2019 EDITION

FREE WRITING APPS

AND TOOLS
For Authors, Bloggers, Influencers,
and Content Creators

BY
DAN JANAL
 Copyright © 2019 by Dan Janal

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or

transmitted by any person or entity in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,
scanning, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
the prior permission in writing from the publisher.

To work with Dan Janal as your book coach, developmental editor, or

ghostwriter, go to WriteYourBookInAFlash.com
 Table of Contents

You Can Write Your Great Book for Free!

Word Processors and Writing Apps
Screenwriting and Novel Tools
Distraction-free Writing Tools
Dyslexia Fonts
Gamification Writing Tools
Dictation and Transcription
Grammar Checkers
Grammar Checkers for Fiction
Deadwood Cutter
Grammar Test for Copy Editors and Proofreaders
Grammar Education and Reference Tools
Dictionary
Thesaurus
Style Reference Guides
Collaboration Tools
File Sharing
Conferencing
Readability Test Tools
Plagiarism
Time Trackers
Ambient Sounds
Note Taking
Mind Map
Outliners
Brainstorming Tools for Content Writing
Prompts That Get You to Think
Idea Spinners
Trending Topics
Headline Prompts
Plot Generator
Name Generator
Character Generator
Story Title Generator
Blog Analysis Tools
Keyword Research
Graphics Tools
Images and Pictures
Infographics
Translation
Text-to-Speech Reader
Research
Research Notification
Books on Writing
Writing Courses
Writing Contests
Writing Advice
Find Ghostwriters, Illustrators, Proofreaders, and Other Writing Team
Members
Book Covers and Interior Design Templates
Market Research
Book Market Research
Book Description Generator
Email marketing
Next Steps
Write Your Book in a Flash
About the Author, Dan Janal
 You Can Write Your Great Book for Free!

You want to write Your Great Book, but you have a mountain of
college loans to pay off and your only income is the tip jar at your
barista job.
How can you afford to buy the software that can turn your words into
gems, your thoughts into plots, and your ideas into characters that
will be remembered for generations?
I have two words for you:
Free. Software.
Everyone loves to get something for free!
I sure do.
And since you are reading this book, you do too!
This book will show you the gems of software, apps, and tools that
can make your writing shine–for free. So you can spend your hard-
earned money on other things–like marketing and promotion so
people will buy your books.
Free software–as you'll see in these pages–is just as good–if not
better–than expensive software that might have more bells and
whistles you'll never use.

Why Should I Buy a Book When I Can Find Free Stuff Online?
Good question!
Sure, you could find some free stuff. But you’d spend precious hours
looking for those tools. And you wouldn’t know which ones were
good, which ones were great, and which ones were useless.
That's why you need a trusted advisor like me to share the best
ideas in a book. You might find a free tool that is much better than a
tool you would pay hundreds of dollars for. Yes, there are bargains
available. You'll save so much time and money–plus you'll find the
software you can't live without.
Also, you don’t know what you don’t know. In this book, you’ll find
hidden gems to do things you didn’t know were possible.

Tools that:

Help you overcome writer’s block.

Create plots and characters for you.
Thesauruses that find words for you based on concepts, not just
synonyms and antonyms.
Tools that will help you find a title for your book.
Marketing tools to help you sell more books.
And much, much more.

These tools could take your writing–and your sales–up several

notches!
That’s why you need to invest in an inexpensive book to show you
how to save big money and get big ideas!
This book is perfect for:

Bloggers with a budget.

Writers who need ideas.
Storytellers who want fresh perspectives.
Thought leaders hung up on perfection.
Anyone on a budget.

What You’ll Find

This book is a great resource whether this is your first book or
fifteenth book.

You’ll find:

Helpful summaries of preferred tools.

Links to the best tools. With one click, you can test products. No
typing required.
Easy to find tools classified by topics.
NO BS.
Tips and pointers.
A comprehensive list of free tools in a concise e-book.
Free tools you might have heard of but didn't know what they
did.
New tools you’ll be excited to explore.
Concise descriptions.
Links to websites for deeper descriptions and video overviews.
Up-to-date information on products you can use today. No
vaporware! No bad links.

Finding one tool that helps you write faster and better is well worth
the nominal cost of the book. This is a MUST-read book if you are
working with a limited writing and blogging budget.

What You Won’t Find

You won’t find every feature of every product. If I listed every
grammar checker, you’d get bored, and I’d get fried! I hope to give
you enough insight into good products so you’ll want to visit their
websites for more info and see if that product is what you need.
You’ll find enough info to get you started. I won’t bore you with how-
tos and step-by-step directions. Many sites have that info and good
video demos to walk you through the process.
My goal is to show you the wonderful tools you didn’t know about so
you can write better without spending a fortune. If I didn’t include
every operating system or feature, well, what can I say? I tried to do
my best without overwhelming you with too much technical info.
Remember, you can find in-depth info on their websites.
If you have a favorite app that isn’t here, I’d love to hear about it. And
I might include it in the next edition!

Free Can Mean Many Things

All products listed here are free. Some are completely free. Some
are sort of free. By that, I mean you can try it for free for a few days
or weeks. That should give you a good idea if you’d like to buy it. In a
few, rare cases, I list products that cost $20 or less. That’s almost
free.
Many of these products are free. You couldn’t buy them if you
wanted to. Other products have free trial periods, which means you
can try it for a set period then decide whether to buy it. The choice is
yours. Sometimes, the product is full featured. In other cases, paid
versions include extra features.
I want you to do what is right for you. If you can’t live without the
product, then I’m glad I introduced you to it. Occasionally, I might
earn a commission if you buy it.
In other cases, you might need to use it only once (like a grammar
checker on your entire manuscript) and you won’t need it again.
Congratulations! You got a product for free. If you feel you want to
use it every day, then buy it. Look at it this way: when you create
your book, do you want people to buy it, or read it for free. Karma
baby, karma.
I’ve also included the price of products that offer a free trial. In most
cases, the fee is small, like $6 a month–or even less if you pay for an
annual subscription.

Free: You Get More than What You Paid For

The old saying “you get what you pay for” is not true with free
software. You can get access to great products–if only for a short
time. Then it is up to you to decide if those programs have a value
worth paying for.
The overwhelming majority of products featured are free and fully
functional. Some are free and functional, but offer more function in
paid versions. Others are free for a short period (7 to 30 days) and
then require a purchase. Sometimes, you might use the service for
the trial period, and do all you need to do (i.e., brainstorm or check
grammar). In other cases, you might want to use the full-featured
product for the rest of your writing life (i.e., when you write your next
book). It’s all up to you.
And what's better than free?

What’s the Difference Between an App, Software, and an Online

Tool or Form?

Apps–used on a phone or tablet.

Software–downloaded program that either work as a stand-
alone program, or is an add on to an existing program (like
Word) or a browser (like Safari, Chrome, or Firefox).
Online Tools or Forms–use their website to create or edit your
work.

Some programs work on all operating systems–desktop and mobile.

Some work with both Mac and Windows. Others work with only one
OS.

After Reading This Book…

You’ll wish you had found this book long ago.
It is the type of book you will return to repeatedly.
You’ll bust through writer’s block, defeat distractions, trash time
stealers, and be more effective, efficient and inspired!
Let’s get started!
This is the best free software resource for writers in 2019.
 Word Processors and Writing Apps

The word processor is the engine of any writing system. If you have
Word already on your computer, you probably need not look any
further. There isn’t anything Word can’t do. But if you don’t have
Word–or if you have specific demands for writing scripts and novels,
read on. Some tools will surprise you with tools that Word didn’t think
of.
But first, let’s look at simple free word processors:

Google Docs is a word processor that also lets you easily

collaborate with your co-author, editor, or agent. For example,
you can send your manuscript to your editor for revisions and
comments.

As an online service, you can access your files anywhere as long as

you have an internet connection. It will also automatically save your
files, which can be great for people who forget to do backups. Yes,
I’m talking to you. You know who you are. Free. Online.

If you want more than just a word processor, LibreOffice offers a

suite of free programs–word processor, presentation software,
spreadsheet, and more. It is compatible with Word. Two cool
features are autocorrect, which corrects your typos as you type;
and autofill, which attempts to complete words as you type.
Free. Online.

Bare-bones Word Processors

These bare-bones word processors might be good for writing the first
draft, but they won't have enough features to get you to your final
manuscript. That's because you'll need special formatting for titles,
fonts, lists, and other options not available in these bare-bones tools.
These word processors are bare-bones on purpose. You can’t futz
around testing 100 different fonts or other interesting features, so
you stay focused on writing.

IA Writer: Trial only. Windows. macOS. iPhone. iPad. Android.

Zen Pen: Free. Online tool.
Calmly Writer: Free. Chrome OS.
WriteMonkey: Linux. Windows. macOS. Free.
FocusWriter: Linux. Windows. macOS. Free.
 Screenwriting and Novel Tools

Word is perfectly adequate for writing a novel, book, or blog. I’ve

written more than a dozen non-fiction books with Word. But several
tools offer more help for novels and screenwriting:

Scrivener is the industry standard novel-writing tool. Beyond

word processing, it has tools like cork board to post ideas, and
file organization so you can arrange–and rearrange scenes–and
so much more. Unlike the other programs listed here, it has
templates for screenwriters. This is important because
Hollywood demands a certain format. That format is hard to
duplicate with a simple word processor. Believe me, agents will
throw out your wonderful script if it doesn’t look the way they
expect it to look. They can be picky and they are. Formatting is
the first hoop to jump through. However, because Scrivener has
so many tools, the learning curve is steep. Fortunately, you can
watch free videos on YouTube to master the program–and use
only the features you need. Free trial for 30 days of use (not 30
days, but 30 days you use the software) and then $45, which is
a bargain. Windows. Mac. iOS.
yWriter lets you think in terms of scenes, not just chapters. It
has character cards and tags. It also includes a storyboard and
stats on how often a character appears. It can show you how
many words are in a chapter and in the book. PC only. Free
LitLift helps novelists with outlines, plots, scenes, and
storyboards. You could beat writer’s block with its built-in
character name and traits generator. Free. Web-based app.
Atomic Scribbler helps novelists create new projects, add
scenes and notes, and move scenes. You can store material
and notes. Free. PC only.
 Distraction-free Writing Tools

Distraction is the enemy of writing. I'm the poster child for looking for
things to do other than write. In college, instead of writing a term
paper, I'd reorganize my bookshelf. First, by subject. Then, by the
color of the book spine. Then, by height. If you could chain me to a
desk, I would have written the paper faster.
It is so easy to get distracted by playing with fonts or checking
Facebook. Here is a selection of writing tools that force you to focus
on your writing:

Do you write and edit at the same time and then get into the
dreaded paralysis by analysis? Ilys helps people who get
paralyzed by wanting to write and edit at the same time. Give it
up! You can’t do that! Your brain doesn’t work that way. Ilys
doesn’t let you second-guess yourself because you can’t
backspace. To start the program, you set a word count goal.
After you hit your goal, then you can see what you’ve written
and edit it. You will have 3,000 free trial words to play with. After
that, a monthly membership is only $3.99, or get the yearly
subscription for $39.99. Online tool.
Sprinter is a basic word processor that lets you type for 15
minutes. You write via your browser and save the file to
Dropbox, Google Drive or Evernote. You can also set the timer
for more time or for a word count limit. I tell everyone they can
write a book in two months if they write 15 minutes a day. Free.
Online tool.
Do you sit down to write and then spend the day playing games,
catching up on social media, and checking email? Stayfocusd
 lets you set your own personal limit on the time you spend on
those activities. But once that time is up, you can’t access them
for the rest of the day. Instead of going cold turkey, as other
apps do, this one lets you get a few highs before turning off.
Free. Chrome app.
Similarly, Freedom blocks sites that distract you from writing.
You can set times in advance and have recurring sessions in
case you write at the same time every day. It can block sites on
all your devices. Free trial for seven days, then $2.50 per month.
Browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Opera with the
installation of the underlying software. Mac. Windows. iOS.
Self Control blocks websites, social media and email for as long
as you set the timer. Free. iOS App.
Blank Page is a bare-bones word processor. You tell it how
many words you can to write and it tracks your progress. It's like
a Fitbit for writing. You can see how many days you hit your goal
on a calendar view. It works on all platforms and devices so you
can write anywhere. They'll send you inspirational tips every
day, if you like. There's a seven-day free trial, then $5 a month.
iOS. Android.

These tools solve real problems for people who have a hard time
focusing or procrastinating. If that sounds like you and 98 percent of
the writing world, then try them.
 Dyslexia Fonts

How many great novels could have been written by people with
dyslexia, who were turned off to reading and writing? We’ll never
know. Dyslexia is a specific learning disability characterized by
difficulties with accurate or fluent word recognition and by poor
spelling and decoding abilities, as defined by the International
Dyslexia Foundation.
Open Dyslexia provides a typeface that claims to work well for
people with dyslexia. You download the file and install it in your word
processor. Although no formal studies have been done, the program
author says it works with a group of her dyslexic friends. She also
recommends using the Comic Sans font if you have dyslexia. Free.
Windows. macOS. Linux. Android. iOS.
 Gamification Writing Tools

People love games. People love rewards. People hate penalties.

With those parameters, why not turn writing into a game?
Write or Die believes that “writing has consequences.” You set word
and time limits (i.e., write 1,000 words in 30 minutes) or bad things
will happen! Actually, loud noises will sound. The sounds stop when
you type. In kamikaze mode, words will disappear if you slack off!
You can also set the game for rewards if positive thoughts motivate
you. You’ll hear kittens purr. $20. iPad. iPhone.
 Dictation and Transcription

If you’re the person who can talk for hours, but can’t type for five
minutes, then you can dictate your book. Dictation has three
components:

1. Speaking your ideas in a logical, coherent, and chapter-like

manner.
2. Transcribing your file.
3. Editing your file.

You can dictate your book into your phone, computer or recorder for
free. Just about every computer has a recording feature.

The next step is to find a transcription service:

The iPhone includes Dragon Dictate, a leading pioneer in voice

recognition. You can dictate your book–or even emails and
notes and Dragon Dictate will transcribe as you talk. If you
speak clearly and slowly and tell it to add punctuation and new
paragraphs, then you can get a decent transcript–for free.

Automated transcription has come a long way in a short time. The

bare minimum level of service includes a file that lets you edit the
words–and the audio file–simultaneously. You should also be able to
search the text or the audio for any word so you can find information
quickly.
 Otter.ai records and transcribes your conversations, interviews,
and podcasts. Also, you can upload an audio file and Otter turns
it into a text document. The free account gives you 600 minutes
of transcription per month, every month. If you need to upgrade,
6,000 minutes costs $9.99 per month. iOS. Google Play.
YouTube transcribes your videos for free! Online tool.

No one speaks perfectly! You must edit the file so it sounds natural
for writing and reading.
Also, as good as these programs are, there is room for improvement.
They won’t catch names, slang, or foreign words.
They might pick up “ums” and “ahs.” If so, here’s a neat trick I
created: use your word processor’s search and replace feature to
replace those aspirants with a blank space. That tip will save you a
lot of time.
Some programs allow you to download the file with the time code
attached. Don’t. You’ll spend a lot of time removing the code. If you
were a podcaster, this would be a must-have feature, but you aren’t.
Finally, if you need perfect transcription, hire a transcriber. Since this
is a book about free tools, I won’t touch that subject.
 Grammar Checkers

Although Word comes with a grammar checker, it is extremely

limited. Mistakes that will embarrass you frequently slip by. You’ll
want to run your manuscript through a dedicated grammar checking
app. However, I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about two of the leading
grammar checkers–even though they are not technically free. I’d
suggest you try every program during the trial period and then
decide which one works best for you. There are plenty of interesting
choices!

Grammarly’s browser extension checks anything you type

anything on the web - an email, text boxes, social media posts,
or even a form on YouTube. Grammarly will flag your errors and
offer a suggestion. This tool has saved me from a lot of
embarrassing typos in emails. Free. Chrome. Safari. Firefox.
Windows. macOS.

Grammarly finds mistakes with spelling, punctuation, and grammar–

and much more such as words used too often, misused words,
missing articles, and weak adjectives. For a book I co-wrote,
Grammarly pointed out dozens of passive sentences, clichés, and
words to eliminate without damaging the text (i.e., just, many, most,
that, some, and so). On the negative side, it pointed out items I didn't
consider a problem. You can decide what to keep and what to
change. Sometimes you want a sentence to be passive. It is nice to
have a program point out the possibilities. The free version checks
spelling, grammar, and punctuation. More features are available for
$11.66 per month when billed annually for $139.95. Windows.
macOS.
Slick Write looks for the same errors as Hemingway Editor. It
edits your content for adverbs, passive voice, awkward
phrasing, and complex sentences and displays the results in
different colors, so you can quickly see what errors it has found.
To use this product, go to the Slick Write website and open a
file, or paste an item. It quickly edits your work. Free. Browser
extension for Chrome and Firefox.
Ginger Software offers a grammar checker, punctuation, and
spell checker tool, for online writing tasks, such as email, social
media, and blogs. Free. Safari. Chrome.
 Grammar Checkers For Fiction

Fiction writers need more flexibility from their grammar checkers.

Whereas the apps in the previous chapter might remind you of your
strict English grammar teacher in high school, the apps in this
chapter are the cool English teacher who let you get away with
writing “gonna” and “wanna” and other words you use in real
dialogue. The other programs will flag those words as errors. These
tools know what you are trying to accomplish.
These grammar checkers help fiction writers. The list of features and
reports is too long to list here, but at a minimum, you can find free
grammar checkers that offer 25 reports that flag a range of potential
pitfalls in your writing like transitions, vague and abstract words,
repetitiveness, vague wording, sentence length variation, over-
dependence on adverbs, passive voice, clichés, and over-
complicated sentence constructions. These tools stand out by
offering more than the basics:

Wordcounter shows if you overuse words. This helps you

maintain variety in your writing. Just paste your text into the
online window and set your parameters. Free. Online.
Editomat identifies speakers and dialog. It can analyze each
speaker's style. This can be handy if one character speaks with
distinctive patterns, like slang or repeated words, you know? It
won't flag those items that would stand out in other programs.
The evaluation copy is fully functional, but has a limit of 20,000
characters, which is enough for a short story, blog post, or
chapter. Free for 30 days. The full version is $20. Windows.
Mac. Linux.
SmartEdit can check only dialog or only prose. This helps do a
better job of proofreading and grammar checking because of the
context. It works inside Word for Windows, which is a great
convenience compared to other tools that work only with
copying a file into their programs. Unfortunately, it does not work
with a Mac, or I would have bought this program. Download a
free trial for 10 days, or buy it for $77. Microsoft Word add-in for
Windows only. No Mac version.
ProWritingAid is an online editor, writing coach, and style guide.
It also provides a dictionary, quotes, and word clouds. Free.
Online tool. The free version only edits up to 3,000 words at a
time and is available for online use only. The premium version
costs $60 per year or $210 for lifetime access and can be used
on desktops or online. Windows. Mac. Chrome. Google Docs.
AutoCrit edits your words by genre (like mystery or science
fiction) or by an author you want to mimic (like Stephen King).
The free version provides 20 reports that can help with pacing
and dialog, needless words, repetitions, and clichés. They offer
a seven-day free trial. The upgrade costs $30 a month with a
60-day money-back guarantee. Online tool.
 Deadwood Cutter

I always tell my clients, “The less you write, the more you say.” I
mean that if you remove the clutter, readers can see the information
and the meaning. Less is more.
WordRake goes beyond grammar checkers. It “tightens, tones, and
clarifies your writing.” For example: “There was nothing that”
becomes “Nothing.” You can accept or reject any suggestion. The
company says it spots an average of 7-12 suggested edits per page.
It can scan 25 pages in less than a minute–and find 250 “errors.”
WordRake operates within Word on Mac or Windows so you don’t
have to export files. Free seven-day trial, then $129 for a year. Add-
in for Word on Mac and Windows.
 Grammar Test for Copy Editors and Proofreaders

No matter how good a proofreader you think you are, errors will slip
by you. And your spouse. And your friend. And your pal who teaches
English. I strongly advise you to hire a good copy editor and
proofreader. But how will you know if they are good?
Recommendations help. But that could be the blind leading the blind.
Why not give them a test?
Kindlepreneur offers a free test for editors. Download a clean test
sheet as a Word file and give it to your candidates. You can compare
their edits to the test key to see how well they do.
 Grammar Education and Reference Tools

Some people want to know how to do things and not merely rely on
computers. It’s sort of like people who want to do multiplication or
addition by hand instead of using a computer. Grammar is one of
those things that can be painfully boring, or endlessly fascinating to
learn. If you are in the latter camp, check out these sites to learn how
the English language operates so you can be the master of the
domain:

Guide to Grammar and Writing–Learn grammar on this website.

Includes many examples and definitions of basic and complex
topics.
Common Errors in English–The website of Professor Paul
Brians of Washington State University offers thousands of
misused words or phrases, such as this:

Less painless

Quite a few people accidentally say they want to make a process

“less painless” when they mean “less painful.” “Less painless” would
be more painful.
Not only does he cover the obvious errors, but he shows hundreds of
more errors you don't see in other books or websites, like:

Hippie / hippy
A long-haired 60s flower child was a “hippie.” “Hippy” is an adjective
describing someone with wide hips. The IE ending is not caused by
a Y changing to IE in the plural, as in “puppy” and “puppies.” It is
rather a dismissive diminutive, invented by older, more sophisticated
hipsters looking down on the new kids as mere “hippies.” Confusing
these two is definitely unhip.
He reports “non-errors” like split infinitives, ending a sentence with a
preposition, and starting a sentence with a conjunction (And). The
English language constantly changes, and he shows what is now
acceptable that your wicked fifth-grade teacher rejected.
Plus, he offers wit along with the wisdom to make grammar a fun
read. “Common Errors in English Usage“ is available as a book from
Amazon.
 Dictionary
No, all dictionaries are not equal. These tools give a new meaning to
dictionaries:

Dictionary.com does more than define words. It also shows its

origin and uses it in a sentence, usually a sentence by a famous
person. As a person who loves words, you could easily spend a
lot of time reading word trivia on this site. For example, did you
know there’s a word for “when a cat is so cute you want to bite
its face off.” It also owns Thesaurus.com, which is excellent.
Free. Online tool.
Merriam Webster Online is like Dictionary.com, plus it includes
fun facts. It also has a thesaurus. Free. Online tool.
Urban Dictionary has words and phrases you never heard of,
but your 10-year-old nephew has. If you want your work to
include words and phrases from popular culture, check this out.
Free. Online tool.
Imagine a dictionary on steroids (the legal kind) and you’ve
imagined One Look Dictionary Search. Not only does it provide
definitions, but you can find words that start with a certain word
or end with a certain word and it will show you all the
combinations. This is great for when you have the word on the
tip of your tongue but you can’t think of the word. For example, I
know it’s a bird. And it is blue. This tool shows bluebird, blue jay
and so on. You can also type concepts like “winter sports” to find
skiing, skating, curling, and others. If you’d like to brainstorm
(see brainstorming tools), you can type a word like “ski” and ask
the tool to find other words containing the word ski. You’d find
“Ski-U-Mah” which is a rallying cry for the University of
Minnesota Golden Gophers. No, I don’t expect you to care
about the U, but it shows how deep this service is.
You know what you want to say, but you can’t think of the word?
Use Reverse Dictionary. For one of my books, I wanted to find
what you call the person who travels with a rock band. Answer:
Roadie. A person who sleeps with the band? Groupie. Free.
Online tool.
 Thesaurus

I didn’t think I’d spend much time reviewing thesauri, but the quality
and diversity in this category amazed me. A true word lover’s
paradise! Hey is there a word for that?

Dictionary.com owns Thesaurus.com, so it shows definitions

and word origins and the expected–synonyms, antonyms, and
related words.
Power Thesaurus is another fantastic thesaurus. One cool
feature is its capability to search for words that have broader or
narrower relevance. For example, when I type “ski” and broader,
it shows “travel,” “move,” and “locomote.” When I look for
narrower, it shows, “water ski,” “schuss,” and “slalom.” It also
shows definitions and uses the word in a sentence.

A thesaurus is a terrific creativity tool. For example, you can use it to

find rhyming words, such as funny means money. Or you can look
for words that begin with the same letter. That's called alliteration.
 Style Reference Guides

Each publisher has their own preferred style guide, as do copy

editors and proofreaders. There is no right or wrong, nor better. It
depends on what your publisher prefers. Learning all the differences
in style will drive you crazy.
You can buy the books and have a handy reference at your desk. Or
you can use an online guide to search for free. I prefer free because
you’ll find the answers quickly and you’ll save money. Unless you
plan to be a red-hot copy editor, you don’t need the hard-copy books
on your desk.
Here are three main guides, which you can use for free online, or
buy the book:

Associated Press Stylebook (AP)–for newspaper style.

Chicago Manual of Style–for academic style and book style.
MLA Handbook–for academic style and book style.
 Collaboration Tools

No book is an island. No book should be written alone. When I work

with my authors as a book developmental editor, they constantly
send me new material, which I review, critique, and correct. It is
essential you have tools to enhance this collaborative effort. I must
admit that I learned this the hard way as my client and I both became
“word blind” when she revised a chapter for the umpteenth time and
didn’t mark her changes. It was impossible to see what she changed.
Then we hit on collaboration tools that made our lives easier:

It takes a team to create a book. Trello helps you collaborate

with your writing partners (think editors, proofreaders, designers,
blurbers and dozens of others). This powerful project
management tool lets you post lists, due dates, calendar items,
to-dos, and share everything via Dropbox or Google Docs. It
also includes tools for notifying team members. Free. Online
tool. iOS. Android.
Writing a book–or even a blog - involves many tasks. You can
keep track of those tasks easily with Todoist, which lets you
manage 80 tasks for free. You can manage more tasks in the
paid version, but if you have over 80 tasks, you probably won't
ever finish your book! You can create recurring tasks, (i.e., Write
every day at 10 a.m.). You can assign tasks to others, which will
help when you send work out to copy editors, designers, and
other team members.
David Seah Productivity Tools has dozens, if not hundreds, of
free paper-based forms (and some Excel forms) to track time,
tasks, project and more. If you’re a paper person, this is the
place for you.
Basecamp keeps track of projects, to-dos, calendars,
messaging and chats, plus provides storage areas for
documents. Free for 30 days. Mac. PC. iOS. Android.
Diff Checker compares two documents and shows the
differences. This can be great for collaborating with your editors
or to check previous drafts. Free. Online tool. Desktop version
for Mac, Window, and Linux is $49 but comes with a 30-day free
trial.
 File Sharing

You’ll want to share your files with editors and you’ll want to back up
your files. Several free programs help you do this.
Google Docs and Dropbox are free. Need I say more?
They store all your files on your computer and in the cloud. That
means you can access them via your desktop or mobile device. This
is great for when you are traveling and need to update files. If you
are collaborating with an editor, you can both read and update the
files. It works with all file types–from word processors to images. It’s
great having an automatic backup of all your work! You can think of
Dropbox as the “My Documents” folder on your computer so you’ll
have an updated version of your manuscript and other files. And it
will automatically backup your files to the cloud so you’ll never worry
about your hard drive crashing and losing your precious manuscript.
Free. You can pay extra if you need more storage. Online tool.
 Conferencing

When you’re in San Diego and your publisher is in New York and
your agent is in Los Angeles, how can you get together in one place,
at one time, to hash things out? Glad you asked. Here is a voice
solution and a camera solution if you like to look in people’s eyes.

FreeConferenceCallHD.com lets you hold a conference so you

can interview subjects and record the conversation. You can
download an audio file and send it to your transcription service. I
use this all the time and have had no problems. An on-screen
dashboard shows you are recording the call, who is on the call
and provides tools for moderating, such as mute, lecture, and
Q&A. Free. Online tool.

Many other conference call companies exist with similar names. I’m
guessing they are all good, but this is the one I use:

Zoom is a video conferencing tool that is becoming the go-to

app for webinars and podcasts. But there are also benefits for
authors. You can interview your subjects on Zoom and create an
audio file you can send to a transcription app. People say
Zoom’s voice quality is far superior to other video services and
SKYPE. If you enjoy looking people in the eye, Zoom offers
video. But if your interview subjects are shy or if you are having
a bad hair day, you can turn off the video. You can have an
unlimited number of meetings on the free plan, but it limits calls
to 40 minutes. Free. Online tool.
 Readability Test Tools

If you have a tendency to toss around lots of big words and complex
sentences (I’m looking at myself here), then you’ll love a tool that
can test the readability of your work.
The readability score of your article helps you to know how well your
readers will understand your post.
To be fair, you can find readability text tools in Word and in many
grammar checkers. So why would you want to use a stand-alone
program?
Readable.io is like other programs, AND it will also look for keyword
density, gender, buzzwords, crutch words, and more. Paste your
material into its online box and see results instantly. Free. Online
tool. More features are available with the paid version, starting at $4
per month.
 Plagiarism

Unintentional copying could be a problem because it is so easy to

search the web, find articles, paste them into a new document and
rewrite it. But it's hard to remember what you copied and what you
wrote. Memory fades with time.
Fortunately, you can use several free tools to check for plagiarism.
You’d be crazy not to–because your professional reputation is at risk
if you copy and get caught. Not to mention restitution.

Unicheck searches the web to see if your content is identical to

the content on another site. You can see the original source to
see if you copied the material, and if so, you can cite the source
properly. It's free as an add-on to Google Docs and available
with a 14-day trial for purchase.
Quetext uses its proprietary “deep search” technology to search
20 million books, 1 million journals, and 35 billion web pages.
Their breakthrough tool checks for context and exact matches.
Pirates, beware! Free. Online tool.
Do you think someone has copied your material? You can also
use Copyscape to find sites where YOUR work has been
copied.

Several grammar checkers offer plagiarism tools, but they usually

cost extra.
 Time Trackers

I like to tell my coaching clients that if they don’t have 15 minutes to

write their books, then they will never write their books. It is such a
small time period! It’s easy to do. And it is easy not to do. Several
tools will track your time to motivate you to write. You can use the
timer on your phone. Free. iOS. Android.
Tomato Timer is a countdown timer. If you like to set goals, this can
be a great tool. Also known as the Pomedoro Technique, if you set a
small, time-based goal, you are more likely to achieve the goal than
if you didn’t use the timer. Let’s say you want to write for 15 minutes
a day, you set the timer and get to work. It will ring when the time is
up. Sounds crazy, but many people tell me it works for them. Free.
Online tool.
 Ambient Sounds

Maybe it’s too quiet where you write. Perhaps the sound of a bustling
coffee shop, or a mountain stream would inspire you. “There’s an
app for that!”

My Noise produces more than 150 sounds ranging from a

coffee shop to the Irish coast, white noise, and data center. If
hearing your baby cry prevents you from writing, there's a sound
that will help put the baby to sleep. Free. iOS.
Nozio is an ambient sound maker that creates a variety of
noises, from the sounds of rain to the rumble of a car engine
and more. You can create your own mix of ambient noises
based on what you need that day, such as October rain, coffee
house, sea waves, deep space, campfire, and thunderstorm.
Free. iOS.
 Note Taking

One of the first steps in writing a book is research. You'll need a

good tool to take notes, screenshots and save web pages.
Evernote is probably the most widely used note-taking program. You
can capture your ideas, web pages, video, images–anything. Then
cut and paste it into your manuscript. It works on your desktop and
mobile devices, which means you can capture a great idea at a
conference on your phone and transfer it to your desktop. You can
even email notes to yourself or your collaborators.
Writers also use Evernote to capture ideas, checklists, timetables,
editorial calendars, blog posts, and ideas. You can conduct research
on the web and save the articles in Evernote for future review. You
can also dictate notes.
Although they offer several plans, I’ve used the free service for years
and it offers me more space and functionality than I need. I suppose
if you have a lot of graphics or big files, you can pay to upgrade.
Free. Mac. Windows. iOS.
Notes on iOS. If you have an iPhone or iPad, you have a free note-
taking app built in. While it is good for taking quick notes, it doesn’t
offer the same copying functions as with Evernote.
 Mind Map

We are all wired differently. Some people are auditory and would
prefer to speak their book out loud. Some people are visual. They
might prefer a mind map program. A mind map is a graphical way to
represent ideas and concepts. It is a visual brainstorming tool that
helps you to better comprehend, analyze, recall, and generate new
ideas. In a mind map, you post ideas and link them to other ideas.
Think of an organizational chart with lots of interactive features.
Try these free tools and see if they unleash your creativity.

Coggle is two programs in one: mind-mapping program and a

flow-chart generator. Both are free, but you can access them
only with a Google account.
Scrapple has basic mind-mapping features. It has a 30-day trial
and costs $15 for the full version.
iMindMap says it is “the most modern tool.” It produces radial
maps, organizational charts, and cord boards. Free for a 7-day
trial, and $100 for home or student use.
 Outliners

Outlines, to my way of thinking, are the perfect way to organize

thoughts. I use Microsoft Word’s outliner to create my books. It is
probably the best outliner you can get because it automatically adds
numbers and indents. If you move anything, the program
automatically renumbers everything. Plus, you have your choice of
styles for fonts, indents, numbers or letters. Included in Word.
If you don't use Word and need an outlining tool, WorkFlowy does
the trick. It uses bullets only, though, and it indents. It doesn’t have
all the formatting and numbering options of Word. Free. Online tool.
 Brainstorming Tools For Content Writing

“How do I get over writer’s block?” is the number one question

people ask me. These entries offer many ideas to get your creative
juices flowing.
Everyone knows content is king but nobody ever tells you how to get
great ideas so you can write great content.
Everyone gets writer’s block occasionally. If you have an outline, you
can usually get started, as I share in my book, “Write Your Book In A
Flash.” But sometimes you need something more to release your
creativity. You can find ideas with these five types of tools:

Prompts that get you to think.

Idea spinners.
Trending topics.
Headline prompts.
Plot generators.
 Prompts That Get You To Think

The first set of prompts ask you to get inside your head and think
about situations that affect you:

Daily Page emails you a prompt every day, such as “What is the
most common excuse you make?” If you don’t like it, you can
select another. The service tracks your words per day so you
chart your progress. Free. Online tool.
Prompts has 300,000 prompts you can scroll through. It uses
artificial intelligence to learn your writing style and generate
unique writing prompts based on your unique writing style,
objectives, and writing goals. iPhone App. 99 cents.
Writer’s Digest offers story prompts such as these two:

You can even upload your story to the comments section so others
can read–or comment–on your masterpiece. Free. Online tool.

Imagination Prompt Generator shows you a random prompt like:

I would like to invent...

When I'm sad...
Describe a typical day during your junior high school years.

If you want more inspiration, click “next.” Free. Online tool.

 Idea Spinners

I call this next category of prompts “idea spinners” because they take
your basic idea (i.e., keyword or phrase) and re-imagine it by pairing
it with other words and phrases. The result is a mash-up of thoughts
that can give you hundreds of new possibilities.
Answer the Public takes your keyword and creates dozens of
thought-provoking questions. For example, it generated nearly 800
ideas in a few seconds. Nearly all of them were not only spot on but
thought provoking. Here are a few results:

Question words:

What–What are publicity campaigns?

When–When to use publicity?
How–How to publicize my business?
Which–Which publicity stunt backfired the most?
Can–Can bad publicity be good?

Prepositions:

For–Publicity for authors.

With–Publicity with animals.

Comparisons:

Publicity vs. advertising.

 Publicity and the criminal justice system.
Publicity or propaganda.

Alphabetical

Publicity activities.
Publicity business definition.
Publicity campaign.

You can download the results for further analysis or to create an

editorial calendar for tweets, blog posts, and articles. Free. Online
tool.
Keyword tool takes your series of words (i.e., how can I write a book)
and finds related keywords on Google and presents them as a list.
It’s like Google’s autofill feature on search.
For example: “How can I write a book?” leads to:

How can I write a book on my iPad?

How can I write a book about my life?
How can I write a book and get it published?

These are all excellent results. You can also search Amazon, eBay,
and YouTube.
Free. Online tool. The paid version shows you how popular each
search is.
 Trending Topics

Not all ideas come from your head or someone else’s imagination.
The prompts come from the news of the day, or topics trending on
social media. These tools help you find what’s hot so you can write
about timely topics.

Twitter Trending Topics shows what's hot in a sidebar on your

Twitter home page. You can also search Twitter for topics or
people in the search bar on the top of the page.
AllTop aggregates all the top news and information in real time.
Their editors have carefully crafted each topic with the best
sources allowing you to see what's happening quickly and from
trusted sources. You can customize your own personal news
feed from 32,000 sources.
BuzzSumo lets you input keywords to search the web for
trending topics. Free. Online tool.
 Headline Prompts

The purpose of a headline is to get people to read your story or blog.

If you write a dull headline, fewer people will read your message.
You can also use this tool for book titles, chapter names, and
subheadings.
Maybe you have a great blog post or story for your book, but you
can’t think of a clever headline. No worries. These tools can help.

Hubspot’s Topic Generator creates sample headlines or ideas

for you after you type in three to five keywords or topics. I typed
in “books, publicity, and budget” and it showed several strong
headlines and one loser. Can you spot the loser?

Books: Expectations vs. Reality.

Will Publicity Ever Rule the World?
The Next Big Thing in Budget.
Books Explained in 140 Characters or Less.
This Week’s Top Stories in Publicity.

Trick question. There are three losers. But two out of five isn’t bad.
If you register for free, Hubspot will send you 250 additional ideas.
I’d suggest you type in keywords your audience researches. That
might help your blog post appear high on Google. I can’t guarantee
this, but you’ll be pointing in the right direction.
 Portent's Content Idea Generator creates sample headlines
from keywords you enter. When I type “doctors” it shows
choices from the ridiculous to the sublime:

13 Ways Doctors Could Help the Cubs Win the World Series.
7 Myths Uncovered About Doctors.
How Doctors Can Help You Survive a Filibuster.

But with a little creativity, you can change any of these turkeys into
workable titles. I guess the idea is to throw you off track, so you think
creatively. Their motto is “weird + useful = significant.”

Tweak Your Biz Title Generator quickly proved to be in a field of

its own. When I typed “publicity”, it showed me these excellent
headlines in three categories: lists, how to, and best:

Apply These 6 Secret Techniques To Improve Publicity.

Believing These 6 Myths About Publicity Keeps You From
Growing.
Don't Waste Time! 6 Facts Until You Reach Your Publicity.
How 6 Things Will Change The Way You Approach Publicity.
Publicity Awards: 6 Reasons Why They Don't Work & What You
Can Do About It.
Publicity Doesn't Have To Be Hard. Read These 6 Tips.
Best Publicity Android Apps.
Best Publicity Tips You Will Read This Year.
Best 90 Tips For Publicity.
Should Fixing Publicity Take 90 Steps?
The A-Z Of Publicity.
How To Make More Publicity By Doing Less.
How To Make Publicity.
How To Buy A Publicity On A Shoestring Budget.
 How To Sell Publicity.
How To Rent A Publicity Without Spending An Arm And A Leg.
How To Learn Publicity.

There were many more, and I trimmed the list to save time. As you
can see, most of them are spot on!

Headline Analyzer from CoSchedule, a social media planning

company, “writes headlines that drive traffic, shares, and search
results.” Go to their website and type your headline. The
program grades it on a scale of 0-100. You'll also see how the
headline looks on a Google search and an email. Both views
can show you if your headline is too long or short. It also
provides tips, such as making sure you have an “emotional”
word and a “power” word.

The service is free and they’ll try to upsell you on a 14-day free trial
for their social media scheduling software. They also have a free
online Subject Line Tester which operates the same way. Free.
Online tool.
 Plot Generator

Having trouble thinking of your next story? These plot generators

can come to your rescue. They can offer a good starting point for
your next masterpiece.

Plot Generator prompts you to fill in the elements of a story–

from character names, sex and characteristics; to plot elements;
to scene and setting. It asks you to name your characters’
favorite drinks, currency, weather and dozens of other topics so
you have a well-rounded idea for a story and characters. If you
still can’t think of a story, it will generate a story based on the
info you typed. They have plot generators for different genres
like fantasy, romance, mystery, crime, horror, and others. It can
also generate character names. If you are totally stumped; the
program will fill in the random answers. Free. Online tool.
The Random Plot Generator will create two characters (i.e., A
timid woman in her late twenties), a setting (i.e., The story
begins in a hair salon.), a situation (i.e., Someone is driven out
of their home.), and a theme (i.e., It's a story about survival.)
Your job is to put the elements together and come up with an
idea for a story. This site will also generate first lines,
characters, and settings. Free. Online tool.
 Name Generator

Let’s say you don’t want to use your real name in your book. Or you
need to create names for characters in your book, but you can’t get
beyond generic names like Sally Smith and Ronald Green. There’s
an app for that.
The Pen Name Generator on the Reedsy website can create an
unlimited number of names. Simply tell the tool the gender (male,
female, or neutral), language (eight languages including English,
Arabic, Hindi, Spanish, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, and others), and
the first letter. Voilà you are Ghusoon San Martin. Online tool.
 Character Generator

Now that you have a name, why not give your character a
personality and a backstory?
This tool from Starman Series asks for a name, age, and sex and it
generates sample data for a hometown, hobbies, jobs, a personality
based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (i.e., extroverted,
intuitive, feeling, and judging), and traits (i.e., healthy, grumpy,
miserly, and irresponsible). Here’s a sample:
Samantha C. Moses
Gender: Female
Age: 35 (born in 1983)
Hair Color: Blond
Eye Color: Brown
Street Address: 697 Hannabrooke Drive
Hometown: Long Hill, North Dakota
Job: Assistant Teacher
Hobby: Paintball
Favorite sport: Boxing
Phone: (999) 999-9999
Email: samantha.moses@gmail.com
Marital Status: Single
Personality: Craftsman (ISTP - introverted, sensing, thinking, and
perceiving)
Traits: Unreliable, fearful, uncommitted, weak, unkempt, tries to do
everything, and irresponsible
Change anything. It’s a great way to create believable characters.
Free. Online tool.
 Story Title Generator

Need help thinking of a title for your book? Several sites offer help
that is, well, a start. You can specify the genre and the sites create
anywhere from one to five choices. Mind you, they don't know if your
book involves a 70-year-old woman crime fighter or a teenage math
whiz so the titles might not fit. However, these sites might point you
in the right direction and kick-start your creativity so you can create a
good title. Here are several online tools and one sample title
generated out of thin air with no prompts:

Fantasy Title Generator–”Touch of Oak”

Crime Title Generator–”The Bride in the Entrance”
Mystery Title Generator–”The Case of the Trembling Outlaw”
Romance Title Generator–”Bullet in the Heart”
Sci-Fi Title Generator–”End of Mercury”

This genre is weak.

 Blog Analysis Tools

Google Analytics gives you a deeper understanding of your

customers. When you install Google Analytics on your site, it collects
data as your blog gets traffic. Here are its two best insights: You’ll
see your top posts so you can write more about that topic. You’ll also
see where your traffic is coming from, so you see which of your
partnerships or ads are more effective. Free. Online tool.
 Keyword Research

Struggling to find the right keyword? Or afraid to overuse the same

keyword? These tools will help:

Google Keyword Planner is part of the Google AdWords

program. You can use it to find keywords that will attract readers
to your blog. You can also use the info to find out what people
are interested in reading. It also acts as a brainstorming tool as
it will find related keywords you might not have thought of–and
will show you how popular they are. If you plan to advertise,
you’ll see how competitive and expensive each word could be.

There are plenty of paid tools to find keywords, but why not start with
the company that created the system–Google! Their Google
AdWords Keyword Planner tool is free. It is easy to use. Type in a
search term and it shows you related terms–many of which you
haven’t thought of, if people search for them, and how much you’d
pay for an ad, which is another indicator of popularity. Sometimes
you’ll see that little differences can make a big difference. Case in
point: Should I call this book “free writing tools” or “free writing apps,”
or “free writing software”? Pick one!
The winner is: free writing apps! That term has between 10,000-
100,000 searches a month. The other two terms have between
1,000 and 10,000 searches a month. Good to know! The original title
of this book was “Free Writing Tools”! I’ll use the other terms in the
subtitle so I can attract even more views.
You can save the search results and import them into your
spreadsheet for further analysis.
Don’t worry. You don’t have to buy ads to use this tool.

Similarly, Ubersuggest shows keyword alternatives along with

their popularity on Google searches. Free. Online tool.
 Graphics Tools

People love to see pictures. You might not draw a straight line
without a ruler, but you can create stunning images when you use
either of these two free graphics creations programs. If you can drag
and drop, you can become a Picasso.
These online programs offer you professionally designed templates
with hundreds of free images and dozens of fonts. You can also
upload your own images.
One key problem with social media is that each service has its own
requirements for image size–and they change their sizes every so
often. Fortunately, these graphics programs have all these sizes
available and clearly labeled. They can even take one image and
resize it for other platforms.
Illustrate content points to break up text walls.
Remember that people scan web content, and they’ll find a wall of
text intimidating.
I use the free versions of Canva and Snappa online programs and
they are both excellent, but Snappa has edgier designs. Snappa
offers five downloads in their free program, or unlimited downloads
for $10 a month, billed annually. Canva offers unlimited downloads.
You can’t go wrong with either program.
 Images And Pictures

Writers beware! To use pictures and images in your book, you must
get permission from the copyright holder. Otherwise, a lawyer could
sue you and ask for an obscene amount of money because you
violated their copyright. And, you’d lose.
Fortunately, several websites offer pictures free to use for personal
or commercial use under the Creative Commons Zero license.
These sites offer free images of people, nature, work, technology,
and food for blogs: Pixabay, Pexels, Free Range, Unsplash, and
Fancy Crave.
It’s always a good idea to ask for permission to use any image.
 Infographics

Data comes to life in the form of infographics. I love it when clever

infographics illustrate the steps in a how-to plan, or make statistics
come alive with creative charts. These infographics can break up the
wall of black type in your book or blogs. Fortunately, you don’t have
to create these from scratch. Several sites offer free templates:

Infogr.am has the best free plan. You can create 10 projects, 37
charts, and 13 maps–plus you can publish your content online
(Be careful, that’s not the same as downloading the image!
Good for bloggers, not good for book authors). Paid plans start
at $17 a month, paid annually.
Venngage has stunning infographics you can easily adapt. The
free version offers only a handful of templates and no exporting
capability. The paid versions start at $14 a month. If you
subscribe to their free weekly e-zine, you’ll see a portfolio of
new designs on a subject area, such as presentations, time
charts, geographical data, and much more. I love watching
these. They are like mini tutorials on design.
Easel.ly offers 10 templates and 60 images and low-res output
in the free version. For $4 a month, you’ll have access to more
than 250 templates and high-resolution output.
Biteable lets you create short HDTV quality videos you can
publish on Facebook or YouTube. You choose the layout and
music from their library, then add your content to tell your story.
Great for bloggers! You can create five videos a month for free–
which should solve your needs. If you need more videos, you
can upgrade for $23 a month. The paid version lets you
download files and add your own video content.
 Translation

Your book will be so great you’ll want everyone to read it. But not
everyone reads English. That’s where Ginger comes in. It can
translate your text into 40 languages–and is also an English
grammar checker. Free. iOS, Chrome. Firefox. Windows.
 Text-to-Speech Reader

The only thing better than reading your words is hearing your words.
Fortunately, Macs and PCs include a free text-to-speech app so you
can listen to your words. This is useful for brainstorming and for
proofreading.
As a brainstorming tool, voice-to-text lets you hear dialogue so you
can tell if the speech sounds natural or contrived.
One of the best ways to proofread your work is to listen as the
computer reads it aloud. If there’s a missing “the” or “a” or a missing
word, you’ll hear it but you might not see it. That’s because your
mind expects to see the correct word. Your mind will “see” what it
wants to see—even if the word isn’t there. This has happened
enough times for me to know that text-to-speech is a required part of
the proofreading process.
Text-to-speech is located on the Mac in the Accessibility section of
System Preferences. Highlight the text you want to read aloud and
press keys (you can specify which keys) and voila! Mac reads your
text. On the PC, go to search for “speech.” Change text-to-speech
settings.
You can set the voice to be male or female, American or one of
dozen of other nationalities (all with their own unique accents). You
can also change the speed from fast to slow.
Choosing a voice from another country (even Scotland or Ireland)
messes with your brain to where you listen deeply to each word—
which makes find missing words or bad dialogue easy to spot. Plus,
it is fun to hear a different “person” read your work aloud!
Ginger can also read your manuscript. Yes, this is the same Ginger
that is a translator and grammar tool. Free. iOS. Windows. Chrome.
Firefox.
 Research

Why go to the library when you can find nearly everything you need
online? For free! Check these resources:

Wikipedia, the king of all research tools, is a crowd-sourced

encyclopedia. You can probably find the answer to anything you
need. Free. Online tool.
Google, the king of search engines, can point you to articles and
blogs that can answer your questions. You can also research
media sites to find new information. Free. Online tool.
Audible gives you two audiobooks for free with a trial
subscription. I have a paid membership and listened to several
books on writing, literature appreciation, and language. Free
trial. Online tool.
Bartleby.com is a searchable database of free books available in
the public domain. You can use this resource to find information
on subjects, including books to help with your grammar and
writing. Free. Online tool.
New York Times Knowledge Network includes articles from the
New York Times going back several decades. It's a good place
to research world and national events, including scientific
studies and financial matters.
Google Scholar lets you access scholarly literature from
academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories,
and universities.
 Research Notification

Don’t have time to monitor dozens of websites for the latest news
and research for your book?

Feedly monitors 100 sources including websites, newspapers,

magazines, YouTube, and blogs. You tell it to look for keywords
or names and it does the rest. Free. Online tool. Paid versions
offer unlimited sources, Google Alerts, and saving capabilities.
Google Alerts notifies you whenever it sees blog posts or
articles containing your keywords (i.e., name, book title, and
topic area). Free. Online tool.
 Books on Writing

You can’t go wrong reading these books. If you have Amazon Prime,
you’ll be able to read several of these books for free.

Write Your Book In A Flash: One reviewer called this book the “Bible
of non-fiction writing.” Contains many worksheets to help you get
your thoughts together quickly and in order so you can write your
book fast.
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life: The best book
on writing. Anne Lamott coined the phrase “shitty first drafts,” thus
freeing all writers of writer’s block.
Save the Cat Writes A Novel: There’s a formula for writing a novel.
Many books share that template; this book is the best.
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft: Steven King offers tips on the
writing life.
 Writing Courses

Reedsy offers hundreds of free courses on writing, publishing,

distribution, editing, design, and book marketing. I found a terrific
course on how to get the most out of Amazon ads. Each day, they
send you a small, digestible, and easy to follow lesson. You won’t
feel overwhelmed. In fact, I can’t wait to try their other courses. You
don’t know what you don’t know. Topics range from how to write
dialog to how to write a book for middle schoolers.
 Writing Contests

Entering a writing contest is a great way to find out how good a writer
you are. But finding these contests could be as hard as finding an
agent. Fortunately, Jerry Jenkins created a list of dozens of writing
contests that are free to enter, and many carry cash prizes and
plenty of writing cache. You'll find contests for short stories, different
genres, and different lengths. Something for everyone.
 Writing Advice

If you are looking to up your writing game–and all of us not named

Steinbeck should be–then the web has zillions of articles and
millions of podcasts, webinar and reports for free on every aspect of
writing–from novels to screenplays and every genre in between. I'll
list a few of my favorites here. There are undoubtedly many other
sites worthy of attention. Please email me your favorites and I'll
include them in online updates:

Reedsy offers hundreds of free courses on writing, publishing

and book marketing. I found a terrific course on how to get the
most out of Amazon ads. Each day, they send you a small,
digestible, easy to follow lesson. You won't feel overwhelmed. In
fact, I can't wait to try their other courses. You don't know what
you don't know.
Jerry Jenkins has several free reports, such as “How to Write a
Book.” He’s written almost 200 books, so he knows what to do!
Writer’s Digest magazine offers hundreds of free articles on
writing and the business of writing on their website. Sample
articles include:

Using Kids and Parents as Beta Readers for Children’s Fiction.

How to Sell an Essay or Article: 21 Tips for Writing a Winning
Cover Letter.
Five Things to Consider When Structuring Your Memoir.
 Smashwords offers free courses on dozens of topics including:
how to publish e-books.
Kindlepreneur offers free reviews of software for writers. Dave
Chesson, the Kindlepreneur writes honest reviews, and he is an
affiliate for most of the programs, which means he gets a
commission if you buy the program. Nevertheless, I’ve found his
reviews to be honest. He also offers advice on such topics as
how to get reviews on Amazon and dozens of other topics.
Alliance of Independent Authors offers a weekly e-zine that links
to articles of interest.

Webinars, Teleseminars, and Podcasts

Many associations offer free teleseminars and webinars on all
aspects of writing and marketing and writing coaches, including:

KM Weiland–Helping Writers Become Authors. Offers excellent

podcasts and articles on fiction writing.
Write Your Book In A Flash (Yes, that’s my site.) Offers webinars
and “Ask Me Anything” sessions on non-fiction writing.
Nonfiction Authors Association–Hosts free teleseminars for
members and non-members.
The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) is a global, nonprofit
association for writers who self-publish. Hosts podcasts on
writing.
 Find Ghostwriters, Illustrators, Proofreaders, and
Other Writing Team Members

If you need to find a vetted ghostwriter, book editor, proofreader or

cover designer, Reedsy is the place to go. They have hundreds of
publishing professionals who are looking for work. They say they
have checked out all the people on their website. Free. Online tool.
 Book Covers and Interior Design Templates

Professionals deserve to get paid, but they can charge a lot of

money that struggling authors can’t afford. If that’s the case, try
these templates to design your book covers and interior pages.
Either download their templates, or fill in their forms online:

DIY Book Formats offers dozens of professionally designed

book templates for Microsoft Word. They provide videos to
teach you how to format your book. Free.
Scribus is a desktop publishing tool that lets you design e-
books. Free.
Kindle Direct Publishing has instructional videos that show you
everything you need to know to publish your book on Amazon.
KDP also includes templates and book cover design tools. Free.
Reedsy offers interior design templates for books. Paste your
book into templates Free.
 Market Research

Writers can use SurveyMonkey to get feedback about their book title
or cover. Simply set up a survey with your question (e.g., “Which of
these five titles would make you buy this book?”) and send it to your
list of customers, readers, or fans. You can use their professionally
designed templates so your surveys look great. Send the questions
via email, text, or social media for ultimate flexibility. Free.
 Book Market Research

One of the most frequently asked questions I receive is “How do I

know if people want to buy my book?”
This is a great question to ask yourself before you invest valuable
time and money into creating a book. Usually, I give the standard
answer, “Ask your followers. Do a survey.”
That’s a good answer, but I found a better one. It’s a software tool
called KDSPY.
KDSPY provides you with valuable market research data. You can
see which categories are hot and which are not. You can see how
many copies any book has sold. Armed with this information, you
can decide if it is worth your time to write a book for that market
It will also show you which categories to list your book in.
If you’ve already written a book, you can see how well your book is
doing against the competition.
If you are launching a book, you can see how many books you must
sell to become number one in that category.
Speaking of competition, you can use KDSPY to research other
authors to see what they are writing and how well they are doing in
sales. You might find additional opportunities by scoping the
competition.
The software costs only $47 and comes with a free return policy for
60 days–enough time to research your book. It will save you hours of
time in researching.
Frankly, I can’t imagine writing a book without using this tool first.
Why write a book that no one wants to read?
Full disclosure: This is one of the very few programs in this book that
isn’t free. And I’m an affiliate for it. As you know, I only endorse
products I use and believe in.
 Book Description Generator

The way your book’s description appears on an Amazon sales page

can influence whether a person buys your book. You might have
noticed that some descriptions use only one type size, while others
use different size headings.
Kindlepreneurs’s book description generator will create a page that
pops. You don’t have to know anything about coding to make a
great-looking page. Free. Online tool.
 Email Marketing

Authors need an email tool to build their fan base. You could spend a
fortune buying a CRM system and half your waking hours trying to
learn to use it properly. Or you can use:
MailChimp has been around forever. Easy to use. Free with paid
options.
 Next Steps

Whenever you are ready, here are four ways I can help you write
your book:

https://www.WriteYourBookInAFlash.com/writersblock/
https://www.WriteYourBookInAFlash.com/community/
https://www.WriteYourBookInAFlash.com/now/
https://www.WriteYourBookInAFlash.com/coaching/
 Write Your Book in a Flash

“Write Your Book In A Flash” is the critically acclaimed paint-by-

numbers system to write the book of your dreams - FAST!
An international #1 Amazon best-seller in many categories, “Write
Your Book in a Flash” shows business executives, entrepreneurs,
and thought leaders like you how to get focused fast so you can
write your book without tearing your hair out.
Claim Your Copy Now (paperback or Kindle):
https://www.WriteYourBookInAFlash.com/
 About the Author, Dan Janal

Author, speaker, entrepreneur, and book coach Dan Janal has

written 13 books, which have been translated into 6 languages. He
wrote one of the first books about marketing on the internet.
I work with leaders who want to elevate their reputation and set
themselves apart from their competitors. As a book coach,
developmental editor and ghostwriter, I shape stories and strategies
that can transform a career or a business. In addition to the books I
have written for clients, I have written thirteen books of my own that
have been translated into six languages. As a result of my work,
clients often share they have more focus, more credibility, more
visibility and more impact with readers.
To find out more about my coaching, developmental editing, and
ghostwriting services, please visit:
https://www.WriteYourBookInAFlash.com/coaching/
 Table of Contents
You Can Write Your Great Book for Free!
Word Processors and Writing Apps
Screenwriting and Novel Tools
Distraction-free Writing Tools
Dyslexia Fonts
Gamification Writing Tools
Dictation and Transcription
Grammar Checkers
Grammar Checkers For Fiction
Deadwood Cutter
Grammar Test for Copy Editors and Proofreaders
Grammar Education and Reference Tools
Dictionary
Thesaurus
Style Reference Guides
Collaboration Tools
File Sharing
Conferencing
Readability Test Tools
Plagiarism
Time Trackers
Ambient Sounds
Note Taking
Mind Map
Outliners
Brainstorming Tools For Content Writing
Prompts That Get You To Think
Idea Spinners
Trending Topics
Headline Prompts
Plot Generator
Name Generator
Character Generator
Story Title Generator
Blog Analysis Tools
Keyword Research
Graphics Tools
Images And Pictures
Infographics
Translation
Text-to-Speech Reader
Research
Research Notification
Books on Writing
Writing Courses
Writing Contests
Writing Advice
Find Ghostwriters, Illustrators, Proofreaders, and Other Writing Team
Members
Book Covers and Interior Design Templates
Market Research
Book Market Research
Book Description Generator
Email Marketing
Next Steps
Write Your Book in a Flash
About the Author, Dan Janal