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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 Write An Outline For Your Novel
Writing an outline for a novel is the final stage of preparation before an author starts to write a novel. It is notoriously difficult to write a decent first draft unless you have thought about every possible aspect of the novel. An outline can help...
10 Quick Ways to Improve Writing Skills
There are many people who call themselves writers but not many of them take writing seriously enough that they strive to improve their skills daily. It takes more than reading journals, magazines, books, newspapers, etc. to improve your writing. You have to become completely immersed...
How To Choose A Theme For Your Novel
The theme is one of the most discussed topics in the literary world. The reason why themes are very important is that they deal with the wisdom, the lessons, and the moral of stories. Surprisingly, some writers don’t believe in themes and they don’t like...
How Do You Choose Your Novel’s Setting?
Setting is one of the most important things in a novel. Writers, especially fiction writers, must choose a setting carefully. First, you have to define what setting is in order to figure out how to use it in your story. Setting vs. structure Many theories about stories...
How To Choose The Main Character And His/Her Counterpart
There are two very important characters in every novel: the main character and his/her essential counterpart. During the course of the novel, the relationship between these two characters inevitably changes. It is therefore important to choose the two characters very wisely. It is important for...
Are Archetypal Characters Important To Create Drama In A Story?
This is one of the most confusing parts of characterization. All major characters should have dramatic roles, but some authors are unwilling to use their archetypes because using them might seem unoriginal. This fear has no basis because the dramatic functions of characters that authors...
How To Give Your Plot A Satisfying Climax And Resolution
Some authors don’t like to think about the endings of their stories until they are almost through with their novels. These authors prefer to write the endings that come naturally as a result of the preceding events. Other authors might plan for the ending but...
8 Easy Steps To Create A Plot Outline
Not many authors know this but you can create a compelling and dramatic story outline of your novel in about one hour. There are eight main plot elements that an author must incorporate. 1. Story goal: It is the problem that a protagonist in a story...
The Story Goal: Finding A Perfect Fit
The problem or story goal is the most important element of any plot. It is the unifying idea on which the entire plot is based. The goal is crucial for any novel because it creates a sense of purpose – without it a novel will...
Which Is The Best Approach To Story Structure?
There are thousands, maybe millions of ways an author can approach story structure. However, a good approach to story structure should possess certain features including: 1. It should simultaneously address all aspects of a story including the plot, the characters, and the theme. 2. It should have...