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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...

Starting it Right: Capitalizing Headings

Some writers find capitalizing titles of literary works to be tricky. When do you capitalize the titles of literary works? All the time. This is a basic grammar rule. Unless, of course, the writer has specifically written the title of his literary work in lower...

Writing Styles for the Creative Writer

Creative writing is often associated with works of fiction. Although this still holds, from poetry and novels, to memoirs and literary journalism, creative writing has definitely spanned both fiction and non-fiction works. If you want to be a creative fiction writer, here is a list of...

Manuscript Tips for the New Writer

There’s a story of a writer commenting to a friend who wanted to start a writing career, but didn’t have any knowledge or background in writing. He told her, “If you can think, then you can write.” All things being equal then, all human beings...

How Is Technology Affecting What People Read And Write?

Is it redefining literature? One of the questions that people ask today is whether electronic media is redefining literature. Some people go as far as to say that the definition of writing has to be changed because electronic media has expanded and is continuing to expand...

Does Reading Literature Really Make You Smarter And Nicer?

Many scholars don’t agree that reading literature has the ability to change you in any way. This is largely because there are few studies that try to relate reading literature with improved mental capability. However, there is evidence that reading literature makes you smarter. Professor...

Lessons That Novelists Can Learn From Screenwriters

People who love to read books and those who can’t stay away from movies are considered to be very different. Many people who do both claim that books are better than their movies. On the other hand, some people who read books see the movie...

Ten Rules Fiction Writers Must Know

1. Don’t use prologues because they can be annoying to readers. A prologue that comes immediately after a foreword should especially be avoided. However, forewords are usually found in non-fiction novels so fiction writers should be a little safer. In a fiction novel, a prologue...

7 Tips for Creative Writers

In order to write captivating short stories or the beginning chapter of a book, you should start as close as possible to the action. If it is a novel, start with the incident that will give the plot a rolling start. If you leave anything...

How to Write an Author Bio

As an author, why do you have to learn how to write an effective author bio? There are a lot of reasons. First, there are many situations where information about you is required such as an author directory, blog pages, promotional pages, and even the...

Can Writing a Blog Help Sell Your Book?

Congratulations! You have written a book. You have published a book. And now, your concern is to sell your book. You are wondering if writing a blog can help sell your book. Technically, writing a blog is neutral. It could have a positive or negative...