So many tools are available to writers today to help edit writing, improve readability, format, and market a book. If you’re self-publishing your novel, you’ll want to have a toolbelt’s worth of creative writing apps and programs that will help improve your writing process and efficiency. Here are some of the most popular writing tools that will help get your book published:  

Grammarly  

Grammarly is one of the most widely used editors on the market. It provides corrections for typos, grammar, and usage. The premium plan also checks for things like tone and readability. It works on most online websites and programs, whether writing a draft in Google Docs or crafting a social media post. Grammarly is not always correct, but we can tell when an author has not used this program because it can pick up the most common mistakes. You can also download the Grammarly extension for your browser to spell-check emails to editors and publishers, marketing materials, Amazon book descriptions, and more. Grammarly also offers a mobile keyboard and app to spell-check text messages and anything you type. The premium version also includes a plagiarism checker. 

ProWritingAid 

ProWritingAid is another enhanced spell checker that’s an alternative to Grammarly. It performs well with long-form content, making it a more feasible creative writing app for book editing and revisions. It also checks for style and readability. The program produces reports to help improve your writing for overused words, sentence length, word variety, and more. You can also set your writing style, so alerts are geared toward fiction, nonfiction, business, or email writing. The free plan is limited to checking 500 words at a time, so you’ll need to invest in the premium plan to check nearly all types of narratives and blog posts.  

ChatGPT  

There’s been a lot of uproar about generative AI tools like ChatGPT in the writing community. It won’t ever fully replace the writing process, but it can be used as a tool for professional writers to help with ideation, outlining, brainstorming, and creating marketing materials. As it stands now, the content it produces is often wordy and bland, requiring heavy editing to make it a polished work. While we’d never recommend it to create content (we have strict rules against using it to create rather than inspire), ChatGPT can help get words on paper and overcome writer’s block.  

Scrivener  

Scrivener is one of the most potent creative writing apps available and is a popular choice for writing and organizing your manuscript. It breaks down your book into sections using folders and cards so that you can write and create when inspiration strikes and organize it later. It also provides options to format a manuscript based on various publisher submission guidelines without losing your original formatting. You can even lay out your writing process so your research and background documents can be cross-referenced from one screen. Within the app, you can organize concepts, ideas, and entirely written chapters, so moving plot points and story elements around is as simple as dragging and dropping.  

Google Docs  

You’re probably already familiar with Google Docs. It’s an obvious choice for online word processing, with cloud storage capabilities that allow you to write without wondering whether you hit the save button. You don’t have to worry about your computer crashing; the content you create is saved to the cloud and can be accessed from any device. Version history gives you even more security, so you’ll never accidentally lose a section of your manuscript. Google Docs also has robust collaboration tools, which are great for editing and revising. One big drawback is that Microsoft Word, the industry standard for writers, doesn’t play well with Google Docs.  

Trello  

Trello is a project management tool that gives you an overview of tasks and projects customized to your needs in Kanban-style boards. You can create cards for to-do assignments, chapters, and scenes. As you progress in your project, move your cards over to the next list so you always know the state of your manuscript. You can organize your boards however you want. Cards are customizable with due dates, comments, checklists, and attachments. There are also in-app integrations with tools like Google Drive, email, Zapier, and others to manage your workflow.  

Evernote  

You can write about anything in Evernote, from creating to-do lists and checklists to drafting notes and tracking business expenses. This robust creative writing app arranges notes, images, links, and more into notebooks accessible from any device. Have your research handy on Evernote as you draft in another creative writing app. Use it for brainstorming, freewriting, or anything else you can think of!   

EABooks Publishing Makes Self-Publishing Easy  

At EABooks Publishing, we’re dedicated to helping you bring your book to interested readers. We’re your self-publishing partner who will guide you through the process, regardless of your program. View more self-publishing resources on our blog. Contact us to get started with your self-publishing journey!