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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...

Writing Early Readers, Part 2: Using Lexile Levels

Once you understand how the Lexile system works (Writing Early Readers, Part 1: Understanding Lexile Levels), the next step is to use the Lexile system to write at the desired level. This matters most when you are writing books to be read by young readers....

The Addiction of Billionaire Romances

In young adult fairytales, we find nannies and mothers telling tales of how young girls will find love in the form of a rich prince or lord from far, far away. When girls are still growing up, sometimes they’d even dream of that themselves. The...

Romantic Inspirations: The Tale of the Amaryllis

In front of our house is a beautiful flower called an amaryllis. My father told me he saw some seeds that were thrown out into the garbage. He planted them. Afterwards, the small seeds grew and soon became beautiful flowers that my dad usually shows off to me...

Romantic Inspirations: Morgan le Fay

In Meg Cabot’s series, Avalon High, a young high school student moves to a new school called Avalon High, where she meets a whole host of stereotypical students, one of which is the reincarnation of King Arthur himself. When the book became a graphic novel,...

The Greek Deities

Greek mythology is certainly a popular topic to write about. From Rick Riordan, to Josephine Angelini, to Aimee Carter, Greek mythology has often been incorporated within a plethora of genres, including young adult. What’s more, many TV shows have taken a different perspective on these...

Sirens in Literature

From the horrific Greek legends that have graced literature, to the modern interpretations involving them, sirens have had an important impact when it comes to mythology. For example, in Supernatural, the Winchester brothers had to fight against a siren, a creature that almost succeeds in...

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...