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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...

7 Fiction Writing Tips from Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway was a wordsmith long before he became a deep-sea fisherman and a big game hunter. He used to wake up early every morning to write. He has one of the most influential prose styles of writing and his best stories are masterpieces that...

7 Tips For Any Person Planning To Write A Novel

Write a story you would enjoy reading When writing a novel, you should not write a story because you think that it might turn out to be a bestseller. Instead, you should think about the books that you really get lost in. If you really enjoy...

How to Create a Fantastic Book on Any Topic

If you have decided to write a book, your ability to write it is not in question. You are probably willing to spare no effort to write a great book. These tips will help you to write the best book possible, regardless of what your...

Things You Should Know When Writing a Synopsis

It is unnecessary to mention that you must have an edited, proofread, and polished manuscript before you start seeking the attention of agents. However, there are two more things that should be on your agenda to prepare you to start interacting with agents: your synopsis...

How Authors Can Use Poetry to Improve Their Writing

Poetry is an art form that is difficult for many authors to master because it involves expressing complex thoughts in just a few sentences. Although some authors are not in their comfort zone when writing poetry, every author should read a lot of it. The...

6 Ways to Write More Creatively

Writers are expected to be among the most creative people in the world. This places a significant amount of pressure on any type of writer to chase after perfection every time he puts pen to paper. There are some times when a writer is in...

How to Write the Perfect Short Story

How do you write the perfect short story? Firstly, you need to concentrate on your protagonist. What is their goal? The story will be about the protagonist trying to achieve their goal. Of course there must be conflict and then there will be resolution, but before...

Considerations Any Author Must Make Before Writing a Novel

It is not easy to write a book. Some of the best authors have at some point spent years writing a single book. Writing a book is a daunting task, especially for new writers. Writing your first and second books is guaranteed to pose a...

How to Write the Perfect Horror Story

What exactly is the perfect horror story? There are so many different genres of horror story out there today that it is becoming increasingly difficult to define the genre. However, there are a few basics that unite all and will help you in perfecting that...

How to Write Crime Fiction

You really want to write crime fiction but how do you go about this? Here are a few tips to get you started. Start with character as the foundations of the crime novel are built upon strong and memorable characters. Plots in crime novels are often...