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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...
Exploring the Meaning, Functions, and Examples of Epizeuxis
Epizeuxis is the repetition of a word or phrase in instant succession, usually within the same sentence, for emphasis or intensity. It helps create an emotional appeal, enlightening and motivating your audience, and adds a comic effect to your writing. A closely associated literary device...
Understanding Polyptoton: Meaning, Functions and Examples
Polyptoton is an artistic, literary, and rhetorical device that employs repeating a root word in different conjugations or contrasting cases for emphatic and rhythmic effect. By placing varying forms of the same word nearby, you can create irony, emphasize an idea, or produce a rhythm....
4 Simple Ways To Create Spell-Binding Locations in Your Novel
The setting in your novel is essential to create context and contribute to the mood in your story. A detailed environment will active your readers' imaginations and transport them to the world where your characters live. But how can a writer create this fictional setting in...
8 Essential Types of Repetition
Repetition is a literary device where the same word, phrase, or clause occurs multiple times in a speech or writing. Orators are famous for using repetition. But writers of all kinds also employ repetition in fiction and other genres of literature, drawing readers' attention to...
Understanding Asyndeton: Meaning, Functions, and Examples
Various kinds of grammatical coordination create special effects in writing. Asyndeton is one of them. This popular literary device dates back centuries, making a quick succession of words, phrases, sentences to make them more commanding. In this article, we explore the meaning, functions, examples of...
What is Polysyndeton? Meaning, Purpose and Examples
Polysyndeton is an interesting literary device you can employ in your writing to create a special rhythmic and emphatic effect. It involves using conjunctions in an ungrammatical yet effective way that makes your prose remarkable. In this article, we explain what polysyndeton entails and how...
Understanding the Meaning and Usage of Oxymorons (With Examples)
Writers and poets have used oxymorons for ages as a literary device to express life's intrinsic contradictions and inconsistencies. In speeches, it creates a sense of irony, sarcasm, or humor. In this article, we explore the meaning and purpose of an oxymoron and provide some...
Understanding Personification: Meaning, Purpose and Examples
Personification is a very effective literary device, which you can employ in creating animated descriptions that leap off the pages of your writing and engage your readers' imagination. They provide a technique for communicating ideas effectively, an essential tool in your writing kit. In this article, we...
Exploring the Meaning, Effects and Examples of Metonymy
Metonymy offers an opportunity to improve your writing, elevating your prose with concise expressions that hold deep meaning and get readers' attention. In this article, we explore the meaning, peculiarities, effects, and examples of metonymy, providing you with a better understanding of the literary device. What is...
The Effects of Motifs and How to Include Them in Your Narrative
One of the most exciting literary devices you can use is a motif. It allows you to illuminate the central theme of your story by repeating an element throughout your narrative. This can be an object, a character, an event, a setting, an expression, or...