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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...

Demons in Fiction: Part One

Demons are an essential part of human morality. From the popular image of the devil on your shoulder, to the beings written in occultist texts, such as the Malleus Maleficarum and the Keys of Solomon, there’s no doubt demons play a crucial part in human...

Angels in Fiction: Part 2

As you may or may not know, angels are incredibly powerful beings. They’re also very popular, so much so that we often use them in our writing. With their haunting prowess, their proclamations, and most importantly, their divine judgements we just can’t help using them in...

Angels in Fiction: Part One

There’s no doubt that many modern day audiences have fallen in love with the concept of angels. From the Gothic elegance of the fallen, to the majestic glory of the archangels, angels can be found as the muses of artists, writers, scientists, and the general...

Nature Writing

To some people, nature is but a mere obstruction to humanity’s progress, what with the protests, the activists, the lobbyists, ectc. But to others, nature provides a constant comfort, a lifeboat in a sea of uncertainty. However mysterious it may seem, the very aspect of...

Why You Should Be a Book Reviewer

As Stephen King once said, the path to becoming a successful writer involves a lot of reading, and a lot of writing. It’s a demanding profession that requires us to be critical of ourselves in order to mature as writers. Though we may, if at...

Tips for Making Your Superhero Novel Different

Superheros can be found everywhere. They're so loved that it's a dominant trend. Now is the perfect time to jump on board with your own vision. How can you write a superhero novel and make it different from everything else out there? For a different approach,...

The Ouroboros: The Nobility of Writers

The Ouroboros has continuously had to eat itself in order to survive and, as such, tragically represents the never ending cycle of life and death. Consisting of a snake that gorges on its own tail, the Ouroboros tends to be one of the more obscure topics in today’s...

Lesser Known Punk Genres to Explore

If you're not feeling the usual Steampunk genre, there's several other options that are similar but each has their own twist. Lesser known genres are harder to research, so exploring the novels that are described as such is key. A recent genre called Silkpunk has emerged,...

Tips for Diving into the Steampunk Genre

Steampunk is a cult genre that's often underrated. Steampunk is described as technology that is powered by steam, and often set in Victorian England or Wild West America. The story often includes an alternate history, with well-known events tweaked by gadgets and steam powered inventions. Jules Verne...

The Perfect Time to Tell Your Best Ghost Story

The month of October is full of all things related to Halloween: witches, zombies and ghosts. Everyone is talking about spooky things. Everyone loves a good zombie story, mainly due to the success of The Walking Dead, but where did the ghosts go? They're not...