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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. You’ll also find a wide range of articles covering writing, publishing, marketing, 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 Every Author Needs to Know About Vanity Publishing

What exactly does 'vanity publishing' mean? Vanity publishing or vanity press is simply a term which describes a publishing house in which authors pay to have their books published. Many authors select a vanity press when they want the benefits of a published book, but...

10 Things You Need to Know When Self-publishing Your Book

You have finished writing your book and it is now time to get it published, so where on earth do you start? The following 10 tips will help you on your way. 1. You can do it You can publish your book independently by using one...

What Every Author Needs to Know About Book Publishing

The world of book publishing is an absolute minefield as any writer will tell you. The actual writing of the book for most authors is the easy part. The difficult part comes when it is time to get the book printed and distributed. How do...

What You Need to Know About Print on Demand Publishing

What is print on demand publishing (POD)? Once your book has been ordered by a customer, the company associated with your book will then print it. So this means no need to store books in bulk quantities because they are printed as and when needed....

How to Self-publish Your Book

You have a story to tell and you need to get it published for thousands of people to read. You have decided to go down the self-publishing route but how do you go about this? Do you produce a paper version, an eBook, or do...

How To Publish An Essay Collection

Unless you are a well-known author, it is not easy to publish a collection of essays but it is still possible. There are many places where you can publish individual essays such as: themed anthologies, newspapers, literary magazines, professional journals, and trade journals. However, to...

Publishing Your Book: Self-Publish or Work with a Literary Agent?

Writing a book is easy, but getting it published is the tricky part. Anybody, regardless of his/her age, can write a book. However, not all who write interesting topics get their work published. Most of the time, the literary pieces that writers create remain unread. If,...

Getting a Book Published – The Most Important Question to Ask Before You Make Publishing Decisions

So you have finally finished writing your masterpiece. As a writer, your next goal would be to find a publisher willing to publish your book. From there, all you have to do is sit back, relax, and give yourself a pat in the back for...

Digital Publishing or E-publishing Process and Use

There was a time in the past that to have your book published was a major feat in itself. We heard the stories of how many times a struggling author has been rejected by publishers. Digital or e-publishing has done away with that! Now you...

Ten Tips of a Top Quality Self Publisher

Do you want to know how an unknown self publisher rose to fame? Here are 10 tips of a top quality self publisher. Believe in yourself. In the field of writing, only a few fortunate souls get to be recognized. One very significant characteristic of successful...