Book Review and Contest Insights from Real Reviews and Submissions

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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...

Get Prepared for NaNoWriMo – Part 3

The final tip in your preparation checklist is a very important one. Step Six – Prepare yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally Think of NaNoWriMo as running a marathon. You wouldn’t do it without being at peak physical, mental and emotional fitness so don’t attempt this writing challenge...

Get Prepared for NaNoWriMo – Part 2

If your plan is to totally crush it at NaNoWriMo or NaNonFiWriMo(National Non-Fiction Writing Month) you have got to have a plan. There is no other way that you can maintain your focus and energy for such an intense challenge without one and your productivity...

Get Prepared for NaNoWriMo – Part 1

National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, is a big writing event that happens every November. The goal is for writers to push out a 50,000+ word novel in the space of one month and the ‘coat of arms’ for the event contains four things that...

30 Days to Write and Publish a Short Novel – Part 3

Time to Publish! You are unlikely to find publishers who are interested in short stories or short novels; they tend to be interested in the longer length novels only. What you are going to have to do is self-publish or send it to a journal or...

30 Days to Write and Publish a Short Novel – Part 2

Ready to start? First and Second Weeks This is where your story will really start to take shape. Write your outline Allow your imagination free rein and get your outline down on paper. I’m not talking a perfect outline here, not unless that’s the way you work. Any outline...

30 Days to Write and Publish a Short Novel – Part 1

Are you a new writer? Just getting started on this exciting path? Or are you a seasoned writer looking for help on getting a short novel written and published quickly? Then you’ve come to the right place. If you sit down with no plan in...

Using Deus ex Machina Effectively

If you have been writing fiction for some time now, then deus ex machina is no stranger to you. A Latin term that means “god out of the machine,” it is a literary device wherein a stunning shift of events independent from a character’s action occurs...

Common Mistakes Made by Fiction Writers

Have you ever wondered why your work isn’t selling? You have a great cover and a tempting description, which leaves Amazon’s “Look Inside” feature, where you have seconds to persuade a potential reader to click “Buy”. Consider which opening would interest you most. 1. Janet was...

Mythical Creatures and Protectors of Cambodia

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...