by Ruth Harris
Like plumbers and carpenters, architects and astronauts, cellists and golfers, writers need the right tools to help them get the job done. New tools appear constantly and many of them are FREE. Here is a round-up of current offerings.
Word processors on steroids:
MSWord is the industry standard, the app editors and agents prefer. Has its lovers and haters but it’s powerful, sometimes kind of clunky, and can do just about anything including format your book into epub and mobi files for upload.
Make MS Word Work for You Instead of Against You is JW Manus’s quick primer directed especially to fiction writers. JW explains why over formatting and useless manuscript styling is a counter-productive waste of time for authors.
MSWord also provides the tools that allow you to create a cover. Here’s an on-line tutorial about how to make a cover in MSWord.
Book designer Derek Murphy offers DIY professional-looking book cover how-tos plus templates you can use in Word.
Scrivener (about $40 but you can find often it on sale) comes in PC and Mac flavors and is coming—soon! everyone hopes—for iOS. Powerful and very flexible, Scriv is a must-have for many writers including me. Scriv has a cork board function, an outliner, will file images and web-based research, and compiles to epub and mobi.
The manual is extensive, the video tutorials are excellent and the help forum is outstanding. Keith, Scriv’s developer, often appears to answer questions and his savvy crew is responsive and will walk you through any dilemmas.
Gwen Fernandez’ book Scrivener For Dummies has bailed this dummy out more than once and will help both beginners and experienced users.
If you’re still unsure about Scrivener and want to know more, Gwen has written a post about why she ditched Word for Scriv.
Google+ Scriv forum is another go-to resource. Scrivener enthusiasts answer questions, offer templates and share creative approaches to getting even more out of Scriv.
I found Ed Ditto’s How to Format Your Novel for Kindle, Nook, the iBookstore, Smashwords, and CreateSpace…in One Afternoon indispensable for working my way through the compile process.
Nisus (Mac only—Express $45, Pro $79) is a superb word processor, one I’ve used for years. Nisus works well with Scriv, it’s elegant but powerful, very stable, and the Pro version lets you compile epubs and mobis from within. Their user forum is terrific and Martin—I think he’s one of the developers—is there to answer questions and help trouble shoot.
In this article, Joe Kissell, Senior Contributor, Macworld, tells why he prefers Nisus and puts it on his A-list.
Intuitive, safe and reliable, superfast, portable and entirely customizable, Atlantis (PC only—$35) is a full-featured, moderately-priced MSWord-like app. Comes with a 30-day try-before-you-buy offer, offers on-line help and a user’s forum. Atlantis, which can encrypt your files, can do much of what MSWord does including turn your text into epub and mobi files.
Here’s a helpful review of Atlantis.
Google Documents is cloud based, fast, responsive, and FREE. Google docs does its job well, can be accessed from all your devices and is useful for collaborators who can log in from different locations and work together. Since Docs is cloud based, you get off-site back up along with a fine basic word processor.
Pages (Mac only) is iOS native, often FREE or modestly priced ($9.99) word processor to use on your iPad, iPhone, iPod. Pages also compiles to epub and mobi.
FREE for the Mac is a clean and simple word processor called Bean.
E-book builder:
Vellum (Mac only—FREE to download. Pricing depends on how many you purchase. Right now on sale.) is easy to use and does only one thing: it builds elegantly designed ebooks. Upload a Word file, style text, preview a live version of your book for the iPhone, iPad, Kindle, or Nook; and export multiple versions with a single click.
Serenity Caldwell reviews Vellum, citing its easy templates, excellent preview support, and beautiful multi-version export.
Office Suites:
My generous and tech-savvy twitter pal, @RangeWoman_Inc, clued me into three FREE powerful office suites.
Apache OpenOffice is FREE, has many the same features as Microsoft Office and is available for Windows, Linux, MacOS X, Linux X86-64, Solaris X86, Solaris Sparc. Through “save as” you can export your OpenOffice for Microsoft Office (inter-exchangeable).
Open Office extensions (includes dictionaries) and templates can be downloaded at http://extensions.openoffice.org/
OpenOffice extension “After the Deadline” (FREE editing and grammar check extension).
NeoOffice is a FREE office suite for OS X and includes a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation and graphic program. You can export NeoOffice documents in different formats, including .doc, .xlsx and .xml.
NeoOffice user’s guide is a FREE download as are the language packs.
LibreOffice is FREE open source office software for Apple OS X, Linux and Windows and includes a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation and graphic program. It has received awards from the Linux and Apple communities. In 2013 it was awarded the InfoWorld Bossie Award:
“After the Deadline” is a FREE editing and grammar check extension for LibreOffice and here are five recommended grammar and editing extensions for LibreOffice.
Back Ups:
Dropbox is a must-have essential for off-site back up. It’s FREE, creates one file in the cloud and another on your desktop as you work. DB also synchs on all your devices and works seamlessly with both mobile and desktop apps.
Microsoft offers FREE cloud storage called SkyDrive and Apple’s version is called (guess what?) iCloud. Google’s cloud storage, Drive, is also FREE and works on all popular systems.
Mozy, Carbonite, CrashPlan are remote backup services. Each one offers a FREE trial and various subscription plans for personal and business back up.
Publishing blogger Passive Guy—who has worked on computers for thirty years and knows first hand the soul-searing tragedy of lost work—shares his belts-and-suspenders back up method in his must-read post Never, Never, Never Lose Your Work!
Ooopsie Fixers:
Hemingway app aims to make your writing—guess what?—bold and clear. Hemingway highlights long, complex sentences and common errors, highlights passive verbs, points the finger at adverbs.
Ginger, a spell & grammar checker, offers various monthly plans and works with MS-Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, IE, Firefox and Chrome and enables cross-platform users to correct their text with a single click. Ginger’s Text Reader lets users hear what they wrote in a U.S. or U.K. accent as spoken in the voice of a male or female reader and is useful when proofreading.
ProWritingAid is a FREE online editor that checks your grammar but also acts as an online plagiarism checker, finds overused words and phrases, improves readability and checks for consistency of spelling, hyphenation, and capitalization.
Notebooks:
Although I’m still addicted to old-fashioned paper notebooks, I find the cyber versions indispensable.
Ubiquitous Evernote, is a powerful, FREE note keeping app that works on all platforms. Searchable by keyword or tags, includes reminder and web clipping functions, great for keeping research including images, for brainstorming ideas, for parking stuff you’re not yet sure what to do with. Cloud-based, Evernote synchs across all your devices.
One Note is now FREE and comes in Mac, Windows, iPads, iPhones and Androids flavors. An electronic version of a 3-ring binder, OneNote lives in the cloud and is synchable across devices.
In this article, award-winning tech writer Ed Bott offers cross-platform power tips for OneNote.
Bestselling romance author, Jami Davenport, provides a cheat sheet to OneNote and talks about the was she uses it to keep track of her heroes and heroines.
Preston Gralla is a contributing editor for Computerworld.com and the author of more than 45 books. Preston compares Evernote and OneNote pointing out the plusses and minuses of both.
Put the prod in productivity:
Spend too much time on FaceBook and not enough writing? A Tweet-a-holic? An internet addict? Need an enforcer?
RescueTime It’s FREE, but there’s also a Premium version with a monthly bill attached. https://www.rescuetime.com.
Write Or Die by Dr. Wicked. $20. Windows, Mac and Linux which aims to eliminate writer’s block by providing consequences for procrastination and, new to this version, rewards for accomplishment http://writeordie.com.
Mac Freedom $10 compatible with Windows, Mac, Android & Ubuntu that blocks the ‘net 60 day money-back guarantee.
Whew! We sure are lucky to have somebody as tech-savvy as Ruth offering us this smorgasbord of tech help for the writer. What about you, Scriveners? Do you have any more fav technology to add to this amazing list? Any questions for Ruth about what might work best for you? Have any of you made a book cover in MS Word? …Anne
BOOKS OF THE WEEK
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- Will Trailer is a super-achiever on the baseball diamond but at home? Not so much, according to his gorgeous movie star wife.
- Efficiency expert Howard Hopkins has just retired. His wife married him for better and for worse—but not for 24-hours-a-day.
- Gordo Canholme would procrastinate breathing if he could, but will he ever get the new baby’s room ready? Not without HTS, according to his very pregnant wife.
Wow, something for everyone! Some I can't use because I'm PC, but you provided plenty for both sides to use. Excellent list, Ruth!
Alex, thanks! I hope one day the frustrating PC/Mac divide will close up. Would be a big plus for everyone!
Some good stuff here. I now use word 2013 and I do wish that they had a feature that made epub and mobi files. I don't understand why not but any way I use Jutoh to make my epub and mobi files and it works pretty good. I also use Natural Reader to read out loud to me as well as Adobe's read out loud feature. I can make it read one page at a time for me. I also do the read out loud thing reading frontwards and backwards saying the punctuation out loud. You catch a lot when you do that.
I'm just learning photoshop and I'm interested in using word for making covers. I've seen some tutorials on line. The next thing for me to learn is formatting for Createspace. Those tutorials on line are great. Great post!
Thanks, Vera. I have some old epubs that need to be updated. New books, new links, etc. Have you used Jutoh to edit existing pubs? Is there much of a learning curve to Jutoh?
Not really. I watched India Drummonds tutorial. She used Jutoh for making her files. Once you have it in Jutoh, you can make the changes right there on Jutoh. That's what I like about it.
Vera, thanks! I need to give Jutoh a try. 🙂
Ruth, honestly it's bewildering, even intimidating to see such a complete list. I might as well be scratching with charcoal on a shovel like Lincoln compared to the capabilities you're describing. And if you used the word "FREE" one more time you'd probably have to start charging us.
I'm going to take a look at that book-cover-in-Word dealie right now.
Hi Wm! Actually, the post was almost overwhelming to pull together. There is SO MUCH stuff out there for writers that it's almost unbelievable. And, believe it or more MORE new stuff is coming out all the time. Whew!!! But good for us, for sure. 🙂
Another fine post — thanks. And Ruth, as to your question, I find I get distracted by all the fancypants "new & improved" capabilities of Scrivener & such. I have to admit that I'm from the Luddite School of Writing. I seem perfectly happy just typing away in whatever word processing program is available & doing all the planning/editing/organizing/formatting with the creaky, un-oiled & often awkward tools I've always used. I suppose this could account for the fact that all my novel-length MSs haven't seen the light of day. Maybe someday I'll enter the 20th century (not sure if I'll ever make it to the 21st).
CS, thanks. Even though I enjoy keeping up with the latest and (supposedly) greatest, I begin all my books by making notes in a paper notebook. At least I haven't gone back to a chisel and stone tablet. lol
Excellent, excellent list of tools. Thanks so much for pulling this together. Scrivener is on my to-do list, but it seems to be a learning curve for me. I've tried it once or twice, did not find it intuitive. But, I keep hearing people raving about it, so I assume there's something there.
Judith—Thank *you!* Scriv is a learning curve but it's actually quite intuitive once you get the hang of it. Start with the simple, word processor function and take it from there, step by step. Not a big deal if you do it that way.
I had no idea the list was so long. I hate learning how to use new things so as long as editors prefer Word, I'm staying with it. I sat in on a short intro to Scrivener. I'm sure I would use it if I wrote nonfiction.
Susan, If you hate learning new stuff and if Word does what you need it to do, there's no reason whatever to change. Nothing wrong with tried and true!
Ah, the back up. Sigh. I was always guilty of forgetting until the day I lost five full chapters in a glitch. The only copy was the original handwritten draft lying in 3 different rubbish tins in 3 different locations and covered in foodscraps. Did I retrieve them? Too right! I dived right in and pulled them out, lay them in the sun to dry off and spent days transposing back to the computer with the window open to lessen the smell.
Since then I've acquired drop-box and I also send an attachment to my email and my kindle and I back up on an external hard drive and a USB. And as I write in pen on paper in the first instance, I save those writing pads until the book is well and truly published. Overkill? Probably, but I've never been one to do things by halves. Not even losing chapters…
Prue, You're a woman after my own heart. Too many back ups are never enough! 🙂
Wonderful, Ruth. So much info I'm gonna have to go back and read it again, then again, and bookmark it so I never, ever lose it. Another winner. Love it. 🙂 Paul
Hi, Paul! Thanks. Hope you find a few apps to add to your arsenal! 🙂
I've been an Evernote die hard until recently it started crashing on my phone, so I'm just about ready to make the switch to OneNote. Sometimes we find it difficult to give up our old tools, like MS Word. I tried Scrivener and I just could not get into it.
Also, great advice about the cloud backup options. I live in an area with frequent summer storms and we run a risk of power loss all the time. I have to back up quit often in order to feel confident that I haven't lost anything important.
(I hope I did not accidentally double post!)
Hi SB! Yikes! Evernote hasn't crashed on me. At least not on my desktop and not yet. Did you get your notes back? I have a ton of stuff in mine. Aaaargh.
I began using Scriv way back when it first started and was much simpler. Still, it's a superb tool and has lots of really useful stuff for writers. Maybe if you decide to try again, you should just start with the ABCs and take it from there.
Ruth, what can we say after we say THANK YOU VERY MUCH. This is a helpful post with lots of great info and apps for all of us. I already signed up for SkyDrive 🙂
Hi Florence! Yep. Backup, backup, backup! Sometimes it pays to be paranoid. 😉
Superb information here Ruth. Thanks so much. I have several Tabs open ready for further exploration! 🙂 I've had Scrivener for some time and it's like Pandora's Box – seems there's no end to it's uses, and I'm only ever on the tip of the iceberg. Since relying on it for quickly outlining and writing ghostwriting projects, all requiring a very quick turnaround, I've been able to design an indispensable Romance Template, including parts and research. This saves so much time. Highly recommended. 🙂
shahwharton.com
Shah—Thank you! I completely agree about Scriv. Love your idea about a Romance Template. I write books in Scriv but also blog posts, blurbs, notes for future ideas, research, to dos. The uses are endless!
A great article as always, Anne. Three points:
I'm a Scrivener addict but, if truth be said, it's not as good a word processor as Word. When you cut and paste in Scrivener you have to close up the gaps. In Word, it's automatic. That's a big problem when you do a lot of editing.
Hemingway looks fun, but it's not ready to roll yet. Moreover, the examples it gave of 'bad' writing were actually excellent.As a pro copy editor, I wouldn't have chided them.
ProWriting Aid is superb but folk might also check out AutoCrit. It comes with a built-in benefit: its founder Nina, who's always personally available to help subscribers with individual passages or questions.
John—Thanks for taking the time to comment and for your suggestions & feed back. AutoCrit sounds well worth checking out.
Not sure what you mean by "gaps" in Scriv. I use paste & match style and have no problem.
What a great list! I looooove Apple Pages. None of the pesky auto formatting that Word is notorious for. I didn't care for Scrivener, because I spent too much time trying to figure it out. Those who use it swear by it, though, so maybe one day??
Julie—Thank you! Do you use the "new" Apple Pages? Makes sense that it would make files that work well with iBooks.
The trick to Scriv (IME) is to go slow & take it step by step. At a certain point it begins to make sense & all of a sudden you'll "get it." At least that what's happened to me.
Thank you both for that! I had to lie down after reading, but now I am inspired. I also didn't know I could use drop box for more than videos and pictures. Okay, I am of 'a certain age,' and again, thank you.
Thank you, Victoria, and glad to hear that, after a bit of a lie-down, you're inspired! Actually, you can put just about anything in Drop Box. (Maybe not the kitchen sink. lol)
This post has a wealth of information in it. I'm saving it for later, because I have a feeling I'll be coming back to it. And thank you for sharing the list of opportunities as well. 🙂 (I found your blog through Susan's IWSG post, and I am now following your blog.) Take care!
Thanks, Chrys. Anne and I are delighted to meet you and we appreciate Susan's help in spreading the word! 🙂
I use an old version of Word on my old XP computer and I love it a thousand times better than Word '13 that I have on my new one.
However, here is something to remember if you're self-pubbing e-books: It's quite possible that Smashwords (and possibly Kindle) doesn't accept the .docx format. A relative of mine is having problems trying to upload his book to Smashwords and after talking about it, it's quite possible that the .docx formatting contained within his book is causing problems.
Father Nature's Corner
G.B.—Thanks for bringing up your relative's frustration. Cyber glitches and/or eccentricities abound. I don't know about .docx and SW, but perhaps a Google search will turn up the answer.
Thanks for this great post!
To enrich the marketing strategies for authors, in addition to what it is mentioned here, I’d like to include the following which I could test with good results:
1. Take advantage of the launch of a new site thebooksmachine.com to give your work a shock of publicity tools and also obtain honest reviews on the platform where you have published your books. The platform has a paid membership but they are offering free memberships for a limited time. I can't guarantee that they'll still be available so you should try to take advantage while it lasts.
2. Fill in your author information on Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, etc. It's really important that we connect to the reader, especially when they don't know us.
3. Regularly edit and improve the description of your book on those online stores. The description doesn't just tell what your book is about IT'S ALSO THE READER'S FIRST IMPRESSION. A reader judges your writing based on your description. It's important not only to inform the reader, you have to seduce them.
4. Create visual support for your book through a website so that when you post on social media you have a visual connection. If you can't afford the investment in a professional web page, create a blog. There are tons of tutorials.
Well friends, that's my mini summary of what I have experienced first-hand.
I'm already putting it into practice daily with my book and I'm seeing my sales increase daily.
Stay well,
Amy
Avid reader on my Kindle
Anne, I stumbled across your blog after reading your comment on "How to get influencers to promote your content for free". As I was reading those tips I thought that they were clever tips…but they did not resonate with me. Using templates claiming to be "BIG FAN" it is all too fake. So I absolutely agree with your comment. I am not an influencer but if I was, I would not appreciate being approached that way.
In regards to your vanity presses post…yes it is very true indeed. Their 'services are priced way over market value.' They can be very pushy as well. They tried to persuade me to purchase a pricey marketing package by suggesting me to borrow money from family and friends or put it on a credit card. I was like 'WHAT?' I refused of course and I did feel that these publishers make money FROM writers not NOT FOR the writers. Your thoughts and insight matched everything I felt and thought.
Ambra–This is actually a post by my blog partner, Ruth Harris. I post here two or three times a month. (Next post from me will be August 3rd)
I'm glad you agree that being phony with people isn't the best policy!
Vanity presses get bolder all the time. But that gets a prize: telling people to put their overpriced services on your credit card or hit up your friends–for money they know you will never get back. They really are slimy. Spread the word if you see any newbies being sucked in by their scammy pitches.