Publishing used to be a complex process, but it doesn’t have to be. In fact, you can use free online publishing tools and a cloud-based workflow to develop, publish and sell your own books quickly and conveniently. There are a lot of great online publishing tools these days, but which ones will give you the best bang for your buck? There’s quite a few to choose from and you can spend hours researching them. So what are publishing tools? Learn more in this post.
The best publishing tools are the ones that make your life easier. I know that seems like a subjective description, but there is something to it. You will find what I’m saying to be true when you try out the tools below…
Scrivener
My latest favorite tool for authors is Scrivener. I’m in love with the program! It comes with several templates for books already created, like fiction (novels), short stories, script writing, poetry and lyrics, and more, so it’s really easy for authors to use.
The best thing about Scrivener is how it lets you write without distractions. You can bounce around to different points in your manuscript as you get an idea, collapse chapters and sections at will to clear the clutter, and save time scrolling through hundreds of pages in Microsoft Word. There’s even a search feature to make finding something fast and easy.
When I introduce Scrivener to my clients, they all rave about how much faster it makes their writing production. It helps them be more focused and get more done in less time, which is also what it does for me. My only issue with Scrivener is its built-in non-fiction templates are more for college students than writers of business how-to or self-help books, so they don’t include essentials like the copyright page, title page, and where stuff should go. That’s why I developed my own non-fiction templates for Scrivener.
Now Scrivener is a paid app (program), but they have a free 30-day trial. Try it out and if you like it, you’ll find the price is well worth the time you’ll save!
The Hemingway App
As digital publishers, we sometimes crank out copy faster than water shooting out of a fire hose. We have little time to tighten and tweak. That’s why you’ll love The Hemingway App, which almost rivals a human editor–it’s that accurate. And best of all, it’s free.
Go to the app. Highlight and delete the instructions you see on the homepage. Write or paste your own copy onto the page. Click on “Edit.” The app will color-code phrases it doesn’t like and tell you how to improve them.
Yellow highlights long, complex sentences and common errors. Red identifies dense, complicated sentences.
Blue shows you adverbs that you can remove and replace with more forceful verbs. Purple points out hifalutin $25 words that should be replaced with simple $5 words. Green flags you to the passive voice.
The app will also give you a “readability index” and tell you if someone in the fifth grade, seventh grade or tenth grade can understand your copy. The clearer your writing, the lower the grade level. You’ve heard before that your writing should be so clear, a seventh grader could understand it.
I’ve used this tool many times to improve my own writing–and I’m a writing coach!
Atavist
For publishers who work with long-form posts (20,000+ words) and want to include engaging context, Atavist helps you break up copy with interactive and shareable media.
Americans spend around 5.9 hours a day on digital media and less than 16 minutes of reading. Consumers are heading towards content rich in visuals and audio—content that’s created for digital platforms. For publishers who want to keep up with the rapid demands of digital consumers, mixing it up and adding video, audio and interactive elements can help keep content relevant.
It uses a story block system that’s simple enough, so you won’t need any coding knowledge to get to work. Both small and big publishers use Atavist.
BitLit
BitLit is an app I recently discovered, which allows you to get an eBook for a print book you already own, for free or at a discounted price. I love this concept not only because it’s innovative and merging with the trends of the publishing industry, but also because it promotes reading across formats.
Both print and digital are important and I believe all authors should offer their book in both formats whenever possible. Some readers are adamant about print books, while others enjoy the convenience of eBooks. Right there, BitLit is helping readers like me to enjoy the books they’ve purchased both at home and on the go with minimal extra expense.
Aside from the convenience factor, though, I also believe readers should be rewarded for their loyalty to an author and giving them a free or discounted eBook when they already own the print book is the perfect way to thank them for their purchase. Let’s face it, readers have a lot of options when it comes to not only what to read, but what to dedicate their (valuable and limited) spare time to. Showing appreciation to readers is very important for all authors, whether they’re up and coming or have an established fan base, and BitLit provides an excellent way to do this.
Otter
Digital publishers are all about saving time. With the Otter tool, digital reporters can quickly generate rich notes from their interviews and other important voice conversations. Otter is AI-powered. Not only can reporters use the app to record and review their conversations in real-time, but they can also search, play, edit, organize, and share those voice interviews from any device. Otter includes 600 minutes of transcription free per month. Plans for teams, and larger news organizations, are also available.
TimelineJS
Digital news publishers often struggle to create interactive visualizations to go along with the articles on their websites. TimelineJS was built to address that issue. The open-source tool can be used to create visually rich, interactive timelines. The visual timelines that publishers create with TimelineJS work best for telling stories that have a strong chronological narrative, where each event is written as part of a larger story. Creating a timeline requires nothing more than a Google spreadsheet, so anyone can do it. Larger publishers who have in-house designers can get even more creative using JSON skills to create custom installations.
Libsyn
As an information content expert, I am always on the lookout for tools to make the process of distribution as easy and seamless as possible. As a podcaster, the one tool that I wouldn’t be without (at this point in time) is Libsyn – Liberated Syndication.
Libsyn is currently the largest leading podcast network. They host thousands of shows, mine included, with millions of downloads and audience members.
If you’re thinking of getting into podcasting and want your show distribution process to be as easy as possible, Libsyn provides everything your podcast needs to shine. The investment is minimal for all this tool can do.
Magloft
Magloft is geared towards print publishers who are looking for quick and easy ways to digitize existing content.
Digital marketing has shaken the game up and consumers want shareable content that they can view across their devices. Magloft can come in handy for when you want to eliminate the technical part of getting content published on different platforms.
It takes print books and turns them into customizable and interactive apps that you wouldn’t normally get with a standard digital ebook.
It lets you add multimedia and interactive content with a few clicks and everything you do automatically optimizes to be responsive on different devices. Magloft promises to help smoothen the transition from print to digital.
Conclusion:
You’ve decided to self-publish. You are so excited about raising awareness for your books you want everyone to know about it – friends, family, even strangers on the street. You get your book ready, you find a place to upload your files and make sure that readers can buy your books online. While you should have done this before you publish your book, it’s never too late. But think about the layout of the pages in your book. They are going to be read on computer screens so how do you make them interesting? Today there are many free publishing tools available to help you with that. It’s not limited to just first chapter, intro and table of contents anymore.