You can write a book with just a pen and paper, but that's not how most of us run an author business these days! In this discussion, Orna Ross and I talk about the best tools we have found for writing, editing, formatting, productivity, marketing, sales, and accounting.
You can watch the video below or here on YouTube.
You can also listen below or on your favorite podcast app at the Ask ALLi podcast, or read the transcript here on SelfPublishingAdvice.
We discuss the following tools.
Writing & Editorial
- Scrivener for writing
- Dragon Dictate for dictating your books
- Google Docs for co-writing. Check out my mini-course on co-writing.
- Fictionary for story editing
- ProWritingAid editing software for books. Check out my tutorial on Pro Writing Aid.
- Grammarly editing software for short documents. Check out my tutorial on Grammarly.
Productivity and life management
- Google Calendar for scheduling and time blocking
- Calendly for managing interviews
- Things app for to do list (Mac only)
- Noise-canceling headphones for focus. [I use BOSE Quiet Comfort.]
- Asana for project management
Design & Formatting
- Vellum for interior book design. Check out my tutorial on formatting ebooks and print books with Vellum.
- Free formatting tools available on Draft2Digital, Reedsy and others
Marketing & Promotion
- WordPress for your author website. Check out my tutorial on how to build your own author website.
- ConvertKit for email marketing. Check out my tutorial on how to set up your email list.
- BookFunnel for delivery of ebooks – ARCs and Payhip/Woo delivery. My article on how to use Payhip to sell direct.
- PublisherRocket for Amazon keywords for metadata and Amazon ads
Social Media
- Bufferapp and Smarterqueue for scheduling
- Headliner for audiograms
- Tweetdeck for managing twitter
Sales, Accounting & Business
- Payhip or WooCommerce for direct sales
- Xero for accounting
- BookReport for sales tracking on Amazon
- Orna: Google Sheets for manual tracking
- Trackerbox for PC
- Booktrakr.com but they want your logins
You can find the full transcript at Selfpublishingadvice.org/tools-for-independent-authors. You can find Orna Ross at www.OrnaRoss.com
View Comments (5)
Wow. It’s very good information. Very very thanks to share.
Sure not all useful for me, as I’ m not naturally English speaking. But it’s give a good idea to start writing something. At least got some descriptions for what I need to be a writer.
I'm sure all that is very usefulif you have written a book. I have only ever written short stories , and most of that is Flash.
Very useful.
Do you have a software suggestion to help with timelines? Thanks.
Thank you again Joanna for yet more useful information. I have followed your blog for a while and, as an independent author, have benefited from much of what you share. I should comment more often but will take this opportunity to thank you for your ongoing support of indie authors.
Joanna, great advice--keep up the great work.