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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...

How to Fall in Love with the Writing Process Part 3

The last three questions you need to ask yourself are perhaps the most important: Four – Are you open to change? There are three stages of change a character must pass through – enlightenment, where a new perspective is found; decision, not always a good one, that...

How to Fall in Love with the Writing Process Part 2

On to the next question: Two – Is your focus on the small details or on the bigger picture? If you aren’t quite sure of the answer, think about this. You ask someone to fetch you a pen; do you just ask for the pen or do...

How to Fall In Love With The Writing Process Part 1

Do you love your characters? Do you find your plots exciting? Perhaps more importantly, do you love the art of creating something? If you can answer yes to all three, you have a real passion for writing. If you can’t then you don’t. But it isn’t...

Myths About Writing Young Adult Fiction

Whether you are a reader or a writer of young adult fiction, there are a lot of misunderstandings and misconceptions, so hopefully this article will clear many of them up and give you a better insight into the term 'young adult fiction.'  Young adult fiction is...

Prologues, What they are and What role they play Part 2

Prologues are, however, not always important and some authors prefer to leave them out. A good reason for this is because they can be confusing to the reader. If the prologue is not tied effectively to the main plot, the reader can be left with questions....

Prologues, What they are and What role they play Part 1

A prologue is a part of a book that comes before the main story. It usually foreshadows what will happen in the story and does not usually belong to the timeline described in the book. When used effectively, it can add to the book’s content...

Why You Should Write a Short Story

Working on a novel? Looking for a bit of a break from it? Or are you just looking to build up some writing experience? Then write a short story. Short stories can be a lot of fun to write; you have the perfect opportunity to create a...

4 Ways to Keep Your YA Readers Hooked

Many of today’s YA writers are adults; that creates something of a generation gap between them and their audience. Things may be completely different for teens these days compared to when you were a teen and it can be hard to recognize that when writing...

Binge Writing – Is it Good For You?

Are you a binge or drip writer? A binge writer will tackle their writing projects as and when they feel like it or when a deadline is fast coming up. They write for long periods of time and produce a finished piece of work as the...

Five Ways to Get Writing Experience Part 2

Here’s three more ways to get some valuable writing experience. Comment on Social Media I’m talking professionally, not sharing pictures of your kids! Start on Twitter; practice saying a lot in a few words. Stick to topics that your readers might find interesting and keep it professional....