Although I am not a techie, I admit that tech tools are often essential for the modern author.  I’ve been trying out a lot of the most recommended tools over the past month or so.  When I find a good one, I try to pass the word through Facebook author groups.  I hope it is being helpful because I also give links to get the product.  Sometimes, I can even find bargain links to same some money!

Here are some of the ones I’ve recently discovered.  If you have others to suggest, please do.  First of all, my most important writing tool is Scrivener.  Although the normal price is $40, I was able to find it HERE for just $34.95.  A few weeks back AppSumo had it at just $20, but I have never seen that again.

Another  valuable tool is KindleSpy.  At just $47, it is the best tool to find the best categories and keywords.  It also helps with competitor research (spying).  I’m not sure, but they sometimes have a free trial.  At any rate, they always have a money back guarantee.  You get free upgrades for life.  It is often updated, so you should expect lots of improvements.

When you need to develop an author website, I recommend a plugin to WordPress.  My favorites are Author Theme ($27) or Cadmus ($39). I don’t think Cadmus is as good as Author Theme for my purposes.  It is more difficult to configure because it has more features. That includes selling books right from the author’s website.  That’s just too much trouble for me.  It would be worth it for authors who have a large email list to drive traffic to the site.  It might also be good to have if you use a free magnet gift displayed on the same page as other books to buy.  I don’t have mine set up that way.  Today, I saw another one for free, called Scribe Theme.  I’ll admit that I haven’t tried it yet.  When I do, if it is any good, I’ll let you know.

There are several pieces of software that are helpful for editing your manuscript.  First, and best is Grammarly.   It’s free version is okay, but the paid add-on for Microsoft Word is excellent.  Another good one is Hemingway.  The online version if free and limited in its value.  The desktop app (for both Mac and Windows) is less than $10.  It’s great advantage is how it helps simplify sentences.  I’ve found it  helpful because I tend to write too many complex sentences.