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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

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)

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...

Social Media Marketing - Does it Work?

If you are an author, I am sure you have seen plenty of books advertised on social media, mainly Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Authors will post every day to various groups in a bid to get sales, but does it work? Like many things, book groups...

Crowdfund Your Way To Success – Part 2

Crowdfunding may not be easy but it can pay off for you handsomely if you do it right. Have a Plan in Place Like a proper marketing plan. You must know exactly who you are targeting with your requests and when you are going to do it....

Crowdfund Your Way To Success – Part 1

Back in the day, it was a real labor of love to get a book published. If you didn’t have an agent, you would write a synopsis of your book, get together the required number of sample chapters and write an outstanding query letter. Then...

From Pen to Store: Tips for an Effective Marketing Process

Congratulations on finishing your book! As I mentioned in my previous article, "Tips for an Effective Writing Process", there are billions of books written and billions of people on earth - but none of them knows your book exists. How can you spread awareness and...

Using Your Creativity to Promote Your Book

How creative are you? Obviously, you are a little creative since you wrote a book, but do you have any other creative outlets? Like photography, Photoshop, painting, sewing, etc. If you are creative you can find so many more ways to get the word out...

LinkedIn for Authors

I was reading a book about job hunting and they mentioned the site LinkedIn and how it’s vital for job seekers. It got me thinking, it would also be a great place to promote your book. I mean, think about it, you are an author...

How to Use the Library to Promote Your Book

Here are a few more ideas to promote your book, that is thinking outside the box, so to speak. You can use the library to help promote your book, and it’s even better if you live in or near a big city. Some of the...

Another Idea to Promote Your Book

As an author, you need to find ways to promote your own book these days. There are the usual social media sites and conventions/book signings, of course. But if you are an introvert or have social anxiety, those options seem rather daunting. Asking book bloggers is...

Social Media Tips for Introverts/Social Anxiety

I’m a shy introvert with social anxiety thanks to a speech impairment. I’m also a blogger who hopes to be an author someday. I started blogging last August and slowly learning which media sites work best for me. Some days I can be chatty, but most of...

How to Get your Book Reviewed by a Book Blogger/Reviewer.

I admit, I only started book blogging last August. I have been reviewing books for a year now. I am also in a few book blogging groups on Facebook, and I learned a lot from them. I have noticed a lot of posts from them...