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. Below that are hundreds of articles on topics all authors face in today’s literary landscape. Get help and advice on Writing, Marketing, Publishing, Social Networking 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...

10 Tips for Getting Paid to Write for Listverse - Part 3

So, here we are, the final part of 10 Tips for Getting Paid to Write for Listverse. This is where it all comes together, and the money comes winging in. Don’t Let Rejections Set You Back You got your subject, you worked out an angle and you...

10 Tips for Getting Paid to Write for Listverse – Part 2

Welcome back to part 2 of this mini-series on writing for Listverse. We won't waste any more time, let’s continue with the tips for writing the perfect list: Make Sure You are Familiar with The Guidelines No matter which website you submit writing to, they will all...

10 Tips for Getting Paid to Write for Listverse – Part 1

We all like to think that we can get paid for writing, especially for writing a list of things! Listverse is a popular website that publishes lists and, if they like your work enough, they’ll even pay you $100 USD! Anyone can do it, you...

Mythical Creatures of New Zealand

In How to Write a Unique Spooky Story, I wrote about how to write a unique spooky story by either creating your own monster, creature, or horror yourself or by finding a monster that is not well known. I advised finding a monster by researching...

Writing Strong Female Characters When You Are A Man

I read somewhere recently that there are not enough books that portray female characters realistically, books are not doing them justice. This might be down to a lack of female writers being published, and sadly it may be a while until this position changes. So...

6 Steps to Writing the Perfect How-To

What do you know? Is there a quick way of doing something that you want to share with others? If you have ever written something like a recipe down or shared instructions on how to do something with someone, then you already know how to...

Strengthening Your Writing Voice – Part 2

Continuing from Strengthening Your Writing Voice Part 1, the final tool at your disposal as a writer is: Tone Tone is what we use to convey our attitude towards our characters, the subject, the situation, in our writing, be it a fictional story or a non-fiction essay. No matter...

Strengthening Your Writing Voice – Part 1

How often do you hear the word ‘voice’ when you read or hear about writing? Some newbies might find this confusing – surely you are writing, not speaking! So, what is this ‘voice’? Quite simply, it is the way in which you write, the way that your...

Why Has Your Manuscript Been Rejected?

If your manuscript is requested, the first stage is that it is sent to a reader in the company who will analyse it. Once they have completed their analysis, the book is marked "recommend," a "consider" or a "pass." Unless it achieves a recommend, chances...

Sharing Your Story With Others

Charles Osgood has some intriguing tabletop discussions on his radio show, The Osgood File. One day I was listening to him talk about books which caused my mind to wander. I am a lover of books of all types. For me, books are on a platform all...