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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...

Killers of Creativity Every Writer Should Watch Out For - Part 3

 A negative mindset Optimism breaks the barriers for creativity to set in. If you have a negative mindset, it will destroy creativity. To develop new styles and ideas in your writing, you need to have a positive perspective so that you can allow yourself to venture...

Killers of Creativity Every Writer Should Watch Out For - Part 2

Pride To be good at what you do you have to be open to learning new things and ways of writing. The worst aspect of pride is that it confines you to only what you know yet you could learn so much more from other writers’...

Killers of Creativity Every Writer Should Watch Out For - Part 1

When I first started writing, it was a dream come true. I was excited to finish my first piece and any encouraging feedback I got, I held on to it so hard that I can remember some of those early responses. Along the way, my...

Quiet Place

There are times as a writer when you have so many ideas running through your head that you feel like you’re going to explode. Then there are times when you stare at a blank computer screen, begging the universe for inspiration. All writers have experienced...

Do What Works for You

Okay, it is confession time. I have never completed a creative writing course in my life! As some of you may know, I have always loved literature and spent most of my childhood in libraries with my nose in a book and writing silly little...

From Pen to Store: Tips for an Effective Writing Process

Writing your first book becomes a very intimidating process, especially for the self-published author, because you will soon find that it is MUCH more than simply putting ideas on paper. Let me break it down for you: You have an idea (usually a partial idea)...

How to Review Poetry

Many writers seek out reviewers for their written works for a variety of reasons ranging from affirmation to advice, yet some written works are easier to review than others. Reviewers know how to review fiction, non-fiction, and audiobooks, yet when it comes to poetry many reviewers...

How to Manage Writing With a Chronic Illness.

Thanks to Arthritis, COPD and Generalized Anxiety Disorder I was sidelined, I could no longer do my job. I was afraid of what would happen to me, I was always working, sometimes two jobs. So, when I had to “retire,” a friend suggested I use...

Literary Inspirations: J.R.R. Tolkien

The Lord of the Rings has entranced the public for years. As a friend of C.S. Lewis, as well as a high officer in the British Royal Army, it’s true that Tolkien had carved a prestigious role for himself in history. But who was J.R.R....

Literary Inspirations: Homer

I remembered reading the Odyssey back in high school. From the somewhat elusive poetry regarding Odysseus’s wife to the fact that the protagonist kept stopping each time he got closer to his home, despite being completely and utterly heartbroken for not being able to go back,...