Author Services

Author Articles

Hundreds of Helpful Articles

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...

Writing a First Draft - Breaking it Down into Doable Chunks

Writing a book is hard work – don’t let anyone tell you any different – but it can be easier than you think if you follow a well set-out plan of writing and revising at regular intervals. Pick a number of pages that you feel is...

Creating Unpredictable Plots

Writing a novel, they say, is more difficult than writing a short story. This is akin to saying that it is easier to learn gymnastics than jogging. A short story is no less challenging than a novel. In fact, a common mistake that short story...

5 Ways to Make Your Readers Laugh Out Loud

Laughter is a way for the human race to show emotion without saying a word. You cannot make someone laugh if they don’t want to but you can help them along. What I mean by this is, with your writing, there are techniques that you...

Love Your Writing – Part 2

Think Growth That is what life is all about – growth. From the minute you enter this world, you grow. You start to walk and talk, you learn at home and school, from your family and your friends. You learn when you go to college and,...

Love Your Writing – Part 1

Are you one of those writers that love their writing or do you hate it?  How could anyone possibly become a writer but not love what they do? Sure, you might get exasperated and frustrated at times but hate is an awfully strong emotion –...

Defend Yourself From Writing Coach Scams in These 8 Ways – Part 2

Always Ask for Testimonials Before you sign with any writing coach ask for details of previous and current students. If the coach tells you that is confidential information, alarm bells should start ringing. Look on their website for testimonials – genuine ones will provide the full...

Defend Yourself From Writing Coach Scams in These 8 Ways – Part 1

In recent times, the ‘writing coach’ profession has come under intense scrutiny. This came after an article in the LA Times outed a coach who went by several different names as a con artist with more than $380,000 in financial judgments against her. She claimed...

Features of a Great Devotional

One of the most common Christian works available today is devotional writing. A devotional is a form of Christian literature written for personal spiritual development. Devotionals are not meant to be overly theological. At the heart of the writing is the author’s aim to bring the...

The Middle-Beginning Technique

Beginning a novel for some writers is never easy, but once ideas are typed or written on paper and have reached fifty pages, the writer can use time-saving techniques to help push the story faster without cutting corners. This is where the writer can employ...

The A to Z of Writing Fiction – Part 4

R is for Revise Revision is a huge part of writing a novel. There are very few writers that can sit down and produce the perfect novel the first time around. Most likely, when you read through your work, you will find things wrong, things that...