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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...

Debunking Myths about Revisions for New and Seasoned Authors 

Writing a book is not easy; it never comes easy even for the most seasoned authors in the industry. It is a trial and error process, one that requires you to revisit and revise everything that you wrote down from day one and see how...

Understanding Bilingualism Part 2

Disadvantages of Bilingualism One of the major disadvantages of bilingualism is language co-activation. Language activation occurs as soon a person begins to hear the sounds of a word as their brain then takes these sounds and starts to try to guess what the word is by...

Understanding Bilingualism

Bilingualism is the ability to speak or recognize two different languages (Merriam-Webster, n.d.); being bilingual has been known to be beneficial to cognition in several ways. While there are numerous advantages to bilingualism, there are also disadvantages that need to be understood as well. The...

Understanding Visual Perception

Writers need to understand what visual perception is as it is relevant to all writers who plan to write about any situation involving a car or other vehicle. Understanding visual perception and some of the theories behind it will allow writers to create scenes that...

Understanding Dsylexia

Dyslexia is a topic that many writers (of fiction and non-fiction) struggle to write about. This struggle is often due to a lack of understanding of what dyslexia is. Fiction and non-fiction writers might both end up writing about a teacher who has a student with dyslexia...

Understanding Language and Cognition

Many writers struggle when it comes to writing about language, especially in regard to language and cognition. This is primarily due to a lack of knowledge of the ways in which language and cognition interact and affect each other. Language is a system of communication consisting of...

Children's Vocabulary

Children’s stories are sometimes one of the most difficult things to write. This may seem a bit odd but it is true. The reason for this is because of the type of words that have to be used. The audience is the key when it comes...

Useful Hacks for Improving your Mental Focus - Part 2

Developing a Plan A plan will ensure that you spend each hour of your day productively. With a clearly outlined plan of what you should do at each specific time, you will avoid confusion and increase your focus. You will also easily flow from task to...

Useful Hacks for Improving your Mental Focus - Part 1

Good writing depends on great mental focus. Every writer needs to learn a few tips to sharpen their focus and reenergize. Here are a few ways you can consider if you are trying to improve your mental focus and clarity: Exercise It is amazing what even a...

About Writing Jars

Are there ever times when you just wish that an idea would just run out in front of you? You just cannot think. You might be in a funk. You might have writer’s block. The kids are being, well, kids. You may have had an...