January 2025 Bestseller Lists
Three distinctive monthly bestseller lists: top 50 hidden gems, top 50 self-published ebooks, and top 50 self-published print books.
Three distinctive monthly bestseller lists: top 50 hidden gems, top 50 self-published ebooks, and top 50 self-published print books.
Getting stuck is a lousy feeling, but a normal part of the messy and uneven creative process. Here are some tips for working through it.
We often long for perfect guidance about where to submit our writing, but there’s no substitute for getting to know the landscape ourselves.
Writing characters with disabilities doesn’t have to be difficult. It only requires a little work to understand how things look from the character’s position.
When the revision process meanders off-course, leaving a project stranded, here are some tips for regaining momentum.
To keep readers engaged, build each scene toward a breaking point then reveal something new about the characters, their world, or the plot.
If you’ve amassed a heap of assorted essays, flash pieces, chapters, and ideas, here’s a step-by-step guide to shaping them into a book.
If an inner voice criticizes your creativity, consider addressing the judgy elephant in the room. To whom does that voice belong?
In story as in art, what’s hinted at in the shadows can add intriguing layers of depth and interest.
When a project itself is confusing to its creator, here’s a quick look at ways to unclutter stuff, people, and the words we write.
One author successfully pitched her memoir based on its thematic point, but shaping it into a satisfying narrative arc was much tricker.
Current research favors regular nurturing of a skill, as discussed in this excerpt from Deliberate Practice for Creative Writers by Jules Horne.
The December 2024 bestseller lists are now available at the Hot Sheet website, free to everyone. Here are some points of interest.
Three distinctive monthly bestseller lists: top 50 hidden gems, top 50 self-published ebooks, and top 50 self-published print books.
One writer found herself chained to an idea that just wasn’t working, and needed fresh perspective from a colleague in order to break free.
When trying to best tell a particular story, consider that some medium other than words on a page might be the right solution.
It’s tempting to agonize over the best way to get the words down, but all that matters is to choose a project, write it, and ask for support.
Protagonist, antagonist, rising and falling action, arc of change, emotion—all must be developed in a picture book, and in under 500 words.
It’s an artist’s job to trust that deep satisfaction from our creative work arrives by keeping at it even when we feel stuck.
Even if you decide to design and format your own book, it’s important to be aware of fundamental elements of book composition.
Should you self-publish or traditionally publish? This infographic will help you determine the best choice for you and your project.
From my paid newsletter, here’s a recap of the book industry issues and trends I find most notable and meaningful as we move into 2025.
A roundup of new publishers, imprints, and agents announced in 2024, as covered in The Hot Sheet.
Three distinctive monthly bestseller lists: top 50 hidden gems, top 50 self-published ebooks, and top 50 self-published print books.
The November 2024 bestseller lists are now available at the Hot Sheet website, free to everyone. Here are some points of interest.
Most authors should not pay to exhibit at industry trade shows like London Book Fair and Frankfurt Book Fair.
When publishers and agents show no interest in novellas, contests might be a more reliable path to publication.
The director of an MFA program wrestles with how to make it a more useful degree for aspiring commercial novelists.
Triumphs are most compelling when the hero has to fight for them, so even quiet stories need plenty of obstacles, challenges, and uncertainties.
Becoming a mother was the motivation one freelance writer needed to abandon the toxic hustle culture by which she defined “success”.
An Author’s Note can be the most direct way to communicate your book’s themes to editors, marketers, librarians, teachers, and readers.
Like love and creativity, the best things in life are intangible. It’s the same with intuition, which the tarot helps us access and develop.
Book proposals come together much more easily when the author has confidence and clarity on their target audience.
One author discovers that when it comes to heavily-researched historical fiction, one’s ducks should be in a row before tackling NaNoWriMo.
We do not live without a persistent undercurrent of questions, both tiny and tremendous. Doubt is part of us, so let us make peace with it.
Academics or experts writing for a broader audience than peers should consider framing complex facts through a personal lens.
The October 2024 bestseller lists are now available at the Hot Sheet website, free to everyone. Here are some points of interest.
Three distinctive monthly bestseller lists: top 50 hidden gems, top 50 self-published ebooks, and top 50 self-published print books.
There will absolutely be tape lines to adjust and plot questions to answer along the way, so don’t let the prep prevent messy progress.
Memoir can benefit from starting at the moment that change became inevitable, then explaining what came before and what followed.
Whether in life or publishing, when faced with setbacks it’s important to stay present and find joy in the small triumphs.
The role and quality of POD (print on demand) is continually misunderstood by authors and the larger publishing community.
Worry less about creating a first sentence that will shock and awe, and more about drawing readers into the story one link of the chain at a time.
What does an average person like me have to say? If you ever find yourself thinking that way, make a list of subjects you know inside and out.
Nonfiction writers have to decide where to collect their stories and how much to rely on their personal experience.
Struggling with the plot of your current work-in-progress? Maybe one of these tried and true solutions will do the trick for you.
Next time you feel stuck, abandoning perfection and embracing bad ideas might be just the trick for breaking out of a creative slump.
It’s easier to write beginnings and endings but often the middle is left sagging—not out of the lack of skill or care, but out of confusion.
My book, The Business of Being a Writer Second Edition, releases in April 2025. To mark the occasion, I’m offering a free, email-based course.
Christine Larson, author of Love in the Time of Self-Publishing, talks about the genre’s struggle with diversity, and how writers earn a living.