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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...

Types of Conflicts in Literature - Part 1 of 2

Literature, which mimics real-life events, contains conflicts. In literary works, conflict is represented in different ways either through a challenge or an obstacle within the plot. Conflict defines the peak of the plot and dictates its ending since the effective resolution of the conflict brings...

Getting into Food Writing (Part 2 of 2)

You can tap new restaurants for your food reviews. Restaurant owners are open to food reviews because it gives them free advertisement and publicity. Visit any new restaurant and find out who is its operator. Introduce yourself and tell them what you do. If you...

Getting Into Food Writing

Who can resist food? As a physiological need, eating is one of the most enjoyable pleasures in life. Everybody eats, regardless of one's eating lifestyle. Food appeals to our gastronomic senses that everyone can relate to. If you are passionate about food and have a way...

Becoming a Book Reviewer (Part 2 of 2)

Build your own review or blog site The majority of book reviewers begin by putting up their own review site. This allows them to showcase their reviewing skills. They can even choose to specialize in reviewing a specific genre. Many reviewers don’t want to limit themselves...

Becoming a Book Reviewer (Part 1 of 2)

For bibliophiles, it’s a prestigious job. For some, becoming a professional book reviewer feels like belonging to an elite group, giving a preconceived notion of being bookworms without social lives. But kidding aside, not everyone is given the privilege to become a paid book reviewer....

Prolific Writing for Profitability

By now you have an idea of how competitive online writing is. Your website needs constant engagement with your audience through a consistent flow of new articles. Your quality articles are the most important element in your business to make your presence known. Article writing,...

How A Poet Can Earn Money And/Or Gain Exposure

In making money with poetry, one is not going to make money quickly. But, if you have the passion, I am pretty sure you are going to be noticed. Poetry takes a lot of time and effort, which I am sure you already know. April is...

Easy Synopsis Writing

Congratulations on finishing your manuscript and cover letter. But wait, the guidelines require a synopsis of your nonfiction. So how do you go about it? Should you summarize chapter by chapter? For now, we do not need to define a synopsis. Whether you are a newbie...

Writing Informative Articles

You have written and submitted your quality article with the hope that it will help drive more traffic to your site. The problem is, many authors experience rejection from publishers and webmasters. You start to reevaluate yourself, wondering what you did wrong. Rejection has always...

Writing How You Speak

Most of the time, I tend to be a proper English kind of gal when writing. This habit stems from elementary school. Kids would use slang which I still don't understand what they meant. I grew up wanting to be a lawyer. Life took a...