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Are you drawn to books with covers that evoke plot, character, and setting with a single glance? Or do you prefer a bright color and a simple modern theme? Whatever you like best, if you love book covers then this is the contest for you!

SavvyAuthors members nominated thier favorites and now it's time for you to choose the 25 best book covers of 2010! Peruse the TOP 25 COVERS OF 2010 CONTEST! Vote for your favorite! Voting closes January 31st.

We are delighted to announce the winner and finalists for the Win a Free Scholarship to Your Fantasy Novel –Start to Finish in One Year with P. June Diehl Writing contest!

We had everything from dragons to demons! It was incredibly difficult to chose the best because the entries were all so good, but June deliberated for several days and finally reached her decision.

The Grand Prize winner is......Laurel Wilczek (w/a Ravenne Law)!

Does a gothic absolutely have to have a mysterious hero as a key factor? If so, then what were many of the books I wrote as gothics and publishers accepted and sold as gothics? Readers had no trouble believing these books were gothics, either. So from my experience, the mysterious hero doesn’t have to be there.

As a reader, when I’m in a story frame-of-mind the world around me dissolves, and I live for a brief time inside the story world. But what makes this work? It doesn’t if I can’t get inside the skin, heart, mind, and soul of the protagonist. (This can apply to any POV character.)


Not only does this magical transportation happen with good writing, but I, as reader, WANT it to occur. I want to feel what that character is feeling, her goals are mine, and I fear her fears. This not only happens with books but with movies as well.

Interest in flash fiction continues to grow. New publications go online all the time. Many editors attribute this growth to shortening attention spans. Others believe it’s because the writing is improving. Whatever the reason, the flash market is growing and more publications are paying for stories (from $2 to $25). The down side of this growth in paying markets is that the competition for acceptances is stiffer. With my series of flash courses, I hope to provide you with information that, when put to use, will help your stories rise to the top of the slush pile.

Fog shrouded streets, clockwork machines and fiendish devices powered by steam, diabolical criminal geniuses determined to take over or change the world, and the forces of good armed with creations part 19^th century and part futuristic, and dressed to kill (if need be) in corsets, sweeping skirts and parasols or proper suits, bowlers (or Stetsons), canes and goggles. Everyone needs brass goggles! One never knows when boarding an airship, or a Darwinian creation, will be required to chase after a group of fiends, be they human, partially human, or of the paranormal persuasion. That’s what Steampunk is – in part. It’s also so much more.

Do you have what it takes to be a fiction writer? Here's a true or false test to find out. Be brutally honest. The only person you will be cheating is yourself. Choose TRUE if the statement describes you or what you believe, FALSE if it does not.

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There are many online resources (including right here at SavvyAuthors) for forming critique partnerships. Most of us, however, will find our CPs by trial and error. By agreeing in the beginning to a few basic rules and principles, you can avoid making errors and being a trial to one another.