Case Study: Heather Blanchard
Dark Is The Sea
Published: October 2014
Your Experience Before Working With Sam Pearce and SWATT Books
- What were you doing for book design prior to working with us?
This was my first book so I had no previous experience with book design.
- Summarise three points of frustration you faced?
As it was my first book, I had no real frustrations other than feeling very naive and clueless regarding the book writing, design and publishing process.
- What was the big “Aha!” moment when you realised that you needed a professional book designer?
My husband told me that I’d need a book designer in order for my book to look professional and be formatted correctly for both paperback and Kindle.
- How did you hear about our service?
Through my husband who had worked with you before, I believe.
- Why did you choose us over other design options?
You came highly recommended.
Your Experience Working With Us
- Describe your experiences working with us?
Very pleasant and quick, and a huge learning curve for me in terms of the whole creation of a book. I really didn’t know what I was doing so I’m eternally grateful for how patient you were with me, and your guidance really helped me.
- What element of our service did you feel helped you the most?
The process of seeing the book come to life in a format fit for print, and knowing how it should look.
- How does our service differ from other designers you have worked with in the past?
No, as I haven’t worked with anyone else on book design.
The Results
- What was your initial reaction when you received your finished books?
It was surreal to see my novel as a physical book. It was something I had dreamed about for a long time.
- How many books have you sold so far?
I’m not actually sure. I’ve never kept a count.
- What has been the general reaction of your readers to the book?
I have received mostly overwhelmingly positive reviews.
- How much of that success would you attribute to the design?
I definitely think that the ‘meat’ of the novel has to appeal to readers, but I have been praised many times for the cover and ‘look’ of my book, and I feel it looks a lot more professional than some self-published books I had encountered before. The quality of the physical book was always something that really mattered to me, as a writer and as a bibliophile.
Recommendation
- What three words would you use to describe your experience working with us?
Nurturing.
Quick.
Efficient.
- What is the single biggest reason you would recommend our service?
Your service met my vision for how I wanted the finished book to look and accomplished that and more. It is a very helpful service for first-time writers with a really high level of professionalism, but of course, because the service is so good, I’m sure that more seasoned writers would be thrilled too.