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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...
Avoiding Logical Fallacies
Writing articles intended to persuade others to adopt a certain position or take a certain action is good writing practice. These types of articles force us to think logically and express ideas clearly. When you write a persuasive piece, such as an editorial, you’ll need...
Tips to Make Writing Easier
A quote attributed to various authors reads, “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” Regardless of who wrote that, there’s truth in it. Writing is hard. It’s hard to develop ideas. It’s hard to develop the discipline to...
How to Avoid Information Dumps
Advice writers often get is to “avoid information dumps.” An information dump occurs when a writer provides background information that he thinks is necessary for readers to understand the story. But unloading too much information, too quickly, interrupts the story’s flow and may bore readers. Here’s an...
How to Write When Writing is Difficult
I’ve been writing for 21 years and recently had an experience that I’ve never had before: my own writing triggered me. I’ve been working on the final installment of a science fiction novella series and was surprised when I found myself nervous and uncomfortable as...
7 Proven Guidelines to Write Better Web Content
Writers' options were limited to writing a book or writing articles for printed magazines and newspapers in the past. But the internet has broadened the opportunities for writers. The abundance of websites has one thing in common - they all need content. Besides writing for digital magazines...
Choosing a Genre for Your Novel
So you have made the brave choice of writing a novel. The next thing to decide is the kind of novel you want to write. This decision needs to be made early on in the writing process. It defines the success of the next 6-18...
4 Things That Need To Happen In Your Rising Action
The rising action is the plot point after the inciting incident and before the climax, forming a magnificent portion of a story. It powers every narrative, developing the plot and the main character as they confront conflict and reach the boiling point. There are things...
5 Editing Tips For Self-Editing Your Work
Learning to edit your work is essential before you move to publication. While some projects require professional editing, there’s so much you can achieve through self-editing. It helps you get familiar with good writing habits and recognize your unique voice, making your future project much...
3 Writing Techniques To Have In Your Creative Arsenal
You may need some new writing techniques to improve your writing proficiency or help you push through a creative fog. And here are 3 approaches that you can apply to any piece of narrative fiction to make them more captivating. You can consider them and...
Nonfiction Writers—Who Are Your Sources?
A friend recently asked me this question: “Where do journalists get their sources?” It’s a good question. If you’re writing nonfiction, where will you get your sources? Your choice of sources is critical because it affects the accuracy, reliability, and completeness of your story. This article explains...