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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...

Let's Talk about Symbolism

What comes into your head when you see a rose? Is it romance? Love? Well, I have no doubt that either of those was your first guess. Why not think about the rose as a mere plant? Why not even think about a garden instead?...

All About Allegory

Apart from getting a reader hooked on your work, one of the things you should consider during writing your work is the aspect of educating your readers. This is commonly known as the moral lesson of your work or story. Most writers find coming up...

Various Types of Puns (With Examples)

A pun is a play on words, which usually exploits words with multiple meanings or a homonym substitute that changes a sentence's connotation for humorous or rhetorical effect. Though they have made prominent appearances in jokes and advertisements, you can also use puns in storytelling....

How To Write Colorful Metaphors

Writing metaphors is not a walk in the park. It's a hike across a treacherous part under the moonlight... The gist is metaphors are challenging but essential. Your prose and narration become riveting when you use this powerful tool. They enrich your language, enhance your...

What is Foreshadowing?

Foreshadowing is a literary technique we often come across in literature. Writers in nonfiction do not enjoy the luxury of using foreshadowing because it is mostly associated with and used in fiction. If properly used, foreshadowing can play a vital role in the success of a...

Gamify Your Writing Routine

Procrastination can be the death of any writing project or, in extreme cases, career. It’s so easy to fall down the rabbit hole of chores, social media, and “research” that we may never actually get around to doing what matters: the writing, the revising, the...

Crucial Aspects of Romance Narrative Your Outline Should Address

You need to include anything that helps you write your novel in your story outline. This includes details about who your characters are, how their actions drive the plot forward, and every fact you base your story on. Your story outline exists for your own...

The Importance of Story Outline in Writing Romance Novels

A story outline is how you organize the events of the story before you begin to write it. An outline is a road map that brings a narrative to the desired destination of a polished work of fiction. Storytelling is like a journey through a route...

How To Make Your Setting a Supportive Secondary Character

In most romances, the setting is not a major highlight, as it should be. It's meant to be the unsung hero of your narrative, providing context and helping your plot and characters progress. But sometimes, you may have a story where the setting plays a...

Let's Talk About Irony

What is irony? Most writers will agree that irony is one of the most fun, entertaining, and interesting literary devices to use in writing, yet quite hard to grasp. Some writers may also find it hard to tell the difference between sarcasm and irony. I would...