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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...

Writing In An Era of Non-Readers

Walking into a coffee shop, I’m looking forward to a cozy visit with a dear friend. We’ll chat the hour away until our drinks get cold, but it’ll be a good visit. Glancing around, I see tables lined with young people, all glued to their...

The Problem With Overused and Misused Words

“That just about sums up that problem.” Or does it? That which is that is too much of that. I searched for the word ‘that’ in my most recent manuscript. What I discovered shocked me. In a 65,000-word story, I had used ‘that’ over 450...

Why Readers Dislike Dream Sequences and What to Do Instead

Among the top pet peeves that readers consistently tell us they really dislike are dream sequences. These vehicles that are most frequently used to symbolize emotions, foreshadow events, or cannonball into a character’s psyche are surprisingly unpopular among readers. While they might seem like an...

Writing About Time Travel

If you could go back or forward in time, when and where would you go? For me, it would be the sixteenth century, Scotland, the era of Mary Queen of Scots. I chose that era for two of my books: “Queen Mary’s Daughter” (Clean Reads:...

To Be Continued…

Give your story a strong ending. There’s nothing a reader dislikes more than that endless tag at the end that reads: “To Be Continued…” Teaching creative writing to young people always earns you a chuckle or two. Not that I’d laugh at the student writer,...

It’s All Greek to Me! Ancient Philosophy and the Modern Writer

One of my favorite jokes to unleash at a party and impress absolutely nobody goes a little something like this: Why did the Greek philosopher bring a pencil? Because he wanted to draw a conclusion! Bah-dah-chhhhh! And then somewhere out there the thinkers, lovers of...

Weapons of Mass Distraction: Over-explaining War Fiction

I come from a family that served in the US Military for many generations, and war fiction has lined the bookshelves of our home since before I was born. Its appeal is in how effectively it delivers gritty action, death-defying stakes, and characters who walk...

Using Weather as a Character: How to Make Rain Feel Like Sadness!

Have you ever wondered how weather can influence a story, just like a character? Weather is not just a background; it can be used as a tool to reflect the mood, create tension, and symbolize emotions. Writers often use rain as an emotion that evokes...

Writing In and About Your Garden

Are you an avid gardener? Do you spend hours outside planning your garden, or browsing nurseries looking for the next unique plant to add to your plot? That’s me. I also browse online and communicate with other garden enthusiasts, looking for ideas to enrich my...

Alpha vs. Beta Readers & Why You Need Both

Congrats! You've accomplished writing your book, and have even polished a couple of new drafts. Well done! Now the real work begins. Wait....what? Enter alpha and beta readers—two indispensable groups of early readers who provide feedback at different stages of the writing process. For absolute clarity: while...