You can certainly write a book with a stack of paper and a pen. But you can't run a successful author business that way!
In this article, I list the most important tools and services I use to run my multi-six-figure, one-person-author business.
It might look like a long list, but remember, tools are leverage. They enable you to do more with less. I've also been running my business full-time for over a decade, so I've added things over the years, changed tools and services, and adapted along the way. No doubt I will keep changing things as new options emerge.
Some of the links are affiliate links for products and services I use and recommend and for which I receive a percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you. But of course, you don't have to use my links!
Writing and editing
Scrivener — for writing first draft fiction and non-fiction, keeping notes, organizing, and restructuring. Tutorial here for fiction and non-fiction.
ProWritingAid — for self-editing. Tutorial here.
The Blue Garret — Kristen Tate is my (human) editor. Interview with Kristen on editing here.
Sudowrite — for expanding sensory detail like a thesaurus on steroids and co-writing assistant. Tutorial here.
ChatGPT — for character ideas, plot ideas, brainstorming, and world-building. I'm on the paid plan so I've been using the GPT4 model which is a step change to GPT3. More on futurist topics here.
Publishing and Distribution
Vellum — ebook formatting. Tutorial here. Vellum is Mac only, but you can also use Atticus for Mac or PC.
JD Smith Design — Jane does my book cover design and interior print design and formatting
Amadeus Pro — audiobook recording and editing. You can also use free software Audacity. I have a home audio booth. You can find lots more detail on audiobooks in my book, Audio for Authors.
Hindenberg Narrator — for audiobook mastering to ACX and Findaway standards
Ebook publishing — Amazon KDP, Kobo Writing Life, Apple Books, Draft2Digital, PublishDrive
Audiobook publishing — FindawayVoices, ACX (for Audible, non-exclusive)
Print publishing — Amazon KDP Print (for Amazon only), Ingram Spark for wide distribution, bookstores, libraries etc.
Direct sales — Shopify, Bookfunnel for ebooks and audio, Bookvault.app for print, Kickstarter for crowdfunding.
Teachable — For my courses for authors
Website
Premium hosting — WPEngine. Details on WordPress themes and more details here.
Midjourney — for creating images for the blog, podcast, social media, custom ornamental breaks, book cover images, and more.
Canva — for designing and formatting images for the blog, podcast, and social media
Podcast
Zoom — for recording interviews
Home studio booth — for recording the intro and solo episodes
Descript — for audio editing through text
Amadeus Pro — You can also use Audacity. I have a home audio booth. You can find lots more detail on audiobooks in my book, Audio for Authors.
Otter.ai — for AI transcription. I also have a VA, Rebecca, who formats the transcript for the podcast show notes. I have tried lots of different transcription services and will be experimenting with more as AI voice gets better for different accents.
Blubrry — for podcast hosting, distribution and reporting
YouTube.com/thecreativepenn — I mainly do audio-only for the podcast on YouTube, but occasionally make videos
Patreon.com/thecreativepenn — Patrons support the podcast and get an extra monthly Q&A
BuyMeACoffee.com/thecreativepenn — For ‘tips' when people appreciate what they learn from my free resources
Book Marketing
Keyword and category research and analysis: Publisher Rocket, K-lytics for genre-specific reports
Paid email list service: Written Word Media (mainly FreeBooksy, BargainBooksy, etc)
Amazon Ads: Outsourced through Reedsy. For non-fiction books and Pilgrimage only, as I have tried multiple times, but never got Amazon Ads to be profitable for my fiction as J.F. Penn.
Social media: Twitter @thecreativepenn, Instagram @jfpennauthor, Facebook @jfpennauthor, Facebook @thecreativepenn
Facebook Ads — I have outsourced these before, but I am currently back to running myself to my Shopify store. For training on ads, check out Mark Dawson's Ads for Authors course.
Buffer — social media scheduling
Business admin tools
Google Workspace — for email, as well as Google Docs, Sheets, Forms,
Other applications — Excel, MS Word, Numbers, , Pages, and Keynote for various functions
Dropbox — for file storage and organization
ConvertKit — for email marketing
Things — To Do list and organization tool
XERO — bookkeeping, accounting, invoicing (I also have a bookkeeping service and an accountant).
For banking and payments, I have multiple business bank accounts, plus PayPal and Wise. For the latter, I have multiple currency accounts for payments in different currencies, which is great for Amazon as you can set different bank accounts per country store.
Let me know if you have any questions in the comments, or share what tools you use in your author business.
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