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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...

Make Sure You and Your Editor are on the Same Page

Two of my writing axioms are “every writer needs an editor” and “every editor needs an editor.” The meaning of the first axiom is obvious, the second one less so. I mean that editors make mistakes, too. One mistake they may make is not to be...

Nonfiction Writers: Use Approaches to Create an Outline

If you write nonfiction, you may want to create an outline before you begin to write. There are several advantages to doing so. It will help you to write quickly. You'll have a blueprint so you'll know where you're going. You’ll break the big job of writing your...

How To Prepare To Write Your Autobiography

Unlike a memoir where the writer shares only a particular part of his life, an autobiography is a person's life story. It needs careful planning to ensure that it covers all the essential highlights in your life and shares your perceptions, thoughts, and emotions so...

Round and Flat Characters In Writing

Characters are one of the most important aspects of a narrative. The plot wraps around characters, and decisions made by them push the story forward.  Although there are several character archetypes, in a broad sense, characters are divided into two types: Round characters and Flat characters....

Northrop Frye's Archetypal Criticism

An archetype is a recurring narrative design, character types, themes, or objects seen in the literature. Archetypes are used, reused, and at times overused. They have been passed from generation to generation, and even though they might be molded to fit the appropriate world, they...

Memoirs: How To Tell A Powerful Story

So, you want to share your story because you believe it can help others. But how do you write your memoir to evoke strong emotions and convey your message? A critical part of a memoir is always to tell the truth - but as seen...

How To Write A Book Review

A book review is the analysis of a book. It includes the summary, plot points, characters, strengths, and weaknesses of the story. It views the story through a critical lens to give an unbiased opinion on the themes, writing, and positive or negative aspects. It...

Five Unusual Literary Devices

Literary devices are the embellishments of the English language. These are the words or sentences with meanings different from their literal ones. They are often used in both spoken and written language. Today, we are going to talk about five unusual literary devices: Anaphora, Antithesis, Synecdoche,...

Insight Into Writing Romance

Romance as a genre frequently has a poor reputation. People love to hate it, and despite the hate, it flourishes. It resonates with our hearts and makes them sing. But, writing romance filled with swoon-worthy scenes can be tough. So, here are seven tips that...

 How To Write A Great Villain

The most crucial character in a story after the hero is the villain. The villain is the one who brings out the heroics in the hero. It is the villain that makes or breaks a hero. Even if every character in the story is well...