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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...

Mythical Monsters and Creatures of Chile

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 to Write a Historical Fiction Review

In “How to Write a Review” I wrote about how many writers struggle when it comes to writing a review as they are never quite sure what to include, what not to include, how long it should be, what to focus on, and some are...

On the Craft of Description

Writing as an art form is a cerebral experience, a painting with words. Unlike a painting on a canvas with solid shadings and crisp lines perceived by the naked eye, writers invite readers to inhabit a world, real or imagined, through words and phrases, to...

How to Write a Romance Review

In “How to Write a Review” I wrote about how many writers struggle when it comes to writing a review as they are never quite sure what to include, what not to include, how long it should be, what to focus on, and some are...

Literary Inspirations: Percy Bysshe Shelley

The husband of the famed author of Frankenstein, Percy Bysshe Shelly was a poet who clawed his way to fame posthumously. Not only was he close to other important figures in Romanticism, such as Lord Byron, Love Peacock, and Leigh Hunt, but he also wrote...

Literary Inspirations: Mary Shelley

Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus, was a classic that many have read through dark and stormy nights, and retold as a cautionary tale against the domineering nature of science and the fragility of religion. Mary Shelly was the architect of this masterpiece. Not only that,...

Political Correctness

Nowadays, you might hear the words “political correctness” get thrown around here and there. Normally, it’s used to address those who are either too offended or not offended enough. But more than that, it’s used to purposefully choose language that won’t exclude, marginalize, or insult...

Literary Inspirations: E.L. James

We all remember a time when Twilight was a really big thing. When teen girls and moms would gush over who Bella would choose; either the creepy stalkerish vampire, Edward, or the equally creepy werewolf, who apparently had imprinted on her daughter before she was...

Literary Inspirations: J.K. Rowling

I remembered picking up and reading the now famous Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in middle school. I remembered watching the movie, and how enchanted I was seeing all of that. I remembered reading through the other books and watching the other movies with...

Philosophical Ponderings: Existentialism

There are times when our characters are strong enough to drive the plot on their own, regardless of any conflicts. There are times when it seems that our fictional universes revolve around our character. At the same time, our characters have some knowledge of this....