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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 Market a Book
Tyler Wagner is an avid disc golf player and the founder of Authors Unite where he helps authors market their book. In addition to helping authors with free articles and advice, he also graciously donates $17,000 worth of his company's services as prizes each year for our...
Marketing Without Losing Yourself: Visibility, Voice, and the Long Memory of the Internet
Marketing often feels like shouting into the void. You post, you share, you offer something meaningful — and the response is silence. No comments. No engagement. No visible return. What took me time to realize is that the void isn’t empty. It’s crowded. Every creator, educator, and...
The Casting Call Nobody Asked For
There is a particular moment that causes eyes to roll and groans to rumble quietly in the back of the throat at a publishing table. An author, mid-conversation about a new novel, announces that it would make a great movie. *Pats self on back* The...
Marketing Strategies for the Self-Published Author
Marketing is one of those things that self-published authors need to do, but many find daunting. Given that, I want to share a few ways I’ve marketed my books. The first few methods I’ll mention are inexpensive or free in some cases. One of the...
Collaborating with Your Illustrator to Market Children's Books
Writing a children’s book is like pouring your heart onto the page and hoping kids don’t just use it as a coaster. But here’s the deal: your illustrator isn’t just some hired artist slapping pictures on your words. They’re your creative soulmate in this wild...
Are Paid Press Releases Worth It for Self-Published Authors?
You’re a self-published author. You’ve bled onto the page, wrestled with formatting on KDP or IngramSpark, and hit “publish” with a mix of pride and nausea. Now you’re staring down the barrel of the real challenge: getting people to care. Enter the press release—a shiny,...
Best Method to Market Children’s Books Like a Pro: Get Yourself into Schools
So, you’ve written a children’s book. Congrats! You’ve poured your heart into creating a story that’ll make kids laugh, cry, or maybe even stop picking their noses for five minutes. But now comes the hard part: getting it into their grubby little hands. Marketing children’s books...
Why BookTok Is Your Next Big Move as an Author
Let’s talk BookTok—that corner of TikTok where readers go nuts over books. Maybe you think it’s just a fad for kids with short attention spans. Or maybe you’re curious but wondering if it’s worth your time. I’m here to cut through the noise: BookTok is...
The Online Book Blitz and How It Works
An online book blitz is a focused, short-term marketing event where a new book is promoted across multiple platforms in a coordinated way, usually in the immediate lead-up to the book's release day. The idea is to get much attention quickly, usually through blogs, social...
How To Market Yourself as a Writer
“So, you’re a writer.” How many times have we heard that statement in social gatherings? Then comes the real punch line: “How many books have you published?” How does being a writer equate to the number of books published? You’re a writer if you write,...