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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...

Creating A Memorable Monster

With Halloween fast approaching, many writers will be thinking about creating a memorable spine-chilling story to entertain their family and friends. The main element of any horror story, of course, is the villain who brings terror to the other characters. As you decide on the characteristics...

Building A Strong Foundation For Your Story

Once you have the basic plot for your novel in your mind, with an interesting main character, the next thing you must do is begin to build the story layer by layer. A good guide to ensure your story and characters are compelling enough to...

Why You Should Write

Like many other art forms, writing is inspired by different reasons and it comes with various benefits. One of the most straightforward and common reasons for writing is that it is an avenue for expression. Through writing, there is the possibility of sharing your story...

Playwriting Tips

There is no specific way of writing a play. Plays tend to adopt creative aspects and not necessarily industry set norms. That said, a play’s format should be familiar even if some elements may be different. When anyone else picks the script, they should be...

The Empty World Dilemma

Most authors of fantasy and science fiction are familiar with the term "world-building." For those unacquainted with the term, it means what it sounds like it means. World-building, according to Merriam-Webster, is "the art of creating a new fictional world."  With that said, if you're looking...

Writing A Book That Matters

A new book gets published on Amazon every five minutes. Did you know that? That might sound like a whole lot of books but what does it really mean? Well, if you are a reader then the chances of you running out of something to...

Top Tips To Writing a Good Book Review

You just read a fantastic book and you want to share it with the world. The chances are you got your book from Amazon so the easiest way is to write a book review. It’s easy to say that but some book reviews are pretty...

How to Write an Amazing Sex Scene Part 2

So, here we are again, more hints from my humping help list that will hopefully help you write that amazing sex scene for your book. Get real: One of my pet hates when reading erotic literature is the unrealistic attitude that characters adopt towards the less...

How to Write an Amazing Sex Scene Part1

Do you want to write erotic fiction or are you just looking to have a believable but steamy scene in your novel? Whatever the case, there can be no mistaking that a well-written sex scene can leave your reader panting for more! On the other...

Writing Engaging Dialogue

Including dialogue in a novel can be daunting but it can add an interesting and exciting new dimension to a story. This is a basic introduction to some of the main points to remember when adding dialogue to a written piece. Keep it simple and use...