Tools For Authors
There are three big challenges for indie authors: writing a book, selling the book, and learning the tools to do the first two without pulling out our hair. The problem is that there are a ton of tools to write, format, create a world, and do everything else we need to do, and each of those tools has their own strengths and weaknesses. Even better, no one is going to agree on what the ‘best’ tool for a particular job is. Some people swear by Word when it comes to writing the book, while others use a pen and paper, and others still use Scrivener or Pages or one of a dozen other programs. All of them are right–because everyone’s brain works differently, so no tool is going to be universally loved, just no book is going to be universally loved. (Including these! I love them, but some people can’t stand them.)
So, to try to help out other authors like myself, here is a list of tools I use, links to their websites, and a little information about each. This is not a how-to, I just wanted to help an author out by giving some ideas of tools you can use. And yes, I use each and every one of these. No, I’m not being paid anything for sharing these, either.
Scrivener (Writing)
This is what I use to write my books, and I have one project that I use for documenting all my plot ideas. I’ve used it for years and can’t imagine writing in anything else (though several of my other tools have writing capabilities). It offers a 30-day free trial (an excellent one, so take a look at that), and is a one-time payment. There is one caveat: It has a LOT of features, and most people only need a fraction of them. Because of that, it can have a steep learning curve. There is a manual and a ton of YouTube videos on how to use the features, though.
Atticus (Formatting)
I use Atticus to do all my formatting before I upload my books. It allows for both eBook and physical book formatting, and I love how you can set one formatting template and reuse it for every book in that series. They’re also constantly adding new features and improving old ones, and it’s a one-time purchase as well. Plus you don’t have to figure out your own gutters!
Campfire Writing (Worldbuilding)
I probably use this more than anything else, including Scrivener. While you can write in it, I use it for worldbuilding and character sheets. You can create your own template and have all items of that type (characters, locations, species, etc.) use that same layout. One bonus point here is you can use it as a downloaded program on your PC, a website, or an app, and it can be used both online and offline. I really cannot say enough good things about this one, including how awesome their support is. Payment wise, you can pay monthly, yearly, or make a lifetime purchase, and you also pay for ONLY the modules you want. (Modules being things like Characters, Items, Locations, Manuscript, Species, Languages, Religions, and more.) All of them are cheap, ranging from $0.50 to $2 a month, and $7.50 to $45 for lifetime purchases.
ProWritingAid (Editing)
I use this one as a second set of eyes before another person touches my manuscripts, because let’s face it, our eyes see what they expect to see. We can edit a book a dozen times, send it to an editor, and there are still going to be some errors. Sometimes it’s a pronoun shift, a tense shift, or something else where it’s a single letter, and this helps to catch those errors before publishing. It definitely can’t take the place of a human editor, but it helps to supplement the human touch. (And no, I do not support writing a book using AI, but this isn’t really any different from a spell/grammar check, at least not the way I use it.)
Aeon Timeline (Worldbuilding)
If you need to keep a timeline, this is a good one to use. You can color code events, it’ll tell you how long they last (if they’re an ongoing thing like reign of a ruler or a character’s lifespan), and it provides a nice visual. Not everyone needs a timeline, and I don’t even use it for all my projects, but it’s definitely handy for my Megaverse series! This is another one-time purchase.
BookBrush (Graphics)
I am not an artist, but social media is a necessary thing for authors. We need to get found somehow! I use this for a handful of things, but most notably are my weekly Myth of the Week and Question of the Week post images. It’s handy for all sorts of things, though there can be a learning curve if you’re not creating a simple image. Some people make their covers in it, though I’ve never used it for that purpose, so I can’t speak as to how intuitive that is. You can also use it to make custom scene break images, and it works with Atticus. This is a subscription based website.
Canva (Graphics)
Canva is basically the same as BookBrush for me, except this is what I use to create reels for TikTok. It’s fairly simple to create the reels, and it’s easier for me than trying to do it all in the TikTok app. It has a free version, but the subscription offers extra features and available images.
Mailchimp (Newsletter)
There are multiple newsletter services out there, but this is the one I’ve used since right before I published my first book. It’s fairly simple to use and you can set up email templates, so all your newsletters have the same format. You can set it up to automatically send a welcome email when people subscribe, and it will tell you when you gain or lose subscribers. There is a free version that is missing some features of the paid version and requires the Mailchimp logo. Do note that if you have a certain number of subscribers, you cannot use the free version.
Microsoft Word (Writing)
Have to add this one, though you probably know of it already. I don’t use it to write, but I do use it for sending manuscripts to beta readers and a few other things like making my price list that I use at events and for making notes while doing research. There’s a free version, or you can do a subscription.