A hook is an opening statement that attempts to grab the reader’s attention, so they want to read more. At rĀthe a hook line is the sign that says “Read Me” that will appear near the Episode and cover art icon to entice readers to get drawn into your story. Your hook line will also appear in the rĀthe.app website Library.
Emotions are very important
We’ve built the reader experience around emotion-evoking categories we call Magic Words that have multiple important functions for you the author.
These words are the basis of our Search Engine Optimization (SEO) methodology for maximized searchability of your content on the web. They are the basis for curating Titles to readers based on likely purchase preferences.
Each of our Magic Words (the ones rotating on our home page) have words and phrases that are likely to make your hook line show up higher in search on the web. The higher your hook line shows up on Google the more likely that search will drive readers to the rĀthe app to read your story.
Try to use as many of the associated keywords and phrases as possible while staying within the character limit of 100 (including spaces).
Writing in a very short span about a long story might be challenging. The character limit is not arbitrary; there are technological reasons. We don’t want your “Read Me” sign to be cut off being the main one.
Here are the SEO keywords and phrases:
| Fun | Surprise | Hope | Romance |
| Fun books Humor Funny Story Jokes Fun Tales Science Fiction Subculture | Unpredictable Surprise Ending Story with a twist Shock | Feel good books Self help Wishes Dreams Encouragement | Relationship Dating Pure romance Romance novels Historical Romance Love |
| Learning | Escape | Passion | History |
| Educational Lessons How to Books that make you think Knowledge Research Biography Autobiography Knowledge-based | Escape reality Beat the winter blues Lost in a book Liberating Fadeout Science Fiction Subculture | Motivation Inspiration Finding Your Purpose Life Purpose Devotion Love | Black history Historical figures World history Historical romance Western History buff Historical Biography Autobiography |
| Fantasy | Inspiration | Fright | Soul |
| Magical Quest Supernatural Fairytale Fantasy stories Fantasy books | Inspiring books Inspirational stories Discovery Point of View Overcoming Obstacles | Scary story Scary book Scary books Scary stories Horror stories Horror books Horror novel Horror novels | Spiritual books Religious books Christian books Soul books Deep books Buddhist books |
| Adventure | You | Mystery | Thrill |
| Adventure books Action adventure Adventure stories Adventure novels | Self help Personal grown Self-development Self-improvement | Mystery book Mystery stories Crime novels Suspense stories Romantic suspense Hard boiled mysteries Cozies | Crime novels Suspense stories Thrilling stories Books about crime Action thriller Suspense thriller Thriller stories |
Start with the categories that best describe the content of your book.
Example: Gone with the Wind
Maybe History, Adventure, Romance, and Passion. These may be likely Magic Word choices.
Start by building a hook line using the categories themselves. Something like:
Young heiress’ plantation life falls in Civil War adventure as romance, history bubble with passion.
Next, try building the hook line using some of the SEO key words or phrases.
Gentility, Romance, relationships, and adventure meet at the crossroads of history revealing devotion and desire.
The italicized words indicate SEO priority. In this case we have two: Relationship, and Devotion.
Adventure:
Adventure books
Action adventure
Adventure stories
Adventure novels
Romance:
Relationship
Dating
Pure romance
Romance novels
Historical Romance
Love
History:
Black history
Historical figures
World history
Historical romance
Western
History buff
Historical
Biography
Autobiography
Passion:
Motivation
Inspiration
Finding Your Purpose
Life Purpose
Devotion
Love
Now you try. Entice readers to begin enjoying your book using just 100 characters.
Tip: If you are looking for things you can drop…
Articles like a, the, or a can often fall away in a hook line. Example: “Slovenly reporter” works just as well as “A slovenly reporter,” for example.