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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...

Tips on Writing Romance

Writing a love story takes a lot of effort to avoid making it cheesy and predictable. In fact, romance writers would rather do something as noteworthy as Romeo and Juliet or The Notebook. Mastering the art of writing romance is all about remembering a few...

Tips on Writing Horror Stories

Every reader wants to enjoy a good horror story from time to time. Whether one wants to adopt a storytelling style that is grandiose, foreboding or subtle, becoming a good writer of horror stories is easy. Provided, of course, that one keeps a few writing...

Tips on Writing Short Stories

Writing a short story is generally an easy task. So as long as one remembers the basics of writing, their story will be effective in conveying a thought or message in just a few sentences. While there are technically no rules in creating a short...

Great Ways To Get Ideas For Your Novel

The best novels start as ideas that effortlessly creep into an author’s mind and nag the author until he finally gives in and converts the ideas into novels. Such ideas are wonderful because they often mark the beginning of an author’s writing career. Although good...

Tips on Writing Poetry

Writing a poem is more about trying to communicate to a reader the feelings of the writer instead of impressing them with a mastery of words. A well-written poem, in fact, can generate an emotional response from a reader. Listed below are a few tips...

How to Improve Your Writing as an Author

The ability to write a compelling story is something that not all people have. This is why there are only a few authors who can make it big in the writing industry. However, the biggest advantage in writing a story is that there is always...

Tips That Can Make Writing Novels Much Easier

Authors should use every resource at their disposal to write the best novel their abilities will allow. Here are some great ideas that can make the writing process much easier. Track your changes: In today’s digital age, it is difficult to imagine novelists who still write...

Tips on How to Write a Novel

Whether or not an author is writing his first or his tenth book, there are many important rules that he should keep in mind. These rules should act as guidelines for the author to tell a consistently good story, stay motivated, and see his work...

Ways to Turn a Good Story into a Fantastic One

Many authors are constantly wondering how to make agents love their work. The reason is that agents act as the gatekeepers to the realm of traditional publishers. They are notoriously difficult to impress. The only thing that can get an author’s foot in the door...

How to Choose Titles for Non-Fiction Books

Authors are often thought of as the masters of words, but a good number of them struggle when it comes to creating titles for their books. Creating great titles for books is an art that is difficult to perfect. The following are some considerations that...