It’s always interesting to look back at the year that’s passed, as a way of trying to better understand the year ahead, especially if you’re a blog owner. These points in time present us with a unique perspective, one I rarely take the time to consider at other times.
This year I decided to go back over all of the 195 blog articles we published here this year. I wanted to see which ones had the most impact with readers, with the idea that it might give me an idea of what’s trending, and what would further help readers in 2016.
After all, the tagline at the top of the page still does encapsulate my aim on The Book Designer:
Practical Advice to Help Build Better Books
When I tallied everything up, I got quite a shock, related to the change I made in 2014 by bringing on a slate of publishing professionals to write content as Contributing Writers.
The shock?
Of the 10 top posts in 2015, I only wrote 3 of them.
I’m not entirely sure what to make of that, but I’ve decided to take as proof that:
- I know how to pick the right people to write here
- Readers enjoy a variety of viewpoints
But I’ll let you judge for yourselves.
These are the posts that got the most engagement with readers, measured by the number of comments left on the posts.
This is a very imperfect metric, since an article posted in January has an entire year to gather comments, while one posted in December only had weeks. Nevertheless, the results are interesting, and some of the top posts were, indeed, published late in the year.
Every one of these articles has something very valuable to teach you, great tips for publishing, or a view of the publishing world that will enlighten you.
So out of almost 200 articles, here they are, in descending order, starting with the article that got the most comments in 2015.
Top 10 Blog Posts for 2015 on The Book Designer
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- How to Use Lyrics Without Paying a Fortune or a Lawyer by Helen Sedwick explains why writers need permission to use lyrics, and how to get permission to use lyrics.
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- 14 Ways to Crash Your Book Launch – Authors, DO NOT Try This at Home by Kimberley Grabas explains why book launches need to build excitement and anticipation and how to do it.
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- The Problem with Kindle Scout (and the Solution) by Shayla Eaton explains all about Kindle Scout, the big problem with it, and how you can solve it.
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- The Princess Author Syndrome by Judith Briles explains the beliefs of Princess Authors and why these beliefs create the guaranteed formula for author and book failure.
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- A Quick Lesson About Publishers, Imprints, CreateSpace, and Bowker by Joel Friedlander explains how to deal with imprint names.
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- Jump in the Convertible: Ebook Conversion Tools by David Kudler lists and explains the different software options you need to know about when choosing ebook conversion tools to convert your manuscript into ebook format.
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- Thinking About Writing in Multiple Genres? Here’s What You Need to Know by Kimberley Grabas with advice and options for authors who want to self-publish but may not want to use their own names, and how this will affect your author platform.
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- The Ebook Retail Universe by David Kudler which examines the question, What ebook retailers and distributors should you consider selling your ebooks through?
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- e-Book Cover Design Awards, February 2015 by Joel Friedlander, including James T. Egan, Damonza, Danielle Maait, Dane Low, Ravven and many more
- e-Book Cover Design Awards, April 2015 by Joel Friedlander including Simon Avery, Jen Fraser, Kit Foster, Damonza, and many more
Did you have a favorite? Let me know in the comments, and thanks for being a reader. We’ve got continued advice, tips, and innovative new ways to make, market, and sell your books in 2016.
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