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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...
How to Make a Cozy Mystery Stand Out
Cozy mysteries (or Cozies) aren't like other mystery series; they're often lighthearted and feature an amateur sleuth instead of a detective. Cozies have a formulaic style they follow, but it's how these elements are done that catch attention. The standard elements: Pun-y titles: Any lover of cozy...
Write With Abandonment
Due to the economy, an influx of businesses are coming on the scene and new authors are evolving. Uber, Tesla, Snapchat, and Netflix all developed for the purpose of filling a void or to supply a need. What type of void are you filling with your...
5 Great Books to Research Your Historical Fiction: 1910s
Historical fiction takes readers back into a particular era, whether it is the intrigue of Elizabethan court or the swinging Sixties and Seventies. Historical fiction requires meticulous research to offer an accurate and interesting glimpse of the past and often writers are not sure where to...
5 Great Books to Research Your Historical Fiction: 1980s
Historical fiction is wonderful when a skilled author can truly capture the flavor of an era, whether it is the mannered elegance of Jane Austen's Regency period or the drama and adventure of the Vikings. To be truly authentic, historical fiction requires meticulous research and...
Werewolves in Horror: The Gentleman of Madness
Racing through the darkness, only to be stopped by the fading light of the full moon above. Feral eyes wide, long, bloody claws out, jaws and fangs snapping; the werewolf is truly a creature of fear. From the madness of The Wolfman by Jonathan Maberry,...
Horror: Lambs to the Slaughter, or Questions to Ask Before Brutally Murdering All of Your Characters
The horror genre tends to capitalize on death. Whatever we’re afraid of, whether it be the monsters of a recent book, or the demons haunting our minds, we can twist our macabre thoughts to fit to our dark imaginations and gruesome machinations; at the very...
Vampires in Horror: Why the Sparkly Ones Are Easier to Kill
The vampire is a mysterious, and oftentimes lonely, figure in literature. From the bloody confines of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, to the dark, elegant world of Amelia Atwater-Rhodes’s Den of Shadows series, the vampire has captivated artists for centuries. Strangely enough, in modern times, the vampire...
There's Gotta Be A Better Word Than Got
A wise woman (and she, too, was a writer) once told me that everyone, especially writers, had a pet peeve word. One that haunted them; one that made them cringe whenever they read it; one that was everywhere all at once. For me, that word...
Writing the Acknowledgements: It's More Than Just a Thank You
“I want to thank all of you for this great honor. I want to thank the producers and…. and…. and….” And the list goes on and on. Sound like an Oscar ‘thank you’ speech? Although, in the past, there have been some good Oscar ‘thank...
Top 5 Literary Elements Of A Story
Every story, written or verbal, long or short, has some necessary features that must be part of the narrative for the story to make sense. These features are what we refer to as literary elements or narrative elements or elements of literature. These elements are...