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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. Below that are hundreds of articles on topics all authors face in today’s literary landscape. Get help and advice on Writing, Marketing, Publishing, Social Networking 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...

Metaphor, Simile, Or Analogy? – Part 1

Back in grade school, I have no doubt that you learned all about figurative language. You probably also remember the words, ‘simile’ and ‘metaphor’ but can you remember what they are? How they differ from one another? And then the word ‘analogy’ gets thrown into the mix...

Mythical Monsters and Creatures of China Part 1

In How to Write a Unique Spooky Story, I wrote about how to write a unique spooky story by either creating your own monster, creature, or horror yourself or by finding a monster that is not well known. I advised finding a monster by researching...

How Many Words Should Be In A Chapter Of A Book? – Part 2

So, have you determined a good chapter length for your book or do you need some more help? What is important is your readers, not how long it will take you to write the chapter. You need to consider an average reader and how long...

How Many Words Should Be In A Chapter Of A Book? – Part 1

Do you often ask yourself how long your book chapters should be? Think of a few books you have read recently that held your interest; how long were the chapters? Did it take you 30 minutes or more to read a chapter? Did it feel too short...

From Cover to Cover – What Makes a Book – part 3

It’s one thing making sure the inside of your book is perfect but what about the outside? Most readers take a cover into consideration when choosing a book to read and many also read the back cover (or printed matter) for a synopsis of the...

From Cover to Cover – What Makes a Book – part 2

Continuing with the basics of what makes a book: Copyright Page This page appears on the title page’s underside in printed matter. If any of the following information is included in your book, it goes in this section: Copyright date Publisher or publishing company name Printer or printing company name Edition...

From Cover to Cover – What Makes a Book – part 1

How many people, including new authors, really know all the different bits to a book? For example, do you know what a publisher means when they say ‘front matter’ or ‘back matter’? What is a preface? Is it the same as an introduction, a prologue, or a foreword?...

How Long Does It Take To Write A Book – Part 5

Up to now, we’ve covered writing and, by now, you should be able to figure out roughly how long it will take you to write your book. But what about publishing? How Long to Publish a Book? Once the writing is done, you’ve revised it, edited and...

How Long Does It Take To Write A Book – Part 4

Non-fiction is one thing but what if you are thinking about writing a novel? That is a whole different ballgame. How Long to Write a Novel? Novels take, on average, significantly longer to write than a non-fiction book and there are two reasons why: Depending on the genre,...

How Long Does It Take To Write A Book – Part 3

The next thing you want to know is how long it takes to write and we start small for that. How Long to Write 500 Words? If you set your daily goal at a minimum of 500 words it’s important to have a rough idea of how...