Best Software for Writing a Book helps you write novels, nonfiction books, collections of essays, and more. It allows you to draft your entire book on your computer, save it to Evernote, then work on it later on your iPad or any device that can connect to the internet. Best Software for Writing a Book includes everything you need to write your book, including templates for giving your book a professional feel. If you are tired of passwords and are ready to switch to Best Software for Writing a Book today, please Contact Me
Let’s face it, why would you use Microsoft Word to write your book if it weren’t the best software for writing a book? I’ve tried pretty much everything else (after all, I’m an author). So I’m going to share what software (other than Word) has gone through my teeth and proven itself superior above all others.
yWriter
yWriter is a free word processor that was designed by an experienced programmer and published author, Simon Haynes. The tool breaks your novel into chapters and scenes, making it easy for you to keep track of your work and focus more on creating.
Google Sheets OR Microsoft Excel (Spreadsheet)
If you’d told me when I was first trying to become a writer that one of my most-used tools in my book writing software toolkit would be a spreadsheet, I would have told you I didn’t major in English to have to use a spreadsheet.
But now, as I’m finishing my fifteenth book, I realize that I use spreadsheets almost daily.
Spreadsheets allow you to get a sense of the elements of your book at a glance, and when you’re working on a 300-page document, distilling it down to useable information becomes very necessary.
You might use spreadsheets for:
- Character tracking
- Scene lists
- Outlines
- A Foolscap/Beat sheet
Google Sheets is perfect for this because it’s free and you can quickly share your documents with your writing partners, editors, or beta readers to get feedback. Microsoft Excel is another great option, but is a bit behind in the collaboration functions.
Pros of Google Sheets:
- Real-time collaboration with editors, beta readers, or other writers
- Fast
- Free!
Cons of Google Sheets:
- Managing spreadsheets from other sources (e.g. Excel) can be clunky and time-consuming
- Offline mode notwithstanding, usually requires an internet connection
Cost for Google Sheets: Free!
If you have Excel already and love it, great.
Cost for Microsoft Word: $69 / year (includes Word, Powerpoint, Outlook, and other Microsoft software)
ProWritingAid (Grammar/Spell Check)
Can a grammar checker replace an editor?
Definitely not. But if you ask Alice Sudlow, our in-house editor, she’ll tell you, “If you don’t have access to an editor (or if you do, but you don’t want to hire them to edit your emails or Facebook posts), grammar checking software like ProWritingAid is an accessible, affordable alternative.”
If you struggle with grammar, sentence structure, spelling, or even writing style, ProWritingAid can help. It goes far beyond your built-in spellcheck.
You should still learn grammar skills, but ProWritingAid can help you start to see the patterns and grow as a writer.
There’s a free version that’s very good. It can even be installed into your browser or Word processor, so you can check your grammar wherever you write. The paid version, just $60 a year (less than half of what Grammarly costs), gives you additional support on sentence structure, style, and vocabulary.
Pros of ProWritingAid:
- Quickly copyedit your book
- Better suggestions for creative writers than other grammar checkers
- Less expensive than some grammar checkers
Cons of ProWritingAid:
- Sometimes gives suggestions that are incorrect or out of context
- Interface is slightly less intuitive
Cost: Free! (Premium version is $60 / year)
Ulysses
If you’re a Mac owner, this might be the best book writing software for you. While you do have to pay $39.99 per year to use it, the cost to use Ulysses is completely justified.
One of the best features has to be the distraction-free capabilities. As a writer who gets distracted easily, this is definitely a feature I look for in a good book writing software.
This one is also great for exporting. Meaning, you can do all your writing in-app and then export it in relatively any format you’d need in order to send it to your editor, critique partner, or even beta readers.
And if you’re someone who has a hard time keeping all of your notes and ideas organized for your book, this app also has a feature that helps you keep all of it straight!
Say goodbye to forgetting what you wanted to add in that obscure scene you wrote two months ago!
Overall, this is one of the best book writing software programs out there for Mac users. But if you’re not sure if it’s worth the price, you can actually try it for free for 14 days. What a deal!
Book Writing Software Cost: $39.99/year
FocusWriter
FocusWriter is a word processor for writers that’s intended to eliminate distractions to help you get your book written quicker. It’s a basic, lightweight writing tool that was designed to be completely free of progress inhibiting distractions.
In its fullscreen mode, there are no toolbars or additional windows, just a background and your text so that you can concentrate solely on writing your draft.
FocusWriter also allows you to choose what your screen looks like, as seen in the example below.
You can customize the image in the background to suit your project to help inspire your writing.
It’s simple and effective. If you need a lot of features, it probably won’t work for you. But if simplicity is your thing, then you may have found your perfect free writing tool.
Book Writing Software Cost: Free
Conclusion
If you are planning on writing a book, here’s what I recommend. The reason why I recommend this software is because it’s simple to use, but it also gives you all the tools you need to complete your book (or download it as well). It has the ability to transform the story into an actual book. It also give you freedom to publish your book anywhere worldwide, your word file can be split into different pages, and even choose the type of template which you will use for your book (this means you can then upload or select any downloadable template that will look like a real book).