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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...
How to Scare Readers With Something Completely Ordinary New!
A monster crawling out of a dark basement can be frightening. So can a ghost appearing in a mirror. But what about a phone ringing at exactly 3:17 a.m.? A neighbor who waves every morning suddenly refusing to look at you? A child's drawing that...
How to Create Suspense When the Reader Knows Exactly What's Coming New!
Sometimes, the most suspenseful scenes are the ones where readers already know how things will end. We know the Titanic is going to sink. We know Romeo and Juliet are heading toward tragedy. We know the bomb is ticking beneath the table. Yet we keep...
Pronouns in Contemporary Prose New!
The singular “they” has a long history, but nonbinary pronouns are increasingly visible in contemporary fiction, making this an exciting, inclusive moment for novelists. As writers, we ought to rise to the occasion by giving nonbinary characters the same thoughtful construction we give every other...
An MBA and a PhD Don't Mean Anything Without an F-N-B New!
FNB stands for “Finished Novel, Baby,” and yes, I made it up myself. It sounds like a qualification, which is exactly why I like it. We have become excellent at treating credentials as evidence that somebody is ready to begin. For an independent novelist, the...
The Most Suspicious Person in the Room Shouldn't Always Be the Villain New!
When a character avoids eye contact, answers questions too carefully, and disappears whenever something goes wrong, readers start drawing conclusions. They seem suspicious. Naturally, writers often make them the villain. But if the person behaving most suspiciously is always the one responsible, readers will learn to...
Give Your Romance One Completely Unromantic Memory New!
Readers believe in romance when it feels lived in, and that is the quiet power of one unromantic memory. Here are seven ways to write it. Start With the Ugly First Meeting Ask where your couple first looked at each other badly. Charlotte Brontë opens Rochester and...
How Couples Fight About Things That Aren’t Actually the Problem? New!
Picture a couple at the kitchen counter at 10 p.m., arguing about who forgot to load the dishwasher. Voices rise, old grievances surface, and a simple chore becomes a trial that feels far bigger than the dishes. Every reader knows this scene, which makes it...
How to Write Attraction Without Describing Someone as Beautiful New!
Picture a character walking into a crowded room while the narrator announces that she is stunning. The reader nods, forgets the line within a page, and feels absolutely nothing. Attraction is not a fact about a face, but an effect on the person looking, and...
The Cheapest Thing in Your World Might Tell Us More Than the Most Expensive New!
Writers love expensive things. The royal palace. The private spaceship. The designer implants. The luxury apartment floating above the city. These things can tell us that your world has wealth. But if you want readers to understand how your world actually works, look at something...
What Does Your Society Consider Rude?
Picture a dinner party where someone answers a personal question a beat too honestly. Nobody gasps. Nobody says a word about it directly. But the temperature in the room drops by several degrees, and everyone quietly recalibrates what they think of that person. That drop in...