First Hook is a swipe-based story discovery platform that helps indie authors, small publishers, and contest hosts get their stories noticed—one first line at a time. Readers swipe through powerful opening lines, and after six swipes (with at least one “Hooked”), they unlock a full story to read. I built First Hook to make story discovery feel fun, fast, and frictionless—no logins, no hosting, no bloat.
One line. One swipe. One hook.
Origin Story
I created First Hook as a part of the Bolt Hackathon: https://devpost.com/software/first-hook and vibe coding for a month.
Inspiration
Everything is TikTok now—short attention spans, swipe-first decisions. But we still love a good novel. As an indie author (like me), you’re competing for that precious reading time. So ask yourself: how much do you read before you DNF a book? 20%? 5%? One sentence?
Covers create first impressions.
Blurbs set the stage.
But what actually hooks you?
The words themselves. I wanted to create a “Tinder for Tales”—a way to turn those make-or-break first lines into a lightweight, addictive discovery experience.
What it does
Readers land on a swipe deck of first lines from submitted stories. They swipe right (“Hooked”) or left (“Pass”) on each line.
After 6 swipes, readers unlock links to read more—directed to the author’s own site or store. Authors can create collections and categories, then add stories to a collection with just a link and a first line—free.
Admins get a dashboard with real-time stats on swipes, “Hooked” counts, and link clicks. It’s built for scale: from personal book marketing to anthology contests to full-on launch campaigns for publishing houses.
What’s next for First Hook
I’m not done! If you’re interested in being featured, reach out!
- Run a live promotional demo with 5–20 indie authors and collect real usage metrics.
- Test monetization strategies with real campaigns—author exposure, contest partnerships, and affiliate links.
- Keep vibe coding toward publisher-level features:
- Top Hooks dashboards
- Event-based collections
- Cover image integration
- AI automation for story import and metadata tagging
Krista Gamble | K.M. Hasling 