Featherstone 
My current favourite writing, publishing and marketing tools for authors
Hello there! So here are some of the most helpful tools for authors I use – some on a daily basis!.
You may benefit from some, none, or all depending how you’re planning to produce and market your book, and the stage you’re at.
FYI: I am an associate/affiliate for some of these programs/services as I truly believe in and use them all the time. If you sign up from my links (thanks!) I may receive a micro payment from these orgs for the referral (rest easy, it won’t cost you any more but it well help support me to continue investing time researching and writing this blog). Thanks!
WRITING AND EDITING TOOL
ProWriting Aid: Fabulous to help you spot passive language, overuse of certain terms, spelling, punctuation and grammar problems. Using ProWriting Aid before you send your work off to your editor means they can spend more time really improving your book rather than just fixing little errors.
EASY INTERIOR BOOK FORMATTING FOR PRINT AND EBOOKS
Vellum: I love using Vellum and have used it to quickly and professionally format all my books for print and ebook. If you’re creating an image or design heavy coffee table book, it’s not great for that, but for most fiction and non-fiction it’s a superb choice!
BOOK MARKETING RESEARCH TOOL
Publisher Rocket: Research the best keywords, titles, sub-titles to use in your book, as well as Amazon categories. Work out how many books are being sold each month by other authors in your category and more. Publisher Rocket gives you access to a wealth of data so you can make smarter decisions. It’s also useful if you’re pitching publishers as you can include the information in your book proposal.
ALLIANCE OF INDEPENDENT AUTHORS (ALLi) MEMBERSHIP
ALLi: offers a great resource for indie authors, marketing information, watchdog advice and support and active forums.
AUTHOR NEWSLETTER MAILING LIST TOOL
Mailerlite: Economical, efficient and easy to use author newsletter and email service. Start capturing reader emails as soon as possible as an author mailing list may become one of your most powerful marketing tools.
ONLINE COURSE CREATION FOR AUTHORS
New Zenler: An all in one tool that enables you to set up courses, live webinars, community, email lists and more, economically & efficiently. This is what I built Bold Authors on and I’ve been super happy with it. If it’s part of your business strategy, an online course can be a great way to provide your IP in course form, and gives you room to extend on the material in your book.
INTERNATIONAL AUTHOR ROYALTY PAYMENTS/TRANSFERS
WISE: The international payment platform loved by authors – best value for receiving international payments & much easier than other systems.
A GUIDE TO SELF-PUBLISHING
Look-It’s Your Book!: If you’re thinking of self-publishing in Australia, this is the most comprehensive guide available. Yes, as the author, I’m a little biased, but I think you’ll get great value from it. You can also borrow a copy from your library or ask your local librarian to get a copy in.
MINI-COURSES TO HELP YOU GET UP TO SPEED FAST
Bold Authors: from how to apply for grants to the ideal timeline to follow when you’re self-publishing, through to how to market audiobooks and get your books into libraries – there’s a short course that may help save you money, time and frustration!