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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...

War: What is it Good For?

Perfect. You’ve decided upon a conflict, the conflict of war, but before you move forward ask yourself a few of the following questions: 1. What could cause a war? 2. Win or lose? 3. What sort of war is this going to be? 4. What are civilians doing while...

Romantic Inspirations: Persephone and Hades

The legend of Persephone and Hades is a rather odd romance, to say the least. From the forceful abduction to the arranged marriage, to even the twisted concept of love at first sight, their relationship has influenced various modern novels. In Abandon by Meg Cabot,...

Writing Early Readers, Part 1: Understanding Lexile Levels

The genre of early readers can be fun and delightful (Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham) or dull as dry toast (Dick and Jane). Maybe the only element these books have in common is the ease with which they can be read. If you want...

The Different Ways We Express Love in Literature

Have you ever seen a weird character that just seems so out of place with their affection that readers end up asking themselves What’s their problem? How about a time when a love interest seemed to like stalking our precious protagonist, and rather than explain to...

Horrific Inspirations: The Creation of Zombies

In Jonathan Maberry’s Dead of Night series, zombies were created based on a series of biological agents that manifested into a single corpse, one that had expressed the desire to spread the disease across the world. However, in Laurel Black’s His Grey Eyes, it was...

The Makings of a Good villain

The villain has to be exciting. They have to be thrilling in a way that makes them seem almost inhuman. There has be twists and turns, but there also needs be a few predictable character traits here and there. While these requirements can be incredibly...

A Writer’s Worst Weaknesses and What We Can Do About Them

Being a writer isn’t an easy profession. From the endless hours we spend slaving over our books, to the constant pressures of marketing, to dealing with the constant criticisms whenever we’re simply writing what we like; it’s a profession that’s certainly not for the faint...

The Soundtrack of Our Stories

A lot of authors tend to listen to music whenever they write. The same can be said for me at times. While some require silence to immerse themselves in their fictional worlds, there are others who listen to music simply because they’re perfect for the...

Using Song Lyrics in Your Book

In middle school, I was obsessed with a band called Evanescence. There were times when I felt like I was being whisked away into another, admittedly dark, world while I was listening to them. What’s more, some of their songs were so powerful that I...

Discussing Big Subjects with Small Children

A big mistake that I see authors make frequently is when they make deep subject matter incomprehensible to small children. They act like the toddler character in the scene isn’t going to understand things like death, to the point that the child won’t even speak.  Why...