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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...

Assault as a Driver for a Man’s Revenge Story

Storytelling in literature often reflects society’s evolving values. We've come a long way, particularly in how women are both depicted and received. Still, some tropes stubbornly linger despite their problematic implications. Among these is the use of a woman’s sexual assault as a plot device...

Six Ways to Ruin a Sex Scene in Fiction

Oh, baby! The sizzle factor in fiction has hit the mainstream and is currently at its all-time high. Gone are the days when readers were relegated to storage closets to jam in a chapter on their lunch break, and authors have even started to ditch...

Why Questions Are So Important for Middle Grade Novel Writers

Children are full of questions. From the time they speak their first words, children will persistently and constantly ask the annoying questions: why, what if, how come. Younger children ask the basic question of why, but middle graders are full of more in-depth questions, like what...

The Art of the First Line

The first line is a make-or-break moment. Most readers will hang in there for the whole first paragraph, or page, but like any first impression, you will not get a second chance. Over the weekend I binged on a Masterclass called James Patterson Teaches Writing,...

How Much Should You Write in a Day?

How much should you write in a day? Perhaps the question should read more like: how much do you write in a day? Or, does it really matter? For me, it’s more a matter of writing every day, not how much, not when or where,...

How Long Should a Chapter Be?

I think the shortest chapter I ever read was literally a blank page. You can’t get any shorter than that, now can you? I’ve also seen chapters that had only a single word, usually an exclamation, like “Help!” Certainly, the one-word chapter will catch the...

Finding Character Inspiration at Thrift Stores

Writers, artists, and creatives often find inspiration in the most unexpected places. One such treasure trove of imagination lies tucked away in the aisles of second-hand shops. These unassuming stores have loads of unique and often retro pieces with worn edges that give a character...

The Computer Ate My Manuscript: What to Do When Your Writing Disappears

There’s a universal nightmare for writers: the moment you hit a wrong button, or your computer crashes, and suddenly your manuscript is gone. You frantically search through the desktop recycle bin, hoping against hope that it’s been filed away, but it’s not there. Your precious...

Creating Your Own Home Writing Retreat

A writing retreat is an organized time away dedicated to an all-in immersion of productive creativity. If you've seen the movie Lonely Planet, Katherine and Owen are at a writer's retreat in Morocco. For me and probably the other 99% of the writer's community, that...

A Passion to Write and the Perseverance to Make It Happen

I was hooked from the first time I set pencil to paper. Once I learned enough words to construct a sentence, I was writing. Why writing? As the youngest of a large family full of storytellers, it was always difficult to get a word in...