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Book Review & Contest Insights from Real Reviews and Submissions

What separates great books from the rest? Below are articles with insights from real reviews and contest submissions—what works, what doesn’t, and how to improve your book. Below that are hundreds of articles on topics all authors face in today’s literary landscape. Get help and advice on Writing, Marketing, Publishing, Social Networking and more. Each article has a Comments section so you can read advice from other authors and leave your own.

Why Some Books Win Awards (And Most Don’t) — Insights From Real Contest Submissions New!

What separates award-winning books from the rest? After evaluating contest submissions across a wide range of genres, certain patterns become clear. Some books consistently rise to the top. Others, even with strong ideas and clear effort behind them, fall short. The difference is rarely dramatic—it...

What We’ve Learned From Reviewing Hundreds of Thousands of Books (And Why Most Don’t Stand Out) New!

After reviewing and evaluating books across thousands of submissions over the past two decades, certain patterns become impossible to ignore. Some books immediately stand out to reviewers. Others—even well-intentioned ones—fade into the middle or fall short. The difference is rarely luck. It comes down to...

What Do Agents Do Anyway?

You’ve poured your heart into your manuscript, and now everyone’s telling you: You need a literary agent. Writing groups, blogs, that friend who skims publishing articles—they’re all on the same page. But hold up. Before you start firing off query letters, let’s get real about...

The Query/Pitch Letter

Querying a publisher or literary agent takes a little bit more finesse than writing a blurb, synopsis, or even an entire book. Literary agents and publishers often require a query letter long before they decide if they will request part or all of your manuscript....

The Search For A Literary Agent

Self-publishing has been great but barely does much of anything in the way of becoming an established author. Writing short stories for websites, joining writer’s forums and communities, and marketing in the most cost-effective ways possible hasn’t helped either. After spending some time pursuing a...

The Do’s and Don’ts of Writing Your Query Letter to a Literary Agent

If you have a manuscript that you would like to get published, you will have to approach a literary agent to make it happen. For that, you will have to write a query letter to show the agent that your manuscript is worth taking a...

Essentials to Keep in Mind While Writing a Science Fiction Query Letter to an Agent

Every genre of fiction has its own set of rules that authors need to follow if they wish to be published. Writing a novel can be exceptionally hard. Authors put in their blood, sweat, and tears to perfect it and make it worthy in their...

Agents: A Writer's Best Friend (Part 2 of 2)

Now that you have finished, polished, and edited your manuscript, you are now free to search for an agent. But do not jump at the first agent that you meet.  1) Research to find the most suitable one. There are several publications and websites offering directories...

Agents: A Writer's Best Friend (Part 1 of 2)

Do you need a literary agent? Yes and no. Yes, if you wish to carve a place in traditional publishing a literary agent serves as a gatekeeper who winnows author submissions. No, because on the other side, it is either the agent or the publisher who...

Qualities of the Ideal Literary Agent

For first time authors, finding a literary agent who will understand their work and promote it successfully can be challenging. The process of finding the right agent can also be lengthy and sometimes tedious when considering the need to match your book with the right...

Do You Need an Agent?

As a new writer, you may be wondering if an agent is necessary. Well, that depends entirely on what path you plan on taking with your career - self-publishing or traditional publishing. An agent is responsible for sending out manuscripts to publishers and helping to get...

How to Spot a Literary Agent Scam – Part 2

So, what can you do to work out if an agency is legitimate or not? Only Query Established Agents – Not an editor/agent, or a publisher/agent. There are some agents that do multi-task but being an agent should be their number one priority. Good agents have...