Tyler Chin-Tanner

President, Co-Publisher

From his early careers in teaching and humanitarian aid work, Tyler Chin-Tanner took the leap into his lifelong passion for comics attending The Kubert School from 2003 to 2006 and co-founding AWBW with his wife Wendy in 2005. Publishing through AWBW, Tyler wrote a number of graphic novels including New York Times featured American Terrorist and edited several anthologies such as New York Times featured All We Ever Wanted, art books like Punkrock* Jazz, and creator-owned projects including Kismet, Man of Fate.

Wendy Chin-Tanner

Executive Director, Co-Publisher

Wendy Chin-Tanner is the Co-publisher and Executive Director of AWBW, which she founded with her husband Tyler in 2005. She is the author of the poetry collections Turn (Sibling Rivalry Press, 2014), which was a finalist for the Oregon Book Awards, and Anyone Will Tell You (Sibling Rivalry Press, 2019), and co-author of the New York Times featured graphic novel American Terrorist. Wendy also serves as a poetry editor at The Nervous Breakdown. A trained sociologist specializing in race, identity, and culture, she continues to write and teach on these topics in addition to running writing workshops and guest lecturing at a variety of institutions. Born and raised in NYC and educated at Cambridge University, UK, Wendy is the mother of two daughters and the proud daughter of immigrants.

Lisa Y. Wu

VP of Sales & Marketing

Experienced in community outreach for diverse organizations and leveraging innovative dynamic marketing strategies to maximize brand awareness, Lisa previously utilized her skills to impact audience and sales growth as Director of Retailer Relations at AfterShock Comics. Among other roles, Lisa also worked as Social Media/Promotions for Saga Communications and Marketing Coordinator for Dave & Busters. Lisa holds a B.A. in English and a M.A. in Teaching from The Citadel and is an M.B.A. candidate at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business.

Joseph Illidge

Editorial Director

In his career, Joseph served as an editor on the Batman for DC Entertainment, Senior Editor for Lion Forge Comics, and Executive Editor for Valiant Entertainment. Joseph’s first job in the industry was at Milestone Media, Inc., a publisher of inclusive superhero stories, best known for the award-winning animated series Static Shock from Warner Bros.

Justin Zimmerman

Media Director

Justin Zimmerman, MFA in Film, is a nationally recognized writer, filmmaker and professor. His narrative and documentary work has appeared in more than 100 film festivals across the globe and has been broadcast on national public television, where he won two international television awards. He’s also been the recipient of multiple grants and fellowships, he contributed a story to the Eisner Award winning graphic novel Love Is Love, and his script and comic work has been optioned on multiple occasions.

Nicola Black

Brand Strategist/Art Director

Nicola began working with A Wave Blue World in 2009. She comes to us via her agency, Nicola Black Design, LLC. With almost 20 years experience in the design industry, Nicola focuses on helping businesses shine through her structured approach achieving successful visual brand identities and campaigns.

Her efforts serve small and medium-sized businesses in the entertainment, media, and publishing; travel and tourism; and B2B service industries. Campaigns she’s worked on have been recognized nationally by the American Advertising Awards (ADDY®) and have also appeared in various publications including “Visual Marketing: 99 Proven Ways for Small Businesses to Market with Images and Design” (Wiley, 2011).

Nicola is also active in helping those interested in self-employment to build their businesses. From her past position as the Freelancers Union Philadelphia Spark Leader to her current efforts via SELF Philly, an organization she co-founded, she is passionate in helping people build their businesses from the ground up.

When Nicola’s not busy at work, she’s enjoying family time with her pups and partner, digging into genealogy research, doing science experiments, watching Rupaul’s Drag Race, reading comics, or listening to music.

Jesse Post

Book Trade & Library Publicist

Jesse Post is a publicist, editor, letterer, graphic designer, and bookseller with a penchant for beautiful works of art from small presses. He started his career at the Ralph Vicinanza Agency and Boston’s WHAT’S UP MAGAZINE before moving to Disney Publishing Worldwide. He edited comics for DISNEY ADVENTURES and COMIC ZONE (the two best-selling comics magazines in the country at the time) and managed start-up publishing projects within Disney’s licensing division, including the Muppets relaunch and a critically acclaimed archival comics series from Fantagraphics. After building marketing departments for Papercutz and Lion Forge, Jesse started Letter Better, a comics-focused publishing consultancy, and Postmark Books, an independent bookstore in New York’s Hudson Valley. The first thing he ever read in his life was a comic, and the rest is history.