Lack of Suspense

Your plot needs to be suspenseful. If the reader already knows what will happen at the end of the story, there will be no reason to stick with it to the end. For some genres, such as romance novels, the ending may be obvious but you can still play around with the scenes and the characters’ motives or other aspects of the book to create an unpredictable plot.

With other genres, such as mystery, it is important that the villain remains concealed either to the reader or to the protagonists in the story. In mystery novels, suspense plays an important role in creating a satisfying story.

Undeveloped Conflict

This happens especially when the characters’ actions are inconsistent. Conflict provides an anchor to your story which needs to be solved. It offers momentum to your work as characters on each side work to dominate the outcome. When the conflict is not well established, the story becomes confusing and its objective remains unclear.

Ignoring Aspects of the Book’s Genre

If you are writing a romance story, then there needs to be a love story in the plot that is heartwarming, inspiring or satisfying to readers. The aspects that make a story belong to a specific genre need to be clear and well-executed in the story.

If you are writing a science-fiction novel, take the reader out of this world into a new world that is exciting, frightening or fascinating. Let the features of the story that make it belong to the science-fiction genre stand out.

Other Related Aspects

Organization: When writing a story, organization is a key aspect of determining the ease with which the reader will take in the story. Chapters need to be clearly marked. If sub-topics will help in breaking down the plot into even more comprehensible parts, then they should be included. Make sure that everything that happens in a chapter is related to the chapter’s title. If possible, keep the chapters short, so that they are not too long so the work becomes confusing.

Font: Have you ever read a great story that is poorly presented? A good story can be negatively impacted by something as simple as a font. Select a font that is not so prominent that it takes away the reader’s attention but in which words can be easily read. The size of the font also matters. A small font will only make the reader struggle to read the words while a font that is too big will give the impression that you are only trying to fill the pages.

Cover: Select an appropriate, appealing cover for your book. Your page is a selling point for your book, it is a marketing tool. A great cover gives the reader a hint of what the book is about. It suggests the atmosphere in the book and its genre even before the reader reads what the story is about on the back cover.

Illustrations: If your book includes photos or any other illustrations, only pick high-quality ones that will tell the story. Low-quality illustrations will give a bad impression even when your narration is great.