Cascadia Author Services is staffed by a fun, friendly and seasoned bunch of West Coast folks who love books, love authors, and love the fact that there are so many routes to success in today’s publishing world.

Meet Our Leadership Team

Bennett R. Coles

Founder/CEO, Ghostwriter, Editor

Author of: Dark Star Rising, Fog of War, Winds of Marque, March of War, Twenty Excellent Reasons, Ghosts of War, Virtues of War

Bennett is an award-winning author who has been published by Harper Collins (New York) and Titan Publishing Group (London). He is also the publisher at Promontory, a traditional small press based on the West Coast, and he is the founder of Cascadia Author Services. With years of experience in both the traditional and self-publishing worlds, he works tirelessly to guide and support fellow authors toward the path to success.

Lyda McLallen

Senior Marketing Specialist

Lyda is a seasoned book marketer and publicist, having worked on many large traditional campaigns for authors such as NHL star Theo Fleury and his recent book Conversations with a Rattlesnake, as well as a long list of self-publishing campaigns for entrepreneurs. As the head of an elite team of marketing specialists, Lyda has a huge breadth of experience to draw upon as she works with authors to create custom marketing strategies that are aligned with their businesses and goals.

Michelle Balfour

Project Manager, Editor

Michelle is often the first person our authors work with, as she guides them through the many stages of editing, production, and distribution. She knows that every book is unique, and in today’s publishing world that means that each book has its own unique path to publication: Michelle believes in helping authors decide what route works best for them. Her years of experience in the publishing industry have taken her into the fields of literary magazines, traditional publishing, hybrid publishing, self-publishing, freelance writing, and editing. She holds her Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing and Publishing.

Heidi (H.G.) Bells

Ghostwriter, Editor

Author of: Sleep Over, Duck, Coping Mechanisms, Monday Matinee Madness, Mirror Twenty-Two, Seven of Seven of Seven

As a traditional author, Heidi specializes at the intersection of science fiction, horror, and fantasy – a fact many of her business-book clients say has prepared her well for business ghostwriting! Her passion for fostering good writing craft is plain to see: she enjoys giving talks, hosting workshops, and moderating large writing forums all around the Pacific Rim. She’s a film school trained screenwriter with multiple book-to-script adaptations and original scripts to her credit.

Iryna Spica

Senior Designer

Iryna has been designing books for more than 30 years, and has always been at the leading edge of technology and trends for cover design, typesetting, interior layout and ebooks. She knows well the studies showing that consumers spend an average of eight seconds looking at a book cover before moving on – her goal is to beat that average with every cover her team creates. Iryna also understands that reading is more than just information gathering. It should be a pleasurable experience, with an easy-to-ready interior using the right design elements, layout and fonts for the subject matter and genre.

Paul Wegenast

Senior Publishing Advisor

Paul has worked in in both traditional and hybrid book publishing since 2007. He brings a vast amount of experience in sales and marketing having worked with retail clients such as Barnes and Noble, Chapters/Indigo and independent bookstores across North America. His expertise lies in assisting authors discover the best path to prepare their manuscript and take their book to market. Paul’s priority is to ensure that each author finds the services they need to ensure the best experience and opportunity to find the success that’s available to them.