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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...

How to Market Yourself as an Author on Twitter

Twitter is an extremely useful platform in helping the self-published author gain more exposure about their work. Every author needs to be on Twitter and here is why. You can promote your book on Twitter by sending out tweets to your followers and by using a...

How Social Media Can Help Market Your Book

As a published author and especially as a self-published author you really need to promote your book yourself and there are many ways in which to do so, one of which being via social media. Here are a few examples of how to promote using...

How Pinterest Can Help You as an Author

Pinterest is becoming increasingly popular with authors in helping them to gain the interest of fellow writers and readers in their work and this in turn helps promote their books. Here’s how. Firstly you need to set up your Pinterest profile, and as an author it...

How Goodreads Can Help the Independent Author

As an independent author, social media is incredibly helpful in getting your book and you as an author known to millions of readers. Here are the reasons why. Firstly, Goodreads is a dedicated social media site exclusively for lovers of books and is a place where...

Social Media For Writers: Is It Good Or Bad?

Any author seriously thinks about whether or not s/he should have a social media presence and what they stand to gain or lose by joining the world of social media. Traditionally, people think of social media as Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+ and the like. However,...

Things That Authors Can Do To Save Time On Social Media

Social media can be a serious time suck regardless of your reasons for visiting the websites. It is not unusual for you to log into your Facebook account just to upload some photos and you end up spending hours doing things that you won’t even...

5 Tips To Keep Your Social Media Presence In Good Standing With Your Audience

If you are an author with a social media presence, you are among thousands of other authors who also wish to use social media to improve their writing careers. Regardless of your reasons for joining social media, you must make sure that you maintain professional...

How To Put Your Best Foot Forward As An Author In Social Media

As long as you have a strong sense of identity, have a purpose and a mission, you have nothing to worry about when on social media. There are several things that you should and should not do in social media and we shall focus on...

4 Social Media Tips For Authors

One of the main concerns that any author should have is how to reach more people and maintain his standards. The first step is of course to write fantastic books that can easily mesmerize your readers. With such a book, you will have an easier...

The 10 Commandments For Writers Using Social Media

A social media presence and a successful writing career go hand in hand. However, not every author is hardwired to excel in social media interactions. Luckily for the less experienced authors (and even more experienced ones), there are several things that can be very helpful...