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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. Below that are hundreds of articles on topics all authors face in today’s literary landscape. Get help and advice on Writing, Marketing, Publishing, Social Networking 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...

Creative Editing Techniques: Horrible Homophones

Most writers are readers who have developed a love of storytelling, and not many of them have a technical background in English Linguistics. Sometimes we build up a great vocabulary by hearing words rather than studying them, which can lead to problems when we encounter...

Creative Editing Techniques: Typo Spotting

Creative Editing Techniques explores different strategies for editing your fiction writing which combine together to give you the cleanest ‘oven-ready’ publishing draft possible. These strategies include visual and auditory processing techniques, insider tips from the publishing world, and exercises borrowed from drama education to give your work...

The Amazing Benefits of Starting a Story In Medias Res

"In medias res" is a Latin term that translates to “in the midst of things.” It means altering the typical chronological plot sequence to start a narrative toward the center of its arc. Here, you bypass exposition and gradually provide context through dialogue, flashbacks, or description of...

An Overview of Sensory Imagery in Creative Writing: Importance and Notable Examples

Sensory imagery is a literary device where writers use descriptive language to evoke mental images. It explores the five human senses — sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell — in engaging readers and making creative elements in fiction appear real. In this article, we discuss...

7 Simple Guidelines To Master Multiple Point Of Views

Sometimes writers may discover that they can't find the right point of view (POV) for their novel. Although it has its disadvantages and is tricky to pull off, using multiple points of view can be your solution.  Multiple POVs give the writer a way to create...

7 Types of Sensory Imagery in Creative Writing with Illustrative Examples

"Show, don't tell" — the famous maxim of creative writing — is impossible without imagery. This literary device allows writers to use descriptions to evoke vivid mental pictures. Sensory imagery creates vivid mental images by appealing to the readers' five senses (sight, smell, sound, taste,...

What is a Hypophora? Meaning, Effects and Examples

A hypophora is a rhetorical device where you ask a question and immediately answer it. This could be a single question or a series of questions, but you answer each of them subsequently. You can use this to introduce a new topic of discussion or...

7 Methods of Employing Foreshadowing in Writing, with Notable Examples

Foreshadowing is a literary device that creates suspense by giving readers hints about what will happen later in the story. To master this art, you need to consider examples from notable stories, noting how they use foreshadowing to advance their plot. In this article, we...

Guidelines for Using Foreshadowing in Your Writing

Foreshadowing involves crafting earlier scenes to build expectation, tension, or understanding ahead of later plot developments. Mastering the art of foreshadowing is essential for creating a well-structured narrative. In this article, we discuss 7 guidelines on how to foreshadow effectively.  1. Foreshadowing should be paramount It needs...

8 Crucial Steps to Writing a Flashback Scene

When the memories of characters are essential to your narrative, you will need to master the art of writing flashbacks. Flashbacks are scenes embedded into the present narrative timeframe from a period that precedes the primary story arc. And in this article, we discuss 8...