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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 Write a Protagonist Who’s One Bad Day Away From Becoming the Villain
Have you ever thought of the differences between the villain and the hero? The character who is usually considered a hero is someone who does the right thing. However, sometimes their choices blur the line between doing what's right and seeking revenge. These can also imply that...
Crafting Realms That Breathe: A Practical Guide To Effective World-Building
If magic, dragons, fairies, monsters, or alien espionage excite you, you are sure to be a lover of fantasy fiction. A genre that excites and enchants, fantasy fiction immerses readers in uncharted worlds of action and adventure. Readers get to detach from reality, as it were,...
Writing a Character Who Speaks Only in Metaphors and It’s Annoying but Brilliant
Have you ever met a character in a book who made you want to scream at them and applaud at the same time? That's precisely what happens when you read a story with someone who speaks only in metaphors. They confuse you, frustrate you, and somehow...
For Love of the Night Shift
When the world around us is quiet and everyone has wandered off to sleep, a particular kind of writer awakens: those of us who happen to do our best work between midnight and dawn. If you call us procrastinators or even introverts, you've got us...
Micro-Geography in Fiction Writing
Does it feel a bit like the days of the epic sweep in fiction, from sprawling landscapes to multigenerational sagas, and panoramic portrayals of society, are taking a page out of the tiny house school of thought? It feels to me like the quieter, more...
The Cozy Dystopia or When Small-Town Fiction Meets the End of the World
I almost fell off my seat on the London Underground, laughing, when a friend described her preferred style of dystopian fiction in the most British way imaginable: “I want it to be the end of the world, but with a lovely tea and tomatoes.” And...
Using Real Brands in Creative Writing
As someone who lived in Las Vegas for over a decade, I know as well as anyone what it means to have brand names flashing in neon, screaming to be seen. I've also seen those same neon signs being stripped down and replaced by the...
How to Turn a Mundane Object Into a Plot Device That Changes Everything
When we write stories, we often feel tempted to embellish them with grand drama or jaw-topping trick twists. While those elements have their charm, we sometimes forget that simplicity can often be the ultimate brilliance. Even the most ordinary object can turn a story around,...
How to Make Your Readers Believe a Lie
Great stories often play with the truth, making us believe in something that later turns out to be completely different. That's the art of deception and is a crucial factor in making your story more engaging. The best kind of deception tricks readers and convinces them...
Your Story Needs a ‘What the Heck Just Happened?’ Moment
Every great story has that one moment—a mesmerizing scene with immense twists or jaw-dropping sequences that makes readers sit up and say, "Wait, what?" That's what we call a 'What the Heck Just Happened?' moment. This kind of scene makes the story intriguing and keeps readers...