Top 10 Clicked Links in 2022

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Each issue of Hot Sheet contains dozens of links, and it’s always instructive for me to see what topics and perspectives drive clicks. Here’s what caught your interest in 2022.

  1. Amazon opens up advertising to traditionally published authors. Nearly 500 of you clicked on a Twitter thread by author Tess Sharpe on whether it’s a good idea to advertise. Read the original item as well as my deep dive.
  2. The latest literary journal kerfuffle at Hobart. This tempest-in-a-teapot got a lot of clicks on every single link I added. But mostly you were interested in reading the statement from Hobart’s resigning editors.
  3. Why are some books floppy? This clever and instructive TikTok video from Hot Key Books explains the intricacies of paper and book production. Read the original item where the link appeared (about BookTok, of course).
  4. What Ingram learned from tracking 150,000 books on Amazon. In May, Ingram released a white paper that showed how to increase the effectiveness of Amazon product pages. I’m proud to say I shared these insights some months prior in Hot Sheet.
  5. Shepherd: a new book discovery site. My profile of Ben Fox and Shepherd led to a lot of click-throughs to Shepherd’s homepage.
  6. Why word count matters. In this article by agent Kate McKean, she concludes, “Word count matters, not just because agents and editors like to make hoops for writers to jump through, but because it matters all the way down the line, from the writing to the selling of a book.”
  7. Breaking up with your literary agent. An author writes honestly and frankly about her own blind spots and deciding to part ways with her longtime agent—something she clearly should have done much sooner in her career.
  8. What’s Colleen Hoover’s secret? You’ll find some interesting insights in this interview with Elle.
  9. BookTok book tropes: What are they? You all want to know, apparently. Here’s a primer. A money-making idea anyone can steal: Do a writing class on BookTok tropes!
  10. Do blurbs actually work? Yes. Lincoln Michel explains in an article he’s now put behind a paywall. (Just goes to show that if you see a link of interest that catches your eye, act quickly. Substack articles may be available free for a limited time only.)