by Lindsey Hughes | Jun 9, 2026 | Marketing, writing
Reading Time: 5 minutes
The word hook gets thrown around a lot, meaning different things depending on who's using it and why. All hooks have the same core idea: a hook is the moment something grabs attention and refuses to let go.
But what it grabs, when it grabs it, and how it works shifts dramatically depending on context.
For screenwriters and novelists, understanding the different types of hooks is not just a craft skill. It's a survival skill. The wrong hook in the wrong moment can lose you a deal, a reader, or a career opportunity.
What Is The Hook in Storytelling?
At its simplest, a hook is:
The thing that makes someone want more.
That’s the story fishhook that catches curiosity.
The Unified Theory of the Hook
Across every context a hook does one of three things. Usually all three at once:
1. Creates a question the audience needs answered. (Open loop.)
2. Creates a feeling the audience wants more of. (Emotional pull.)
3. Creates a promise to the audience. (Trust and anticipation.)
The hook is always the same thing: the point at which someone stops being passive and starts being compelled. Where the confusion comes in is that different parts of the storytelling ecosystem need different kinds of hooks.
1. The High Concept Hook (The Premise Itself)
A high concept hook is a premise so inherently compelling that you can understand the entire story from one sentence and immediately want to experience it. Does the idea do the work, before any character, dialogue, or execution? If yes, you have a high concept hook.
For screenwriters, high concepts are the focus of Hollywood, because studios and producers are in the business of betting on ideas before they're executed. A high concept hook is less risky; the room can already see the movie.
For novelists, the high concept hook is the foundation of their marketing campaign.
Examples:
- Jaws: A great white shark terrorizes a beach town during July 4th weekend, the biggest beach weekend of the year.
- Groundhog Day: A man relives the same day over and over until he gets it right.
- The Hunger Games: In a dystopian future, children are forced to fight to the death on live television.
- Snakes on a Plane: The high concept hook is the title. Genius.
- Diehard : Trapped in a skyscraper on Christmas Eve, a lone cop is the only thing that stands between a group of hostages that include his wife and ruthless terrorists.
The hook lives in the collision of a what if premise + inherent conflict. It works because it creates an instant dramatic question. What happens next?
Not every project has a high concept hook, and that's fine. A slow burn character study, a quiet coming of age story, a prestige drama about a family falling apart, these may have no hook at the premise level. They earn attention through execution, not idea. But knowing which category your work falls into changes how you pitch it and how you market it.
2. The Pitch Hook — Selling in the Room (the Cocktail Pitch)
This hook refers to the short pitch, the cocktail pitch, that makes the room lean forward and say “tell me more.” Your cocktail pitch is a hook and each part of your cocktail pitch is a hook. That is what makes it so powerful! It is a pitching hook supercharged!
A pitch hook isn't just what your story is. It's why this story, why now, why them.
A pitch hook might include these parts of the cocktail pitch:
- The high concept premise. (Cocktail Pitch’s Emotional Hook)
- Touchstones: "It's Frozen meets The Avengers". (Cocktail Pitch’s Touchstones)
- A dramatic question: "What if the thing that saves a marriage is also what destroys it?" (Cocktail Pitch’s Emotional Hook)
- A relatable question: “Remember when you were little and afraid of your open closet at night?” (Cocktail Pitch’s Emotional Hook)
- A metaphor: “The geeks vs. the jocks.” (Cocktail Pitch’s Emotional Hook)
- A cultural moment: "We're in a world obsessed with authenticity, and this is a story about a woman who has built an empire on being completely fake." (Cocktail Pitch’s Emotional Hook)
3. The Emotional Hook
The emotional hookis the emotion driving your main character. Emotion sells, and if you have a powerful emotional hook at the center of your story, it is a wonderful way to shortcut your pitch.
Think about your emotional hook as a question.
Examples:
- The Impossible: Will a family torn apart by a tsunami be reunited?
- The Hunger Games: Will Katniss survive the Hunger Games?
- Taken: Will a father reach his daughter in time to rescue her from a lifetime of sexual slavery?
4. The Narrative Hook (The Opening of Your Story)
This hook is a craft device, the opening moment of your screenplay or novel designed to pull the reader past page one.
It operates on curiosity, tension, or intrigue established in the first paragraph, the first scene, or the first sequence.
Types of narrative hooks:
- In medias res: Drop into the middle of action. Don't explain; trust the reader to catch up. The Dark Knight opens mid-heist.
- The provocative statement: An opening line so strange or bold it demands explanation. Pride and Prejudice: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”
- The ticking clock: Immediate stakes and urgency from line one. The reader/viewer knows time is already running out. D.O.A. (1950): A man dying from poison reports his own murder to a homicide detective.
- A mystery or contradiction: Something that doesn't add up. A scene, a situation, or a character that is conspicuously off. Sunset Blvd.: Opens with a corpse floating in a pool and the dead man narrating in voice over.
The narrative hook is an irresistible entry point to your story.
5. The Character Hook
Sometimes the hook is not the plot. Sometimes the hook is the person. The more unusual, the better.
A character hook might be:
- A brilliant detective with no social skills.
- A hitman who wants out.
- A woman underestimated by everyone who is secretly the smartest person in the room.
A character hook works because the audience wants to spend time with that person.
6. The World Hook
The world hook is the fascinating arena, setting, or system that makes the story appealing.
Examples:
- A school for wizards.
- A dystopian society divided into factions.
- A luxury hotel for assassins.
- A future where people can erase memories.
A world hook says:
Come look at this place. You have not been here before.
Fantasy, science fiction, and dystopian fiction depend heavily on world hooks. But a contemporary story that takes us into an unusual or behind-the-scenes setting can have a world hook. Hollywood assistants, competitive ballet, and political campaigns are all world hooks.
9. The Short-Form / Social Video Hook
This is the most mechanical and ruthless version of the hook. In short-form social media video you have three seconds before someone swipes away. The hook is everything that happens in that window.
10. The Music Hook — Where the Concept Came From
Worth noting because it's the origin of the metaphor: in music, the hook is the melodic or lyrical phrase that lodges in your memory. It's the part of the song you can't shake.
Storytelling borrowed this term directly from music, and the concept is identical: it's the thing that catches you and won't release. Every use of hook in story, is an echo of this original meaning, the irresistible repetition, the phrase that won't leave you alone.
Conclusion
You need to know your hook at every level, for every audience, and at every stage of your project's life. The hook that gets you in the room is not always the hook that sells the movie. The hook that sells the movie is not always the hook that opens the story. The hook that opens the story is not always the hook on the back of the book.
Your job is to understand all of them, and to know which one the moment is asking for.
The writers who master the hook don't just write better stories. They pitch better, which means they sell more projects, which means they make more money. The hook is the distillation of what makes your story irresistible. Learning to find it, name it, and use it strategically is as important as any other craft skill you'll develop.
Check it Out!
Ever wonder what it’s like to work with me? Watch me evaluate pitches on The Dialogue Doctor podcast!
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If this blog adds a little spark to your writing week, would you consider buying me a coffee? Your support helps me keep creating practical, joyful resources for writers.
Buy my book How to Turn Your Screenplay into a Novel! Turn your scripts into books and start earning money today!
by | Apr 25, 2026 | Business of writing, Marketing
Reading Time: < 1 minute
It's Independent Bookstore Day! Let's support our neighborhood bookstores!
Bookshop.org is an online bookstore with a cool premise. Independent bookstores can apply to be part of Bookshop.org. Readers pick their local bookstore that they want the majority of their purchase to go to. Additionally, every bookstore on the platform gets a portion of the proceeds.
There are readers who are anti-Amazon, and Bookshop.org is a great alternative place to sell to them. The books are more expensive than on Amazon, and you have to pay for shipping. But a certain kind of customer doesn't mind paying extra to support independent bookstores in their neighborhood.
Recently, Bookshop.org started selling e-books and audiobooks.
Indie Authors Get Your Books on Bookshop.org
Check it Out!
Ever wonder what it’s like to work with me? Watch me evaluate pitches on The Dialogue Doctor podcast!
Want more content like this? Click here to subscribe to my newsletter.
If this blog adds a little spark to your writing week, would you consider buying me a coffee? Your support helps me keep creating practical, joyful resources for writers.
Buy my book How to Turn Your Screenplay into a Novel! Turn your scripts into books and start earning money today!
by | Mar 19, 2026 | Business of writing, Marketing
Reading Time: 4 minutes
The World’s Largest Library Is Hiding in Plain Sight
(And Your Books and Screenplays Should Be In It)
Imagine a library 100 times larger than the Library of Alexandria.
A library with millions of books in every language, stretching back centuries. A library where a reader can search almost any topic and instantly discover a book about it. Cool!
That library exists. It’s called Google Books.
And if you’re an author or screenwriter, it may be one of the most powerful discoverability and marketing tools you’re not using yet.
What Is the Google Books Library?
Think of Google Books as a massive digital card catalog for the world’s books. When a book is listed there, Google stores key information about it, including:
• title
• author
• publisher
• publication date
• genre
• description
• cover image
• preview pages
Readers can search the library and read a sample of the book directly inside Google.
Here’s what my book looks like on Google Books.
The Game Changer: Google Books also provides this information through a public API, meaning other systems can access it. Which systems love structured book data like this? AI systems.
Large language models frequently use Google Books as a verification source to confirm that a book exists and to gather details about it. In one analysis of AI-generated book recommendations, nearly all the books recommended had entries in Google Books.
In other words, if your book is in the Google Books Library, it becomes part of the knowledge layer of the internet.
Why This Matters for Authors
⭐Google Books is not just a library. It’s a discovery engine.
When your book appears there, it can surface when people search for:
- Your name
- Genre
- Story elements
- Tropes
- Themes
- Topics related to your story
Because the database contains structured metadata, it makes your book easy for search engines and AI systems to understand.
For authors thinking about Generative Search Optimization (GSO), this is huge.
⭐Your book becomes searchable. Your story becomes easier to find.
Why This Is Important for Screenwriters
Scripts are packed with searchable story information:
• character names
• locations
• themes
• genre
• tropes
• dialogue
When a script is in Google Books, it becomes part of a searchable knowledge base used by Google and AI systems. For writers building authority and discoverability, this acts like a permanent calling card in the world’s largest digital library. Executives and producers can stumble across your work long after the script was written.
How Your Book Gets Into Google Books
The good news is that many authors are already there without realizing it.
- If you publish wide and distribute to Google Play Books, your book is automatically added to the Google Books Library.
- Even if your ebook is in Kindle Unlimited and exclusive to Amazon, your print edition may still appear if it is distributed through Amazon expanded distribution or Ingram Spark.
- Google often scans print books from library collections and adds them to the database.
To check if your book is listed, simply search inside Google Books for your book title, name, and ISBN.
What If Your Book Isn’t There?
No problem. You can add it yourself. You simply create an account with the Google Play Books Partner Center.
From there you can upload your book and choose one of two options:
- Sell the ebook on Google Play: Your book becomes available for purchase through Google’s ebook store.
- Offer a preview only
If your ebook is exclusive to Kindle Unlimited, you can still upload it and allow readers to see a preview in Google Books and let the AI get to know you without selling the ebook through Google Play.
Typically, about 20% of the book is visible as a preview. That preview alone is enough for Google to index the book’s content and metadata. And that’s where the discoverability magic begins.
Screenwriters, Google Books is not just for books.
You can and should put your screenplays there to increase your visibility for GSO. For sold projects and produced movies and series, the answer is more complicated.
What About Uploading Screenplays to Google Books?
Google Books is essentially a publishing platform and searchable library. Uploading a screenplay there means you are publishing the text publicly.
You can publish any script you still own.
You cannot publish scripts you sold without permission.
If a movie or show was produced from your script, assume the studio controls publication unless your contract says otherwise. When in doubt, check your agreement or consult an entertainment attorney before uploading the script anywhere online.
Most screenwriters do have material they can upload:
- Spec scripts that never sold. Your unsold scripts can still have a second life in the library of the internet!
- Stage plays
- Scripts whose rights reverted
⭐Bonus Tip for Screenwriters: When you upload a screenplay, adding this stuff for the AI and better GSO:
- A logline.
- Your cocktail pitch. Be sure to include format and genre.
- A story synopsis that includes genre, tropes, and settings.
- Character list with a short bio and description.
- For fans of and a list of similar movies or shows.
- Your website, email, and agent so potential employers can find you.
The Big Takeaway
If you want your work to be discoverable in the AI-powered search era, you need to think beyond traditional bookstores.
Every writer should ask one simple question:
Is my work in the world’s largest digital library? If the answer is no, upload them stat!
Check it Out!
Ever wonder what it’s like to work with me? Watch me evaluate pitches on The Dialogue Doctor podcast!
Want more content like this? Click here to subscribe to my newsletter.
If this blog adds a little spark to your writing week, would you consider buying me a coffee? Your support helps me keep creating practical, joyful resources for writers.
Buy my book How to Turn Your Screenplay into a Novel! Turn your scripts into books and start earning money today!
by | Feb 26, 2026 | Business of writing, Marketing
Reading Time: 6 minutes
How to make sure AI can find and recommend you, your novel, or screenplay.
In the last few months, you may have noticed that internet search has changed. Now when you Google something, Gemini, Google’s AI, answers your question in a paragraph, giving you links if you want to read further. Many people have stopped Googling altogether, starting their search with their favorite AI tool.
This shift is why writers need a new internet visibility strategy – GSO.
What is GSO?
Generative Search Optimization (GSO) makes your work easy for AI tools to understand, trust, and surface inside their answers. AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, Gemini, and Perplexity, are summarizing, recommending, and quoting the internet for people searching. Your job is to make your work easy for the AI to understand and recommend.
Think about it like this:
- Traditional SEO was a treasure map. You sprinkled keywords around your site and hoped Google sent explorers to your link.
- GSO is different. It’s about showing up inside the answer.
AI-powered conversational search is fundamentally changing internet search by moving away from basic keyword results toward nuanced, back-and-forth dialogues between readers and AI tools.
Traditional search engines struggle with long, specific phrases, forcing readers to think in basic keywords like "novels about birdwatching". In contrast, AI can process language nuances to handle highly specific requests. For example, a reader or producer can ask for "a good thriller set in a small town with a female protagonist who's a journalist investigating a cold case" and receive a recommendation that matches those exact criteria.
Search becomes a conversation where every response uncovers deeper aspects of what the user is looking for. People can modify their requests as they go, guided on a journey of discovery rather than just asking for directions.
Through conversation, AI tools get to know users’ behavior, search history, and preferences, enabling them to tailor results to an individual's specific interests. They can remember a user's preferences over months or years, making increasingly accurate recommendations.
AIs can read and analyze pictures too. A reader can take a photo of their physical bookshelf. Then the AI then analyzes the titles and recommends what they should read next based on their established tastes.
Why GSO Matters for Writers
AI is becoming the new librarian, bookseller, and research assistant. If the model doesn’t know your work, it can’t recommend it. As a writer, you want AI to have read your books and screenplays.
AI is the new librarian.
When someone asks, “What are great found-family space operas with a cynical hero?” they will not scroll ten results anymore. They’ll read one AI summary and click one recommendation. If the model can’t confidently describe your book or script, you’re invisible.
This is good news for readers, authors, and screenwriters. It will be easier for people to find stories they like and easier for creators to build a fanbase.
GSO levels the playing field.
Generative engines don’t only reward big brands. They reward clear, consistent, well-structured information that’s easy to verify and cite. That’s good news for indie authors, screenwriters, and small creative businesses.
GSO fluidly links discovery and purchase for books.
The line between discovering a book and buying it is disappearing through agentic commerce. Soon readers will be able to find a book through a conversation and complete the purchase without ever leaving the chat interface.
What does AI know about you?
Search for yourself and your projects with a few of the AI tools.
Try these prompts:
- What do you know about [Your Name] as an author/screenwriter?
- Summarize [Book Title / Script Title] and list themes, tropes, and comparable titles.
- Where can I learn more about [Book Title]?
- What genre is [Title] and who is it for?
Notice:
- Is the info accurate?
- Is it thin, only one vague paragraph?
- Does it point to the wrong page or another person with your name?
Optimizing Your Website for GSO
Let’s get visible!
SEO helped Google know who you are. AI visibility is about what the internet thinks you mean. Now you must write your website for people and AI bots.
Make your writer identity clear with a dedicated About page
- Who you are (author, screenwriter, both)
- What you write (genres + audience)
- What you’re known for (awards, credits, specialties)
- Where to start (your best entry title)
- Your writer logline. “I am a screenwriter and/or novelist and I write [genre] + [kind of stories] with [tropes].”
- Your short bio.
- Your agent and manager contact information and how to reach you directly.
- Links to social media. Don’t forget IMDB, Linked In, YouTube, Goodreads, and Amazon Author Central. (AIs read social media. It’s another place you are mentioned. The more data points on you and your book the better.)
Give every project its own page on your website
Instead of lumping all your projects together on one page, give each one a dedicated, content rich page. The more information about the story, the better the AI can know and recommend it.
For books:
- Title, series, genre, tropes,
- Cover art
- Back cover description
- Formats (ebook, paperback, audio), ISBNs
- Retail links + Start here for first book
- Reviews and awards
- Agent’s contact information, if traditionally published
- Your contact info for podcast and media interviews
For screenplays
- Title, genre, logline, cocktail pitch, synopsis, tropes
- Tone comps (2–3),
- Target audience (sex and violence MPAA rating)
- Franchise information
- Your bio + credits with links to where they are streaming and your IMDB page
- Manager and agent contact info
- Your contact info for podcast and media interviews
- Reviews and awards
Strong Bonus Content
Sample chapters or scenes: Provide the first two or three chapters or scenes in text or PDF format. AI bots will read these samples to understand your writing style and story.
Before you unleash your words on the internet, make sure they’re protected. Register your screenplay with the WGA for just $25 – even if you’re not a member. Copyright it with the Library of Congress for $65.
List of Tropes: Clearly state the tropes in your story (e.g., "enemies to lovers" or "small-town cold case"). AI models are thirsty for tropes and use them as a primary way to recommend books for specific reader queries.
High-Resolution Visual Assets: Upload high-resolution maps, character art, and book and movie trailers, teasers and pitch decks. Detailed visual descriptions help the AI recommend your book to readers interested in specific settings or aesthetics.
Frequently Asked Questions: AIs love the question-and-answer format.
Book Group Discussion Guides & Classroom Guides for Teachers:
Guest Blog Posts or Podcast Interviews: Where you discuss the book. These inbound links help the AI associate your work with other popular authors and themes in your genre.
Mainstream Media Mentions: Many AI models use mainstream media (newspapers, local TV news, and Wikipedia) as a source to determine a book's cultural relevance. Links from these authoritative sites to your website significantly boost your standing in generative search results.
Optimize Your Goodreads Profile: All major AI models train on Goodreads because its data is highly structured, public, and follows best practices for bots.
Blogging: AI models use associations to categorize authors. Write blog posts like "10 authors similar to [Famous Author]" or "10 best books for fans of [Bestseller]," and include your own work on that list. This trains the AI to cluster you with established names in your genre.
Core Metadata & Identifiers
- Official Identifiers: Explicitly list your ISBN and ASIN (Amazon’s ID). This allows the AI to link your website's data with information from other platforms like Goodreads. This is the primary key AI uses to connect data from across the web.
- Copyright Details: Include the publication year and publisher name.
- Buying Options: Link to every site that sells the book, this creates more "data points" for the AI to train on.
Techie Stuff
This is the nerdy part that helps the AI behind the scenes. For best results, use WordPress to create your site.
Install and Use Yoast SEO to label the Schema.org: This is the most recommended free plugin for handling technical metadata. Within the plugin, there is a specific tab labeled "Schema".
- Configure the Schema Tab: Simply click the Schema tab and choose the labels; it is designed to be straightforward and involves turning specific dots green to enable different metadata types.
- Utilize Question/FAQ Schema: You can add "Question schema" to your frequently asked questions pages.
- Why this matters for AI discovery: AI models and search bots "gobble up" this structured data because it provides technical labels that are easier for them to parse than raw text.
Contextual Formatting: Use clear H1, H2, and H3 headings, bullet points, and internal hyperlinks to help the bot find the most important information.
Descriptive Alt Text: Add detailed alt text to images, as current multimodal AI models use this text to understand visual content.
Final Take Away
Re-run your AI audit and see what improved. Congratulations you are visible to the new internet! Now your website is written for humans and for the AI bots that work for humans. You want AI to read your books and screenplays so that it can recommend them.
Top AI Tools
ChatGPT
Claude
Grok
Gemini
Perplexity
Prompt Tips
- The more specific and creative you are, the better the result.
- Remember this is a conversation. Go back and forth, reiterating until you like the answer.
- Use the paid versions. They are light years better than the free ones.
- If you don’t know what to ask, use ChatGPT or Gemini or Claude to help you write prompts. Experiment to find your preference.
More About GSO
AI Optimization for Authors
Book Discoverability in the Age of AI: GSO for Authors
How to get ChatGPT to recommend your book
Get ChatGPT to recommend your YouTube videos
2026 Trends for Indie Authors
More About AI
The Neuron – A free daily newsletter covering all things AI
The Nerdy Novelist – YouTube channel
The Creative Penn Podcast – Joanna Penn covers AI in her weekly news round up and her Patreon.
Author Update - Weekly YouTube show covering AI, entertainment, and publishing. Great for screenwriters too.
Check it Out!
Ever wonder what it’s like to work with me? Watch me evaluate pitches on The Dialogue Doctor podcast!
Want more content like this? Click here to subscribe to my newsletter.
If this blog adds a little spark to your writing week, would you consider buying me a coffee? Your support helps me keep creating practical, joyful resources for writers.
Buy my book How to Turn Your Screenplay into a Novel! Turn your scripts into books and start earning money today!
by | Oct 22, 2025 | Business of writing, Marketing
Reading Time: 5 minutes
As a writer and a story geek, I love consuming people’s content. I also love supporting other writers. To get our work in front of and build an audience, we often work for free. Screenwriters and novelists write projects on spec. Bloggers and podcasters make content free before they monetize it. So, I look for ways to support creators’ work I like. I’m a Patreon of my favorite podcasts and I subscribe to online magazines like The Epoch Times.
One of the easiest ways to help authors is to write a review of their book on Amazon and Goodreads. Amazon is a giant search engine. And the more reviews and sales a book has, the higher up to the top of the page it pops up when a reader puts in search terms.
How to Write an Amazon Review
Some people are intimidated at the thought of writing a review. A review doesn’t need to be long or complicated. Two to five sentences are all you need. Write what you liked about the book as if you were recommending it to a friend.
Tip: Avoid spoilers.
How to write a two‑sentence review:
1) Sentence 1: Emotion + one specific thing you loved.
2) Sentence 2: Who it’s for + a tiny comp (e.g., “for fans of X and Y”).
- What was your favorite thing about the book?
- Who was your favorite character and why?
- Did you have a favorite scene?
Use juicy adjectives:
- Rollicking
- Laugh out loud
- Gripping
- Moving
- Compelling
- Charming
The Headline: I like to write my review first and then pick one of the sentences to use as my headline. When I choose my headline, I think about what will motivate a reader to choose the book.
The 30-Second Headline Trick (pick one):
• Emotion-first: "Heartwarming and hopeful"
• Hook-first: "A small-town secret with big stakes"
• Trope-first: "For found-family fans"
End on a high note: If the book is part of a series, I always like to end with “can’t wait to read the next one!”
5 Stars: And finally, always use five stars. Five-star reviews are weighted much heavier than four-star reviews. So if there’s something that you didn’t like about the book which is why you want to rate it under five stars, understand that it will ding the author’s rating, which may not be your intention.
Be Positive: My goal in reviewing a book is to help readers find a story I enjoyed and support great writing. If I don’t like a book, then I don’t write a review.
Even if you don’t buy a book from Amazon, you can still review it there. As the biggest bookstore in the world, authors make a substantial part of their income from Amazon. So help them out!
Steal These Review Templates
Short & sweet: “A [rollicking/moving] read with a [favorite element—voice/setting/romance]. I especially loved [character/scene]. Highly recommend for fans of [blank].”
Character‑first: “I came for [premise], stayed for [character]. The [humor/tension/romance] kept me turning pages. Can’t wait for the next one!”
Trope‑love: “If you like [trope/genre], this hits the spot—[brief detail]. Charming and satisfying.”
Free Books Need Reviews Too
A permafree book is one that the author has set the price as free permanently. These books are usually the first in a series. It is a sales tactic to get you hooked on the series and buy more books. If I like the first one, I always review it and buy the series. I am a binge reader, and I enjoy reading a series in order back to back.
Why this matters:
Reviews of Book 1 build trust for the whole series—your single review can tip a whole row of dominoes for new readers.
Consider
If a book made you laugh, cry, or miss your bus stop, give it a review. In under a minute, a few lines and some stars boost visibility, unlock promotions, and help authors keep writing the stories you love. Your words matter more than you think.
While We’re Talking About Reviews
If How to Turn Your Screenplay Into a Novel helped you, would you leave a quick review? Two minutes on Amazon makes a huge difference for discoverability. A review tells the algorithms, “Hey, writers need this!” I’m so grateful for every single one.
👉 Amazon
How to Write a Goodreads Review (and how it’s different from Amazon)
Goodreads is the cozy book club on the internet—more conversation, more context, more “why this worked for me.” Reviews here tend to be a bit longer and more in-depth than on Amazon because you’re talking to fellow readers first, not a storefront. Think: a friendly rec you’d give at your local indie shop, plus a few nerdy details for readers who love comps, tropes, and vibes.
Key differences at a glance
- Purpose & Audience:
• Amazon: Marketplace. Short, skimmable reviews help shoppers decide and boost a book’s sales signals.
• Goodreads: Community. Reviews can be longer, chatty, and personal—perfect for sharing why a book hit for you, what it pairs with, and where it sits on your shelves.
- Length & Depth:
It’s normal on Goodreads to add a little more: your reading mood, favorite trope moments, and a line you underlined.
- Shelves & Discovery:
Tag your review with shelves like “found-family,” “slow-burn,” or “heists”—these help other readers find the book by vibe/trope.
- Spoilers:
Goodreads lets you hide spoilers. If you mention to a twist or late-book reveal, mark that section as a spoiler so future readers can enjoy the surprise.
- Verified purchase:
Amazon shows “Verified Purchase.” Goodreads doesn’t—so reviews are welcome whether you borrowed, bought elsewhere, or listened on audio.
Star ratings: Goodreads vs. Amazon
Both use 1–5 stars, but the culture is slightly different.
- Goodreads star meanings (their actual labels):
★☆☆☆☆ Did not like it
★★☆☆☆ It was OK
★★★☆☆ Liked it
★★★★☆ Really liked it
★★★★★ It was amazing
(There are no half-stars on Goodreads.) A 3★ on Goodreads is positive—“liked it”—and totally normal.
- Amazon star culture (simplified):
3★ often reads as neutral/“meh” to shoppers. If you liked a book, consider 5★ (“really liked it”) on Amazon.
Paste-Ready Goodreads Review Template
Use this if you want a bit more room than my Amazon quick-hit template. Copy, fill in the brackets, and post:
Headline: [Emotion or vibe] — [Short hook]
Rating: ★★★★☆ (Really liked it)
Why I read it: I was in the mood for [trope/genre] and this promised [premise].
What I loved:
• [Specific character/relationship beat]
• [A craft moment—voice, structure, setting, humor, tension]
• [One scene or detail that stuck with you]
The vibe & tropes: [e.g., found family, slow burn, grumpy/sunshine, heist crew] — if you liked [Comp Title A] and [Comp Title B], this hits that sweet spot.
Pacing & tone: [e.g., brisk and bantery / lush and contemplative / high-stakes and twisty]
Who it’s for: Readers who enjoy [two to three qualities] and don’t mind [minor caveat, if any—e.g., a darker middle act, multi-POV, etc.]
Favorite line (optional): “[short quote]”
Content notes (optional): [Brief heads-up if relevant]
Bottom line: [One-sentence verdict—how you felt leaving the last page]
Killer Combo
Want to be a superstar? Post your fuller review on Goodreads, then paste a trimmed version on Amazon. That combo helps both readers (context!) and authors (visibility!) in under five minutes.
Consider
Think of a review as a high-five that the whole bookstore can see. It’s fast—two to five sentences—and it massively helps authors reach new readers, secure ads, and keep the creative lights on.
While We’re Talking About Goodreads
If How to Turn Your Screenplay into a Novel has been your creative espresso shot, please drop a review—just a sentence or two—on Amazon or Goodreads. Reviews help other screenwriters + novelists find it and keep me writing tips and tricks for you. 👉 Amazon | 👉 Goodreads
Learn More
How to Write Book Reviews Readers Will Want to Read
Check it Out!
- Ever wonder what it’s like to work with me? Watch me evaluate pitches on The Dialogue Doctor podcast!
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by Lindsey Hughes | Sep 25, 2025 | Business of writing, Marketing
Reading Time: 3 minutes
Live events put you and your stories in the same room as actual humans—humans who can see your covers, hear talk about your book, and feel that spark that made you write it in the first place. That proximity changes everything. You’re not battling algorithms or waiting for an email open; you’re creating a moment of connection. And connection sells.
Financially, it’s also where your margins flex. When you sell direct, you skip retailer cuts and keep the delightfully fat slice.
Here are a couple ways to make more money with your sales:
- Use round, tax-included pricing (hello, $20) to make checkout brainless.
- Use bundles. — Book 1 + Book 2, the whole series or a book + workbook.
Remember, you’re not a discount bin; you’re an artisan shop. People will be excited to meet and support the author.
Let Your Table Do the Talking
A good table is a quiet salesperson: it invites, explains, and excites before you even open your mouth. Have a pretty tablecloth in a branded color with your author tagline on it. Consider having banner with a scene from your books. Scene art not only makes your booth stand out, it draws target readers. If you are into dragons, and you see a dragon, you are already interested. Another way to target readers is to have signs with your genre and tropes. If you’ve got room, a simple black backdrop pushes visual focus to your covers (and hides whatever chaos lurks behind you).
Make it easy to catch readers’ eyes by elevating your books to eye level with risers or bookshelves. Stand your books up with the covers facing out. Your cover is your best advertisement! Bring more books than you plan to sell. You want to look prosperous, not sad. Place a big, friendly price signs where eyes naturally land and keep your bundles front and center. Sprinkle in a little on-brand swag (a bookmark with a review QR, a recipe or world-building card) that feels like a keepsake, not landfill.
Where the Buyers Are
Start big, then get clever.
Book fairs, signing events, expos, and genre conventions put you in front of motivated readers who came to buy books (bless them). These shows offer concentrated foot traffic, panel opportunities, and the chance to meet librarians, booksellers, and influencers—the kind of contacts that turn one weekend into a year of momentum. Genre-specific cons (romance, SFF, mystery) are especially powerful because the audience is pre-sorted to love what you write.
Non-book events like farmers markets, craft fairs, and art walks are great for authors. Being the only book seller in a sea of candles and sourdough attracts readers. The vibe is “support a maker,” which maps beautifully to “support an author.”
Homeschool gatherings and education-focused events can be gold mines for bulk sales and long-tail relationships. Parents and co-op leaders are actively hunting for quality reading, curriculum tie-ins, and author visits. Bring classroom sets pricing, unit-study guides, and a simple order form—make it easy to say yes for a whole group.
Think outside the box and follow your themes: a cat expo for cozy mysteries with feline sidekicks, a Renaissance fair for fantasy and historical adventures, or a culturally specific celebration like Jewish Joy Con if your stories and community align. When your setting, characters, and values match the event’s heart, conversion jumps because readers feel connected to your stories.
Finally, network like a pro. Trade cards with nearby authors and vendors, learn what they sell, and be ready to recommend them when your books aren’t the right fit (and ask them to do the same for you). A generous table neighbor is remembered, referred, and often invited back.
Next Week: Selling Books at Live Events: How to Talk to Customers
Learn More
List of Book Fairs by State
List of Fan & Genre Events
All About Reader Magnets
How I prepare for Author Events and book signings - video
How to Market Books to Homeschool Families
How to Sell Books at Conventions – video
How to Sell Books from a Table
How to Set Up an Author Table that Will Attract More Readers – video
Selling Books at Comic Cons Things You Need to Know – video
Tips for Authors Selling Books at Comic Cons – video
Next Week: All About Selling
Check it Out!
Ever wonder what it’s like to work with me? Watch me evaluate pitches on The Dialogue Doctor podcast!
Want more content like this? Click here to subscribe to my newsletter.
If this blog adds a little spark to your writing week, would you consider buying me a coffee? Your support helps me keep creating practical, joyful resources for writers.
Buy my book How to Turn Your Screenplay into a Novel! Turn your scripts into books and start earning money today!your scripts into books and start earning money today!
