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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...

How to Deal with Rejection as a Writer - Part 2

#Tip 5 - Talk to someone that you trust Talking to someone who has been through what you are going through can drastically change your perspective of the situation. While talking the issue out with another person helps alleviate the sadness that you feel, it also...

How to Deal with Rejection as a Writer - Part 1

Every writer, regardless of the stage they are at in their career, knows what rejection is. It is that moment when the feedback you have been waiting for and the hopes you have been building around a particular opportunity all come crashing down. The moment...

Fresh Eyes Method

As a writer myself, I know as well as anyone out there who has ever attempted to write anything -- from a poem, an article or essay, to song lyrics and short stories to a full blown novel, biography or memoir -- that editing and...

The Irony in Horror

If you're wondering whether or not your scary story is terrifying enough then perhaps you need to take a step back and reevaluate.  Horror is an age-old genre. Yet, a lot of writers still have trouble getting a grasp on how to write down the spooky bits...

Common Punctuation Mistakes That Must Be Avoided

Punctuation is a very important part of writing, especially when you want to write grammatically correct and purposefully built sentences. However, many times punctuation mistakes occur, which can disrupt the flow and the weight of a sentence. There are some common punctuation mistakes that can be...

Tips for Proofreading Your Manuscript

It does not matter if you are thinking about self-publishing your novel or going the traditional publishing route, proofreading your manuscript is very important. By proofreading your manuscript, you will make it look professional and leave a good impression on the literary agent/publisher. Carefully proofreading...

Manic Pixie Dream Girls in Literature

There is a plethora of problematic leading ladies in literature, but one notorious trope that goes back further than Shakespeare is the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. What exactly is a Manic Pixie Dream Girl?  Before film critic Nathan Rabin coined the term, these girls were basically...

How to Review an Audio Book

All book reviewers know how to review paperbacks, hard copies, and digital copies, yet many reviewers hit a road block when it comes to reviewing audio books. This road block is generally caused by not knowing what to write about or include in the review...

Deciding What To Write About

The very first step in writing should be deciding what you are going to write about. This should be your first task whether you are writing fiction or nonfiction. It does not matter whether you are writing a book or a blog post. To help make...

5 Ways to Make the Most of Your Writing Time

Finding time to sit down and write can be a challenge for many authors. It can be especially challenging and even overwhelming when writing isn’t your only job. Therefore, you need to be prepared and make the most out of the writing time you can...