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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...

Tips for Collaborative Writing Long Distance

When someone thinks of a novel, it's usually with the thought of one author. Or you think about your own novel, and don't think of having someone help with the writing process. Not many people think about collaboration. It can be difficult enough to navigate...

Laying The Foundation For Your Novel: Step One

What makes a superb novel? Is it scintillating characters? A strong storyline? A brilliantly executed character arc? Or, perhaps it is the fifty-page outline and two sentence synopsis? Although we are still in search of The Sure-fire Formula for writing a best-selling novel, there are...

Indie Authors: Disney and Saving Mr. Banks

As an admitted lover of sentimental and feel-good movies, I felt compelled to recently watch the movie, Saving Mr. Banks on DVD. It starred Tom Hanks as the genial yet shrewd businessman, Walt Disney and Emma Thompson as the dour author, P.L. Travers, the writer of...

What to Write about in Sports

Sports is a very large topic field because of the numerous different sports and the many different teams and leagues each sport has. The immensity of the topic means that a writer needs to narrow the sports topic down by perspective and focus. In choosing...

What to Write about in Sex and Gender

Sex and gender has grown into an enormous field to write about because there are so many new topics about sex and gender. The vastness of the topic means that a writer needs to narrow the sex and gender topic down by perspective and focus....

What to Write About in Technology

Technology has grown into an enormous field to write about because there are so many diverse types of technology. The immensity of the topic means that the writer needs to narrow the field down by perspective and focus. The writer should take care to choose...

The Black Rose

The black rose is an enchanting flower that blossoms only in the rarest of places (in our case, Turkey). For years now, the black rose has been associated with death, darkness, and decay. In Amelia Atwater-Rhodes’s Den of Shadow series, the black rose is represented...

What to Write About in Science

Science is a vast field to write about because there are so many different types of sciences. The vastness of the topic means that the writer needs to narrow the topic down by perspective and focus. The writer should take care to choose a perspective...

Why Isn't It Selling?

Getting a book completed and ready for market is a daunting task. Most authors spend hundreds of hours polishing and pulling together their work and are remotely exhausted when they finish. Once the book is "done", many indie authors make the fatal error of publishing too...

Manuscript Rejection Feedback: What To Change And What To Ignore

There are many reasons a manuscript can be rejected. When an agent or publisher rejects your manuscript, they will give you feedback on why they think your work is not good enough for publishing. When you receive this feedback, you have a couple of options....