends.

Megan heads our Digital Department, which handles ebook and audiobook services. She has held various roles during her time at Troubador and throughout the years has enjoyed being able to develop and launch new services for our authors, such as our audiobook production and marketing, and advise authors at events like the London Book Fair and the Self-Publishing Conference. Megan is one of our Mental Health First Aiders, there for members of our staff to talk to, and to arrange activities to help promote the importance of wellbeing.

Andrea is our first point of contact for those publishing an ebook as well as a printed book, and she particularly enjoys working with authors to help make their ebooks as discoverable as possible. She enjoys working with authors to create an industry-standard ebook which is compatible with all retailers' systems. She brings particular knowledge of metadata to the Digital Department and a knowledge of how to ensure that a product has detailed, accurate metadata to maximise ebook sales. Andrea also works on audiobook production, helping to match an author with the perfect narrator for their title.

Stephanie coordinates our ebook and audiobook marketing services, as well as being a first port of call for authors looking to publish an ebook with Troubador. She has been a speaker on ebooks and ebook marketing at the Self-Publishing Conference, has advised authors on ebooks at the London Book Fair, and has a detailed knowledge of all aspects of the ebook and audiobook publishing process. She enjoys taking new authors through the ebook publishing and marketing process, and is very happy when an ebook receives great reviews! In her spare time, Stephanie is an avid reader and keen swimmer.

With her many years of experience at Troubador, Rosie heads both our in-house Editorial team where she is responsible for maintaining the high editorial standards that our authors expect, as well as being the Publishing Manager for our Sister company, The Book Guild, working directly with authors publishing through it. Being creative is one of Rosie's passions, along with working with our wonderful authors.

With over a decade of publishing and project-management experience, Hannah has helped to bring all kinds of books to life, including children's picture books, fiction novels, coffee-table tomes, self-help guides and more. At Troubador, Hannah splits her time between editorial (undertaking copy-edits and proofreads) and illustration (working with artists and authors to achieve beautiful illustrations). Outside work, Hannah enjoys family time, walking and (predictably) reading… or as much as four children allow!

Issy joined whilst finishing her Masters in English Literary Studies, having achieved a first-class degree in English Literature and German. As well as her studies, Issy was Editor for Cake Magazine, a literary publication run by students in Lancaster University's English and Creative Writing Department, which annually publishes creative and critical pieces produced by both students and published writers. In her spare time, she plays netball and watches netball (basically anything netball related, she'll be there…) and enjoy reading, with a particular love of historical fiction.

Whilst studying English Literature at the University of Liverpool, Madeleine also worked as a Publishing Assistant at Liverpool University Press, where she learnt the fundamentals of the publishing process. Upon graduating, she then participated in a marketing and publicity internship at Transworld, an imprint of Penguin Random House. As an Editorial Assistant, Madeleine copyedits and proofreads all texts that come her way. In her spare time, you'll find her either in a coffee shop or workout class.