Recommended Self-Publishing Tools for Your Author Business

As you can see here, the right self-publishing tools can make a big difference in how you run your author business. It can feel like your business can run practically by itself once you nail the best tools that work best for you.

But here’s the thing – we all know it’s hard to navigate these hordes of tools when there are so many of them to choose from.

That can be confusing for the beginner and seasoned authors alike.

And that leads us to this question: ever wonder which tools I personally use in my author business?

Then this list covers everything I use in my author business, from the software I use to write a book to the hosting I use on my website.

If you’re not sure which self-publishing tools you should use in your author business, then this list is a good start.

Knowing my penchant for discovering new stuff, you can expect the list to undergo changes over time.

It can be due to changes in my own processes. Or I happen to come across better tools that work for me.

While I always let you know whatever changes I make in my business on my blog, I highly recommend that you check this page from time to time.

Bookmark this page if you must.

Also, for the sake of disclosure, this page contains affiliate links, and I will make a small commission if you purchase through my links.

Just to be clear, I’m a big believer that you don’t need to spend a lot of money to publish a book. So, get these apps and software if you find it necessary for your author business.

Ebook/book creation

These are the software and apps that I use to create the ebook and the print version of my book. I still use the same software and apps to this day simply because they work wonderfully for me.

Microsoft Word

Yes, I still use Microsoft Word to this day despite already giving Scrivener a try. I enjoy using Scrivener. But for some reason, I still come back to using Microsoft Word again.

I use Microsoft Word pretty much for anything you can think of. In case you’re wondering, the latest version of Microsoft Word can do much more than just write, edit, and format your manuscript.

You can even use it to design a book cover for the ebook and print, which I did. It’s not that hard to design a book cover using Microsoft Word too. This blog post on The Creative Penn explains how you can do that.

I admit that Microsoft Word isn’t for everyone, writing-wise. But if you want software that can do more than just writing your manuscript, then it doesn’t hurt to get Microsoft Office if you don’t have one.

Google Gemini

Not going to lie, I use Gemini pretty much for everything, from doing line editing for my books and brainstorming my book marketing strategies to deciding which under-eye concealer brand I should get.

The only thing I will never use Gemini for is to write my book and blog posts from scratch.

So, why Gemini and not Claude?

Isn’t Claude a much better AI model as far as creative writing is concerned?

Believe it or not, I use Gemini only because I don’t have to go through the new account registration hoopla.

I can just use Gemini right away; no registration is needed unless you don’t have a Google account.

Whether Claude is better than Gemini in terms of creative writing will depend on your prompt. Even the best AI model will still give you a crappy result if you can’t articulate what you want it to do for you.

As far as line editing is concerned, the Gemini suggestions are pretty good, too. But I still recommend that you get an AI editing software like ProWritingAid if your budget allows it.

Hemingway app

Copyediting is not an easy thing to do, especially when you don’t have any technical background in linguistics. But the Hemingway app makes it possible for me to do the copyediting myself.

The Hemingway Editor Plus allows you to fix those highlighted texts with a click of a button.

But I find it unnecessary, since you can figure them out on your own. Or you can just ask Gemini to fix those highlighted texts for you.

As you can already tell, I only use the free version since the free one is already good enough for me.

Wondering how the Hemingway app works in practice? 

You can read this post here if you’d like to see how it works, and this post on where this app fits in my publishing process.

Grammarly

Grammarly has come a long way.

Back then, you couldn’t do much with Grammarly other than fix typos, grammatical errors, and sentence structures if you had Grammarly Premium.

Even with such a specific role, some errors still went under the radar.

While the current version of Grammarly still does those things, albeit with much better accuracy, it can do so much more than that.

It can detect the tone of your writing and rewrite the sentence for better clarity, to name a few.

And what’s even more surprising is that it can detect grammatical errors far better than ProWritingAid.

Of course, I’m sure that ProWritingAid may have improved on that front as well. But I find that I still need Grammarly to catch any pesky errors that I miss, even with using ProWritingAid. 

I’m only using the free version of Grammarly right now. If there’s another tool that I don’t mind upgrading to the premium version, it will be Grammarly.  

You can read my detailed blog post about Grammarly right here.

And you can also read my short stint with using the Grammarly Premium here if you’d like. Just to be clear, it was an old post, though.

DIY Book Formats

I don’t have any problem with doing ebook formatting. But I do have a big problem when it comes to formatting my book for print.

I was glad I came across DIY Book Formats when I was about to throw in the towel.

The template can be a bit frustrating to use if you’re not familiar with Microsoft Word. But it’s still a far better option than having to do print book formatting from scratch.

And did I mention it’s also free?

PixAI

If there’s one skill that I will never master in my lifetime, it will be drawing.

It’s because of this reason that PixAI is heaven-sent for me, since I can use it to generate an anime-style book cover illustration.

And I can do that for free, too. That is as long as I have enough credit to generate the image, though.

The thing about PixAI is that it can be a little overwhelming to use at first if you’re not familiar with Stable Diffusion.

But you don’t need to worry about that since the AI models in PixAI are fully optimized.

So, no more having to spend your precious credits just to fix extra fingers and limbs and awkward poses.  

Running out of credits and you don’t want to wait until the next day for free credits?

Well, you can choose to purchase credits or opt for their monthly plan if you intend to generate a lot of images every month.  

While you can use PixAI-owned models for commercial use, there are some models and LoRAs that aren’t, though.

So, be sure to check the license first before generating the image. You don’t want the original owner to come after you only because you use their LoRA and model without permission.

While PixAI requires you to credit them when you post the image online, it doesn’t hurt that you credit them on your copyright page. 

Not only do you save yourself from legal scrutiny. But it looks professional, too, that you’re being transparent about your AI usage. 

Ebook/book publishing platform

These are the websites that I use to distribute my ebook and print book to as many readers as possible. I have to use many different websites since they only distribute to specific retailers in different formats. And there are also a few of them that cater to retailers in specific countries, too.

If you want to target as many readers as possible, then it’s inevitable to use these websites to distribute your books to as many places as possible.

Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)

I use KDP not just for publishing my ebooks on Amazon. But I also use KDP to publish my books in print.

You can use other ebook aggregators such as PublishDrive to distribute your book on Amazon.

But I prefer to go direct with Amazon simply because I want more control of my books’ metadata.

PublishDrive

Now that I no longer use Draft2Digital for distributing my books to other retailers and libraries, I’m switching to PublishDrive instead.

While they distribute to more platforms than Draft2Digital, there’s a big chance that you can’t distribute your books to all of them, though.

It can be because the platforms only accept books in a specific language or genre.

Or it can be due to your books not having an ISBN, since PublishDrive doesn’t provide you with a free ISBN.

I managed to grandfather their old free plan, which gives me unlimited book uploads and the ability to distribute books to 27 distribution channels.

If you’re on the fence about using PublishDrive, you can read my post about them right here.

Google Play Books

The funny thing about Google Play Books is that you will need to create a direct publisher account on Google Play, even if you use PublishDrive.  

Since you have to go through all the trouble just to set up a publisher account on Google Play, then you may as well go direct with them, right?

Well, that was my reason to go direct with Google Play Books. 

Keep in mind that Google tends to be a lot more cautious than Amazon. There’s a big chance that your account may not be approved right away.

So, don’t be discouraged if you get a sad email from Google, saying that they don’t approve your account.

Just submit the appeal and provide the supporting documents needed to prove your case.

This is where Gemini comes in handy, since it can provide you with suggestions on what you should provide to get your account approved.

Depending on the case, Google will approve your account approximately a week after you submit your appeal.

Another thing to note is that the publishing process for Google Play Books is a lot more complicated than Amazon.

If it sounds intimidating and confusing to you, just leave them on the default settings for now. 

Lulu

I don’t just use Lulu for selling print books directly on my online store. But I also use them for global distribution.

Lulu can be a good place to start if you’re planning to sell print books directly on your online store, or as an alternative to Draft2Digital and PublishDrive.

But keep in mind that you will have to pay a one-time fee of $4.99 per title and per format for global distribution, though.

And that means it will cost you $9.98 upfront if you use Lulu for distributing your ebook and print book.  

Despite that, it still beats having to pay Draft2Digital $12 annually if you make less than $100 in net royalties.

Lulu only integrates with Wix, WooCommerce, and Shopify for selling print books directly on your store.

But if you have the technical know-how, you can connect your store on any platform using the Lulu API. 

 Sell books directly to your readers

As you can see here, I’m a big believer in selling your books directly to readers. Not only will selling direct allow more money to go to your coffers. But you will also get customer data, which is something you will never get from retailers. The good news is that it’s never too early to get started with selling direct. And yes, even if you’re a brand new author.

Keep in mind that you can only sell your ebooks directly to your readers if your ebooks are NOT in KDP Select.

WooCommerce

Well, what’s not to love about WooCommerce when it has the bells and whistles like Shopify but it’s free.

And let’s not forget the direct integration with Lulu. 

It’s because of this reason that I’m switching to WooCommerce for selling direct.

Just to be clear here, WooCommerce can be a little technical for some. 

But if you already have a WordPress site, this is a good solution to have for a seamless selling-direct process.

So, no more having to redirect your readers elsewhere just to get them to buy books directly from you. 

Payhip

I love Payhip because of how simple it is to get your storefront up and running.

Add your books, configure the store settings here and there, and you’re ready to sell your ebooks directly to your readers in a jiffy.

And the best part of all? It’s free to get started! 

While I no longer use Payhip as my main store, I still use it for selling direct to the UK and Europe, since Payhip can handle the VAT on my behalf.

Wondering if Payhip is the right solution for you?

You can read this post here about my experience with using Payhip.

Curios

On the surface, Curios looks more like an online marketplace for digital products by independent creators.

But if you only opt for their free plan like me, then it works more like another solution for selling direct.

And that’s Curios for me, which is just another avenue for me to sell directly to my readers.

Just like Payhip, Curios can handle the sales tax and VAT on your behalf, too.

While you won’t get much from the free plan, it sure is a good place to get started with selling direct to your readers.

Getting Paid

These are the payment options that I use when it comes to receiving my royalty payment. These options aren’t just perfect for international authors like me. But they’re perfect for US-based authors, too.

PayPal

The easiest way to get paid is to have a PayPal account. Many ebook distributors such as Draft2Digital and PublishDrive provide the option to pay your royalties through PayPal.

Even if you’re not using PayPal to accept royalty payments, it doesn’t hurt to open a PayPal account since many freelancers can only accept PayPal as a payment method.

I use PayPal not just for accepting my royalty payments. I also use PayPal to buy things online and pay the amazing illustrator that I came across through Upwork.

Wise

Yes, people. Wise isn’t just useful when you travel abroad.

But you can also use it to accept royalty payments from Amazon and affiliate networks such as Awin.

And that’s what I use Wise for.

Even better?

There’s no annual maintenance fee you need to pay, which is what I love about Wise.

Depending on your location, you can also open a Wise business account if you’d like. But it’s not necessary to have one either, since the regular Wise account will still work just fine for receiving royalty payments from Amazon.

You can also use it to receive payments from distributors such as Draft2Digital and PublishDrive if you prefer not to use PayPal.

Website resources

I’m a big believer in having your own author website since it’s the only place that you have full control of. And it serves as a central hub for everything you do.

The good news is you don’t have to hire someone to create an author website for you. You can create the author website yourself, even if you know nothing about coding, thanks to these.

WordPress

This is the CMS I use for The Efficient You and also on my fiction author site.

I love WordPress since I can create all sorts of websites with it. Customizing the website is easy too, thanks to WordPress plugins.

Keep in mind that the WordPress I’m referring to is the self-hosted WordPress, not WordPress.com.

You can’t do much with WordPress.com unless you opt for the paid plan. Even with the paid plan, you still don’t get the same flexibility as the self-hosted WordPress.

Namecheap

This is the place where I purchased the domain name for The Efficient You and my fiction author site, Sekina Mayu.

I love Namecheap because the domain name at Namecheap is cheaper than any other domain registrar that I come across.

Namecheap tends to run special promotions from time to time. So, I highly recommend keeping an eye on my Small Business Deals post for any Namecheap promotions.

If you have already joined my email list, I will notify you whenever Namecheap is running a special promotion.

SetraHost

This is the hosting I use to host The Efficient You and my fiction author site, Sekina Mayu.

I love the fact that SetraHost has things that tend to belong to managed WordPress hosting, such as malware and DDOS protection and a fast-loading server, thanks to LiteSpeed & LiteSpeed Cache configured on a RAID10 system.

Even better? You can get all those features at the same price as you’ll get from other web hosting services such as Hostgator and Bluehost.

The only downside with SetraHost is that you can only reach their customer support by submitting a ticket through your customer portal.

Other than that, I highly recommend SetraHost if you’re looking for a web hosting service that won’t break the bank.

You can read my blog post right here to learn more about my experience with using SetraHost.

Divi theme by Elegant Themes

I love Divi because I can create any look I want without touching a single line of code.

Not a fan of creating a layout from scratch?

Well, you can use the premade layouts instead and make changes from there. Or you can use the Divi AI to create the look and feel you want based on your prompts.  

Divi theme is perfect if you’re the kind of person who gets bored easily with your current WordPress theme and is always itching to get a new design for your website.

Curious about how Divi works? You can read my post here to see Divi in action. 

Email marketing

Let’s be real here – there’s no escaping when it comes to email marketing. It’s by far the most effective method to have direct contact with your readers. And it’s also another thing that you have full control of. If anything happens to the current social media platform you’re using, you still have another means to keep in touch with your readers.

Even better? Email is here to stay regardless of how the industry is changing. If there’s only one book marketing activity you can squeeze into your schedule, it will be building your email list.

Just like any other marketing strategy, there are many ways you can go about building your email list. You can read this post and this one too if you’re curious about my list-building approach.

And if you’re wondering which email marketing platform I recommend, this is the one I use on my websites.

MailPoet

Like any other email marketing platform out there, MailPoet has everything you need to build an email list.

But what makes MailPoet different is that it’s a WordPress plugin. Once installed, you can create and send an email campaign straight from your WordPress dashboard.

So, no more going between tabs to send emails to your readers. You can create an email campaign without having to leave your WordPress dashboard.

It even integrates with WooCommerce, which is a plus for someone like me who uses WooCommerce.

Wondering if you should use MailPoet? You can read this post here if you’d like to know about my experience with using MailPoet.

Keyword research

If you want people to find you online, then you must know what search terms and queries they use when they’re searching for you and your books online.

That’s where the keyword research comes in. But the issue with keyword research is that it takes a long time to find the right search terms. And let’s not forget it can be a rather complicated process for most people, too.

The good news is there’s an easy way to find the best search terms without taking too much of your time. And these tools can help you do just that.

Ubersuggest

I love using Ubersuggest because it saves me a huge amount of time analyzing keywords for me.

With Ubersuggest, you don’t just get to see the search volume, how valuable the keyword is, and how easy for your website to rank in the search engine. But you get to see the search intent behind the keywords, too. This is crucial since the page you optimize must match the search intent of the keyword for better conversion.

If you’re optimizing your WooCommerce product page, then you better be sure that the search intent for the keyword is transactional.  

Of course, you can do so much more with Ubersuggest. So, I highly recommend that you read my post here on all the things that Ubersuggest can do for your website.

Publisher Rocket

Want to know what keyword your readers use when they search for a book like yours on Amazon?

Well, now you can with Publisher Rocket.

Not only does Publisher Rocket make it easy for you to find the keywords your target readers are using on Amazon. But you can use it to optimize your Amazon ads, too.

With Publisher Rocket, you can find so much information about the keywords, such as the number of competitors, average monthly earnings, and estimated Amazon searches per month for that keyword.

Just to be clear, you can do the same process by checking the keyword on the Amazon search box manually. But you won’t know much about the keyword other than the number of books that are using the search term.

Not sure if Publisher Rocket is something that you need? You can read this post here to learn more about it.

If you want your books to get discovered easily on retailers’ websites, then this tool is a must-have in your arsenal.

Testing and tracking

You can only know whether your online marketing effort is paying off or not if you track it. That’s how you know which online marketing channel is driving you the most traffic.

You can only make the best decision in your author business if you have enough data about your audience. Fortunately, collecting data about your audience isn’t that hard thanks to this tool.

Google Analytics

Okay, I admit that Google Analytics has become a lot harder to navigate over the years.

It can feel like you need to be GA-certified just to find the information you’re looking for.

While there are many analytics out there that are far easier to navigate than Google Analytics, I still prefer to use Google Analytics over the others.

Yes, it can feel intimidating to use Google Analytics, considering that you can use it to track so many things.

But once you set it correctly, it will provide you with deep insight into everything that takes place on your website. It can be things like what pathway leads people to purchase your books or join your email list.

Alternatively, you can use the MonsterInsights plugin to access your Google Analytics data straight from your WordPress dashboard.

But you have to upgrade to the premium version if you want complete access to all reports, though.