Author Services

Author Articles

Hundreds of Helpful Articles

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

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)

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...

The Beauty of the Nightshade

The deadly nightshade, or atropa belladonna, is no doubt a beautiful flower. According to Penny Dreadful, it lures you in with an intoxicating scent, just daring you to pluck it from the ground and claim it as your own. And despite the fact you know...

The Famous Urban Legend of the Headless Horseman

A few days ago, my boyfriend decided to download a modification for a game we both loved: Skyrim. It was supposed to introduce new monsters that we could fight against. However, as we were playing, I couldn’t help but notice that there was one monster...

What to Know About West Palm Beach Florida as a Setting

In my article “Setting: Elements of Towns and Cities,” I wrote about how many writers believe a setting is merely a location; however, setting is not just a location, but everything that would define a location as a place. The seven elements that a writer...

Don't Think That You Should Never Tell!

Books expounding on the necessity of showing and not telling abound. But, it’s almost clichéd, or so oft quoted that it’s assumed that every writer knows what “show, don’t tell” means. What it doesn’t mean is that telling is never appropriate. Here’s a quotation from one of my...

Creating A Character With Schizophrenia

When you are creating the characters for your novel, it is vital that you give them some depth and make them as realistic to the reader as possible. If you are going to give them a mental condition, then it is absolutely vital you do...

Setting: Elements of Towns and Cities

Setting is one of the key elements of any story not reliant on the story being fictional or non-fictional. Many writers believe a setting is merely a location but, in this simplistic definition, they fail to truly understand what a setting is. The setting of...

How To Write About The Emotion Of Death

Writing any kind of emotion that touches a reader’s heart is difficult. But when it comes to relaying the feeling associated with the death of a loved one and the grief that follows, it is paramount you get it right. If you have never experienced...

Character Types to Include in Your Story

Another writer messaged me today to ask how they could make their characters more realistic and three dimensional. I believe this takes time and many hours of people watching. For example, the type of clothes a person wears, or the way they speak, can say a lot...

Misused Words in the English Language - Part 3

So, now we come to the last part of this series and some of the most commonly misused words. I bet you recognize a few that you have used – or misused – in the past: Adverse Should be used to mean “hostile” or “unfavorable.” Commonly mistaken for...

Misused Words in the English Language - Part 2

You should now be aware of some of the common vocabularies in the English language and some of the more common mix-ups in grammar, but knowing doesn’t guarantee that you will always use the right word in the right context. The English language is constantly...