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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...

Horror Tropes: The Final Girl

Whenever people think of women in the 1950s, especially in the entertainment industry, we think of tropes like the damsel-in-distress, or the supposedly strong heroine who ends up falling in love with the hero and doing everything humanly possible to bed him. Perhaps we even...

Horrific Inspirations: Exorcisms

Exorcisms are one of the most iconic practices of the Catholic Church. Whether it be casting out demons, or simply learning about the hierarchies of Heaven and Hell, or even showing just how good can overcome evil in the most dire of circumstances, exorcisms have...

Horrific Inspirations: Salem

The Salem Witch Trials was one of America’s most infamous psychological panics. Comparable to the Cold War’s Red Scare, the Salem Witch Hunts have inspired a number of stories, from American Horror Story to the ironically named TV show, Salem, to even books such as...

How to Write a Sociopath

When creating a sociopathic character, the disorder can be easily confused with the characteristics of a psychopath. Although they are both defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as being personality disorders, there are visible differences in the behaviour and diagnosis. Sociopaths...

Why Do You Write?

Working through my rewrite of my screenplay in the early hours of this morning got me to thinking about the reasons I began to write, and if that first motivation to create is still the same today. What exactly do I want to achieve through my...

Writing A Character With Anxiety

Anxiety affects everyone at some time in their life, whether it is a pending examination or a job interview. But when a person’s anxiety affects their everyday life and hinders their normal routine, then that is referred to as an Anxiety Disorder. That is the...

The Use Of Sarcasm In Dialogue

When you are writing dialogue for your characters, a good way to make it unique is to make their language suit the nature of their personalities. A very good way to do this is to inject a little sarcasm into the conversation between characters. The use...

The Sirens of Death: Banshees

In Ireland, there are tales of a woman that haunts her family members, a woman that watches over you, if you’re lucky, at least until you die. That woman is called a banshee. Also called the “fairy woman”, the banshee has been known throughout literature,...

The Ethereal Beauties of Horror: Ghosts

Ghosts have an enchanting feel to them that has been noted in various books and movies. From paranormal romance to Gothic horror to even comedy, these tales have had a special place in more bittersweet literature. For instance, in The Lady in the Moonlight by Lathish...

Horrific Inspirations: The Victims of Jack the Ripper

Despite the world’s tendency of producing a fair number of serial killers, there’s no doubt that Jack the Ripper sits at the top. From his grotesque mutilations, to the paranoia he inspired in England, Jack the Ripper was known for his cleverness, his odd tastes,...