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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 Authentic LGBTQIA+ Characters in Fiction

Representation shouldn’t ever feel like a game of identity bingo, where you feel as a writer that you must include every single type of diverse person in every single scene of your novel to avoid being canceled. But diverse people under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella do exist...

What Has Your Writing Taught You?

We’re always on a learning journey, even more so as writers. We learn as we write, not just about writing styles but also specifics relating to the theme of our current writing project. Have you ever sat down after writing another story or another book...

Unlocking Creativity: The Neuroscience of Writing

Have you ever thought about what’s going on in your brain when you write? Or why do some stories grab you by the heart, while others don’t quite hit the mark? Well, our brains are pretty busy when we start creating. If we understand how our...

My Floating Office

Living and writing from a narrowboat offers a lot of excitement and inspiration every day, but it also presents some very interesting environmental challenges that make this lifestyle unique, as well as many practical considerations that every floating writer must master to succeed in their...

The Freedom of Writing On a River

The gentle lapping of water against steel, morning mist rising from the canal, and the distant call of waterfowl – this is the ‘office’ of a narrowboat writer in the UK right now. While the romantic notion of crafting stories while floating through picturesque landscapes...

Interviewing Techniques

Standing no taller than 4 feet, 10 inches, Sister Ellen Pickette looked at me and seriously asked, "Why are you here?” I’ll always remember the nun I interviewed for a special person’s story I was working on. She was quite the character and took over...

Using Poetic Techniques to Enhance Prose Writing

Although poetry and prose writing are two unique disciplines, writers can benefit greatly by incorporating poetic techniques in their novels. Think of poetry as coloring, and adding rhythm, flow, and greater imagery to your writing. In this article, we will discuss some possible steps to...

When and How to Work With a Mentor

We all need help at one time or another. It’s not just the writing game that strikes fear in our hearts and confusion in our minds. It’s reassuring to know that there’s help out there. But what kind of help do we need? Where do...

Write Nonfiction – It Can Be Both Easy and Profitable

Why should you write nonfiction? At the top of the list are two reasons. First, writing nonfiction is a great way to launch your writing career. Second, nonfiction is much more profitable than fiction and it outsells fiction 5 to 1. Other reasons? For starters,...

Past Life Regression Therapy for Creatives

The first time I heard about Past Life Regression Therapy, or PLRT, a member of my family had just had two pretty intense sessions. PLRT is a form of hypnosis that its advocates say is a way to guide people to tap into potential past lives....