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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...

4 Tips to Revamp your Love for Reading

Part of being a great writer means having a love for books. Reading is crucial for every author or blogger. It helps you grow in your profession and opens up your mind to new styles of writing, new ideas and trends. Still, many avid readers...

5 Guiding Questions to Starting a Blog

What do you love? What are your favorite YouTube channels? What books do you love? What do you like spending time doing? The most important thing in establishing your blog is to ensure that you have fun. Passion will keep you at it before your...

Building Character Relationships

Whenever you read a novel, you will find a main character or protagonist and a supporting cast of characters which will either support the main character, or prevent him from reaching their objective. It is very rare to find a single character in a novel; they...

When Not to Listen to your Beta Readers

Writers can gain valuable insights about the strengths and weaknesses of their manuscripts by engaging with beta readers throughout the development stages. Often the most willing beta readers are would-be writers themselves and they usually have good instincts when it comes to plot building and...

Romantic Inspirations: Dante's 9 Circles of Purgatory

In Catholicism, it’s believed that Christian sinners must go through a series of trials before they can reach Heaven. The place where these trials reside is called Purgatory. Dante’s works cover Purgatory as well, so much so that this laid the foundation for some of...

Romantic Inspirations: Dante's 9 Circles of Hell

The Divine Comedy has been regarded as one of the greatest works in literature, encompassing various cultures, legends, and religious beliefs. The story tells the tale of how Dante travels from Hell, to Purgatory, to Heaven. Throughout his journey, he comes across many iconic figures...

The Wendigo: The Demon of the Forest

In the TV show Supernatural, Sam and Dean investigate a mysterious disappearance that had to do with the mythical creature, the Wendigo. As it turns out, the Wendigo had been stalking the area, ready to catch its newest victims. In the video game Until Dawn, a group...

Horrific Inspirations: John Wayne Gacy

John Wayne Gacy was known for his rather unique profession. As Pogo the Clown, he would often perform for many children, and would make sure that they were having a good time. He was always a recognizable figure, spending his days at children’s parties and...

Horrific Inspirations: Jeffrey Dahmer

In the TV show, American Horror Story: Hotel, there’s a certain night where many of America’s most prolific serial killers gather. That night is called Devil’s Night, and one of the guests so happens to be a man named Jeffrey Dahmer. The documentary My Friend Dahmer tells...

Narcissists in Literature

Narcissism has a rather romantic beginning. In Greek mythology, a young nymph named Echo had fallen in love with a man named Narcissus. However, Narcissus rejected her, quite brutally I might add, and as a result, Aphrodite cursed him to fall in love with his...