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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

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...

Good Copyediting is Essential to the Success of Your Book (6)

6. Titles By ‘titles’ I don’t mean the title of your book or the titles of each individual chapter. Instead, I mean the titles of the people you write about, whether they are fictional or real persons. In practice, this often refers to their job title....

Good Copyediting is Vital to the Success of Your Book (4)

2. Apostrophes A common mistake that confuses and annoys readers involves the humble apostrophe. If this mistake occurs on the opening page of your novel, it may well cause the reader to give up there and then. As with the other errors I point out, it’s...

Good Copyediting is Vital to the Success of Your Book (3)

Ten Top Tips for Good Copyediting 1. Quotation Marks Surprised? Most people expect spelling to be at the top of this list. Correct spelling is vital, of course, and we’ll get to that soon. So why on earth begin with quotation marks? Because nothing screams Amateur! like incorrect...

Monsters from Mesopotamian Myths

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...

Jamaican Monsters

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...

Mythical Creatures of Iceland

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...

The Writing Ritual That Worked For Me

I have tried many ways to keep focused over the years when I am starting a new writing project or facing dreaded writer’s block. I always try to set unrealistic goals of writing so many words every day and have failed miserably. I asked myself...

Good Copyediting is Vital to the Success of Your Book (2)

Get Organized for Maximum Effect There’s no such thing as a perfectly copyedited book. If you look hard enough, you’ll find that every book has its errors or things that could have been done better. Nobody’s perfect, after all. And while it’s right to aim for...

How To Build Tension and Suspense

‘The suspense is terrible, I hope it will last.’-- Oscar Wilde. Creating tension or suspense in a novel is not only limited to a thriller or horror. It can be used in any genre. Will the couple get together? Will the hero save the day? Tension...

Creating Realistic Characters

When I first started writing, I struggled continuously with creating good characters. They spoke and acted in an unrealistic and two-dimensional manner. When writing a villain, for example, it is such a temptation to over exaggerate the evilness in the character so your reader is...