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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...

Staying Creative

Have you ever heard someone say that there’s no such thing as writer’s block? I have. I have also been told on several occasions that writer’s block is nothing more than the author choosing to stop being creative. As a writer, I can tell you this...

Do Your Readers Recognize Your Characters Easily?

Of course, they do! You use their names… But every single time they speak? Not unless you slow the pace of the drama with too many dialogue tags. I ran into a problem with this when I was writing a short story. I intended it to...

Quora – An Online Cornucopia of Information

The nature of Quora The social question-and-answer website, Quora (as in quora.com), is a valuable treasure trove of information based in Mountain View, California, USA. Having first come into being on June 25, 2009, the website has grown from strength to strength ever since. With...

Writing a Book for English as a Second Language Learners

When writing a book geared toward English as second language learners, a few things are important for the writer to be aware of. A good book can “aid in dispelling what are often myths about other cultures, and replace those myths with an accurate understanding of...

Writing Advice You Should Ignore

Writers are bombarded with advice on how to write stronger, better, and faster in their quest to bring the next great American novel into the world. It’s easy to drown in the motivational speeches and quotes out there, and it’s a personal responsibility to filter...

How The 4 Types Of Therapeutic Writing Benefit Writers

We all know that writing is a creative activity. But did you know that it is also a therapeutic activity to help us deal with trauma and hardship? When I use therapeutic writing, it enables me to distance myself from my thoughts and feelings and...

7 Compelling Reasons to Make Writing Your Hobby

Many writers feel that their friends and family see their writing as a hobby, Never mind that it is their career and means of income - including the pressure to perform and to meet strict deadlines. Then there are those for whom writing truly is...

Lies Writers Tell Themselves and How to Defeat Them

Self-limiting beliefs arise during our formative years in reaction to painful experiences. We tell these lies to ourselves to protect ourselves from hurt, which influences what we think, say, and do. Common limiting beliefs of writers are - Nobody will want to read my book. - There are too...

What is a Story Bible and Do You Need One?

Anyone who writes a novel should make notes, or a character might begin with long fair hair and end with it brown and curly! Where a Story Bible becomes essential is when you are writing a series of novels. The “cast” increases, and the characters age,...

Why Writers Procrastinate and How to Solve It

I often complain that I need more time to write, but then I spend a lot of time planning, researching, or even organizing my writing space. Although all these activities are essential, they shouldn’t keep me from writing. So, why do writers procrastinate? - The leading cause...