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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...

Tips for Writing Flash Fiction

Just as the phrase suggests, flash fiction is just that, a short impactful fiction story mostly with words under the 1000-word mark. Though brief, flash fiction can be challenging to write. Here are a few tips to make yours stand out: 1. Delve right into the story Flash...

Understanding Problem Solving

Understanding how people problem-solve is vital for writers who desire to write realistic character thoughts and actions. Problem-solving is the process of working through the details of a problem with the goal of reaching a solution utilizing mathematical skills, systematic operations, and/or critical thinking skills...

Tricks Taken from Journalism that Can Help Fiction Writers

A writer can get and take inspiration from anywhere, but when it comes to honing their skills, they have to be exceptionally careful about where they get the inspiration from. One wrong move and the author could be doing more damage than they bargained for....

Editing 101 - Editing Dialogues Made Easy

Almost every author struggles at writing great dialogues and if they nail it, they struggle at editing them. Writing genuine and crisp dialogues is not something that comes naturally to every author; it is one of those things that you have to practice. The more...

Best Setting to Write about in Austin

In my article “Setting: Elements of Towns and Cities,” I wrote about how many writers believe a setting is merely a location; however, the setting is not just a location, but everything that would define a location as a place. The seven elements that a...

Planning Your Memoir

Have you ever considered writing a book about your life? How do you condense all of your memories and life experience into just one book? Where do you begin?  Many writers begin their memoir by selecting one event in their life, usually from the day they...

Write Better with these Excellent Copywriting Tips

Although copywriting and writing a novel are two very different things and belong to very specific audiences, there are certain things that are common between them. Both copywriters and authors have to choose their words very carefully and ensure that their written narrative is appreciated...

Rules of Writing that Every Aspiring Author Should Know

Having excellent writing skills is a must for anyone who aspires to be a successful author. While anyone can write, writing a narrative that leaves an impact and grabs the attention of the audience is very difficult. An author not only needs to maintain their...

When You Shouldn’t Kill Your Characters

If you are a writer, one area of planning your novel could be deciding if one of your characters should be killed. While this could have a dramatic impact on your plot, it is also one of the toughest decisions you may have to make....

Creating Characters That Readers Care About Part Two

In my previous article on character archetypes, I spoke of the importance to study novels of authors you admire to gain that inspiration to develop your own unique characters. I took my own advice and have discovered even more character archetypes that may help you...