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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...

Understanding the Bystander Effect

One concept that writers need to understand when writing fictional works that involve an emergency situation is the bystander effect. Writers sometimes create unrealistic emergency situations because they lack an understanding of the bystander effect. In other cases, writers sometimes struggle to justify why their...

On the Devices of the Writing Craft

Literary devices are common in fiction. The classics have taught us poetic narratives using figurative effects. Modern fiction continues the tradition. Though the contemporary writer has an excellent grasp of wielding these devices, he must remain informed and continue learning how to effectively implement them....

Prolonged Death Scenes

George R.R. Martin is famous for killing his beloved fictional characters. When he feels the need for a secondary character to go in his epic Game of Thrones series, he creates a dramatic episode that will end that character. The death of his characters are often quick,...

When You Are Rejected

Have you been asked if you keep yourself “busy”? Have you been asked by a person yet when you are going to get a job? Being a struggling writer is not easy. You never know if or when you are going to be paid. Often,...

Stop-Time Technique

Many writers believe that writing about the action must be done with immediacy for pacing. Any scenes with action completed quickly, however, can sometimes appear too hurried. The writer has a poetic license to use a stop-time technique. This technique does not intend to throw...

Incredible Tricks That Can Add Depth to Your Story

Authors often have a hard time finding a pace that works for them. Some authors seem to have the gift of writing and storytelling, while some struggle hard to keep their creativity intact. However, that does not mean authors cannot enhance their skills. There are...

Protect Your Writing Time

Since the writing vocation is non-traditional, most of the time it does not operate on fixed schedules. People are drilled in the traditional eight to five work pattern. Writing is often seen by the misinformed as a passion or a hobby that can be set aside...

Excessive Flashbacks

The writer with the idea that characters must be three-dimensional creates a backstory for his characters. The writer then becomes so preoccupied with excessive flashbacks that he loses touch with the present, which is a more important time for the characters. If the writer cannot...

Writing the Destiny Novel

The destiny novel—a type of novel wherein characters are brought together by fate. There are two possible structures in plotting the destiny novel. The story is the same, but the situations differ. Story: Eight pilgrims aboard a boat are in search of a new homeland. They...

Using Philosophy in Fiction Writing 2: Plato’s Cave and the Revolution of Social Fiction

In this course of articles, we take a cursory view of a philosophical social movement or way of thinking and examine how that movement’s ideas can be utilized to enhance your fiction writing, bringing dynamism and realism to your worldbuilding and character motivation. In this...