Review of Hearts and Sails Author Services

by Laura Gwendolyn Hill

Founded by historical fiction author Alina Rubin, the Hearts and Sails Author Services company is here for all authors including services such as Proofreading and Formatting (and more see website). Some of the services are especially helpful for those (like me), who are self-publishing for the first time.

I hired Hearts and Sails to complete the formatting of my 76k debut novel ‘The Saxon Sword’ which included a historical map.

Firstly, it has been a privilege to work with the award-winning author Alina Rubin, who is described as ‘an up-and-coming star in the realm of historical fiction’. And I am a big fan of her Hearts and Sails series (Book One is ‘A Girl With A Knife’).

I had no prior knowledge of the formatting experience so while she was going through the process, Alina also explained how the process works in a clear manner that helped me understand. Alina helped me understand how to write a copyright page, and what was important for the front matter and back matter.  

Alina always had a marketing plan for my book simmering away in her mind. She added back matter encouraging readers to ‘Leave a Review’ and she put in a hook on the last page telling readers that ‘Book Two’ in the series was coming soon. These additions greatly enhanced the overall marketing of my novel.

Alina suggested adding vector artwork to the chapter breaks and these were a lovely addition. I am so happy with the final outcome of the typesetting. No longer a word document, my novel looks like a real book for the first time. Alina also explained to me what the cover designer would need from the final pdf, another learning curve for me. 

In one of our emails Alina said: ‘I strongly believe in providing a great experience for clients and caring about their books as it were my book baby.’

Alina wholeheartedly achieved this aim when working on my novel and I highly recommend her to all writers. As well as doing the typesetting I have signed up for the support packages where Alina will support me in uploading to Amazon and Ingram Spark taking the stress out of that situation.

The services are excellent value for money, the attention to detail is excellent, and the communication is efficient and productive, Alina had a professional manner and was also kind and understanding when I didn’t understand something.

I rate this service as Excellent with 5/5 Stars.