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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. Below that are hundreds of articles on topics all authors face in today’s literary landscape. Get help and advice on Writing, Marketing, Publishing, Social Networking 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...

Drowning the Voice of Self-Doubt Part 1

I recently read Sharon A. Davidson’s book, You Go Girl: Start. Build. Sell. In the book, Davidson describes a psychological pattern known as the Impostor Syndrome. A person with this syndrome is not convinced that they are competent enough and suffers from a lingering fear...

Inspiration For Writer's Block

Writer’s block is a fact of life for every writer of every style and genre. When writer’s block strikes, it has many different ways of affecting each writer. Some never recover, opting to quit writing altogether while others will find some very simple ways to...

Kuwait Mythical Monsters

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...

7 Must Reads For Any Writer

The best aspect of being a writer, for me, is that there is always an opportunity to learn more about yourself and the craft of writing. The journey is a continuous one and even the bestselling authors will admit to gaining information from numerous sources to...

The Concept of Time

While writing a book, there are many decisions that need to be made. One such decision is the time frame of the scenes and the story as a whole in the book. How long should each scene take and what amount of time should have...

When Is Your Book Ready?

When you are deciding whether or not your book is ready, you need to decide who you are sending your book to. Are you preparing your book for an editor or a publisher, because the preparations for each are very different. Sometimes the book is more than ready for a publisher, but you...

Overcoming Writers' Block

All writers have gone through this inevitable challenge. I’ve gone through it, always wanting to just burn the manuscripts I was working on because I didn’t think they’d ever get finished. If you haven’t yet gone through a block, you might soon, but no need...

How To Write A Character Wound

If you have studied the craft of writing fiction, then you would have heard of the term character arc or a character emotional wound. They are the basis in creating a character that is memorable and three dimensional. Every human being carries around with them a set of...

Developing Smooth Transitions In Your Novel

Writing a novel is not just moving a character mundanely from chapter to chapter, but revealing information and ideas that flow smoothly, and keep the storyline moving in an engaging manner. The transitions need to be effortless, otherwise there is a high risk the character seems to...

Redemption Of A Villian

There is nothing better for a reader than a novel that is full of plot twists and turns. One way we can achieve this is for your villain to change their evil ways. A character that is sinister is still a person, and every person has a heart or cares somewhere...