Some Of Our Favourite Self-Publishing Resources

Writing tools

Scrivener – A program that you write in to or you can download a file. Novels or documents are broken down in to sections and/or chapters, the headings of which will be lined up on the side of your work. You can write notes and it also has a virtual corkboard. It is very visual, making it easy to follow and see gaps in your plot etc. One off cost.

writeordie.com – An app that keeps you writing in spurts. 15 minutes is a good prompt. Has several levels, including Kamakazee which deletes your work if you don’t write quick enough. None of us use this level!

Pomodoro – working in sets of approx. 25 minutes (or whatever works for you) with a five minute break in between. You can compete with yourself or others to encourage output. Ticks like a clock.

Plottr – For the visual peeps, this is a gamechanger! Lets you outline and plan your story visually and also keep a detailed story bible.

Editing support

Natural Reader – Will show up your mistakes by reading your work back to you. Punctuation, flow, grammer etc. There is a free down load option as a trial which you can use on your PC or MAC to start with, and purchase the full program later should it prove valuable to you. You can stop and start the reading, so you can follow and make notes. Free.

Pro-Writing Aid  Fantastic grammar, spelling and style checker used by all of us.  It’s regularly updated with new features which you can customize to your own preferences. You can buy monthly, yearly or lifetime subscriptions.

Formatting tools

Jutoh – A formatting software for all platforms. Eg Mobi, epub etc. There is an accompanying tutorial but we have found that YouTube offers some great tutorials which are more step by step with a lot of screen shots. Jutoh will save you money as you will be formatting your books all the time when you are adding links or changing covers etc. A one off cost – very reasonable.

Vellum – Fabulous formatting program for those with access to a Mac computer. Produces both print and ebooks beautifully and simply.

Atticus – from Dave Chesson’s Kindlepreneur comes this writing and formatting tool. Both ebooks and print books can be formatted easily and their customer service (and facebook group) is excellent.

Favourite courses

Udemy – Site for courses on all sorts of topics. It’s best to join the mailing list and wait for specials, which occur regularly. There are so many you need to pick a topic and browse them. Check reviews, and you can often get a sample. They are usually step by step and screen shots to make it incredibly easy to learn what you need to.

CreativeLive.com – More expensive than Udemy. If you’re interested in upskilling, then you will be in for a lot of well-worth-it video training. They rebroadcast free so you can see what they have on offer at any given time.

Your First 10K Readers – Nick Stephenson’s course all about reader magnets and how to get more readers in general.

Ads for Authors – Probably THE most well known and respected online advertising course for authors – Mark Dawson’s course on advertising from Facebook ads, to Amazon Ads, twitter ads and Book Bub ads. It’s extensive and once you purchase it, you get access to all future updates.

Self-Publishing Launchpad – online Self pub 101 course, again from Mark Dawson. This gets you from completed manuscript to launched book/series and covers everything you need to know. Again, it’s extensive and you have lifetime access to all the updates.

Advertising

Written Word Media – Written Word Media is the company behind promo sites like Freebooksy and Bargain Booksy. Premium membership is a must-have if you are serious about growing your author business. Premium members receive 10% off all Written Word Media promos, 14 days of advance access to inventory, access to the exclusive Limelight promotion, and much more.

KDROI – Sends your book out to free platforms – growing all the time. Be aware of the day of promotion and make sure your book is free. Small one off cost.

Research

KDSPY – A great research tools. Lets you check out your favourite genres and authors. Highlights keywords, best-selling niches that at used. How many books were sold in particular categories. Check availability as its not in all countries right now. Small one off cost.

YouTube– you can find a how to video on just about anything. Check dates for the most current.