Some of my favourite writing tools and writing organisations
Here are links to my favourite writing and self-publishing organisation, grammar tool, keyword and book category research tool and a comprehensive website backend for authorpreneurs. I’ve only included links to organisations and services that I either use myself or believe will be of assistance to other Australian authors.
Disclosure: in some instances I may receive a micro reward if you click through and go on to purchase from one of these links, but it will not increase the price you pay, and any income received will help me maintain and keep this website up to date.
First up, I just can’t go past:
ALLi – The Alliance of Independent Authors: A fantastic organisation for any self publishing author. From its active and helpful Facebook group to publishing guides, podcasts and member discounts (including for uploading files to IngramSpark), ALLi offers a wealth of up to date information and support for indie authors and self publishing writers. In late 2021 I was very excited to become ALLi’s Australian Ambassador…that’s how much I rate this organisation.
Next on my list, is:
ProWritingAid: Try this software to see what it’s like to have an editor in your pocket. This link will let you try ProWritingAid free. Why? The program will quickly and easily improve your spelling and grammar and will help you identify and convert passive language to active language (this is key for a good reading experience!). It will also highlight how often you repeat the same phrase or words throughout your manuscript and so much more. You can also use ProWritingAid to help with business, freelance and academic writing, even if it’s just to ensure the emails you send are tight and impactful. Hmmm…maybe I should have run this paragraph through ProWritingAid! I especially love it because it does a lot of the heavy lifting before you show your work to an editor, so they can then concentrate on the big stuff.
If you’d like to research how big the market for your book might be, or if you’re well down the track and want to find the best categories and key words for it, you’ll want this next tool for sure.
Publisher Rocket: Publisher Rocket helps your book get discovered on Amazon. It’s a great tool to help you quickly determine the best keywords to use in your title, sub-title, book metadata and ads. It will help you pick the right category for your book and give you insights into other authors and titles also targeting the same readers as you. It basically takes the guess work out of your books being found on Amazon.
Kartra: If you are looking to really build your author business and need an all-in-one website solution combining a marketing funnel, email campaigns, ability to run and deliver video and email courses and so much more, do check out Kartra. It brings together so many useful tools into one cohesive and powerful solution.
Check out the Writing Resources page for plenty of other useful tools, software and contacts for writers and self-publishers.