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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...

How to Start Your Blog Posts

Regardless of the topic that you want to write about, your opening paragraph needs to draw attention to keep your subscribers reading. Here are a few tips on how you can achieve this. 1. Evoke emotion Make your reader feel something, whatever that could be. What is...

5 Ways to make use of your Work Breaks - Part 2

3. Take Time to Relax After working continuously, you need time to take an actual break. Step away from your desk and walk around. Stretch and take deep breaths. A break should be as important to you as your work time. Since you are taking so...

5 Ways to make use of your Work Breaks - Part 1

We all look forward to those precious moments when you take a break after working for a while. However, only a few of us ever consider how to maximize this time and make the best of it. Here are a few ideas you should consider...

Simple Networking For Writers

I started out writing this article thinking everyone was included. But, the more I wrote, I found myself leaning toward introverts. I didn’t mean to, as I am an ambivert.  First of all, if you attended high school, university or college, I am sure you have heard...

Instead of Setting Goals, Try Something New

It's that time of year when you are already breaking the resolutions you made just a few weeks ago. When it comes to setting any goals, many people go about them the wrong way. If you have set the goal to write your first novel,...

Selling Yourself As An Author

If you are anything like me, you might have a hard time promoting yourself and your books. It can be a daunting thing to do and sometimes it can feel like you are being big-headed too. How do you tell a stranger that your books...

When A Writer Should Write For Free

Are you just starting out in the writing business? Are you at a standstill with your writing business? Do you want to build up that resume? Do you need to polish up your creative writing skills a bit? Do you need a portfolio? Do some...

How to Generalize To Specialize

I like simple. Who needs the stress? Do not attempt to do something that is way over your head. For example, do you honestly think I would be capable of technical writing?  Do not do what is going to bore you. I would love to...

Readers Count

Writing is a fairly difficult business to be in. There are several places an author can go to for input on their manuscripts. Some of those places include writer’s circles at libraries, personal author websites, social media groups for authors and so on. However, one...

Ways Writers Can Write And Eat Without Cooking

I love to be able to write all day and not have to cook. It is bad enough that we have to write and clean. Right? The cleaning and cooking do take up a lot of our precious writing time. So, I do many things...