Writing a book is hard. I’ve written fifteen books, and at some point during each one, I thought, “there has to be a tool, book writing software, that makes it easy to reach my writing goals.”
You are reading: Programs for writing books
bad/good news: writing a book will always be difficult, and the best writing software in the world won’t write it for you. some may even require a steep learning curve. others are easier.
The good news is that there is book writing software that can make the writing process easier and help you meet your daily goals. (The best news is that once you’ve found the right software, we have the best resources to help you finish your book, like this book idea worksheet, which will help you start writing your book in just a few minutes. get your free book copy here.)
In this article, we’ll cover the top ten pieces of software for writing a book and look at the pros and cons of each.
click the links below to get our review on the best writing software.
the worst pieces of software to write a book
Before we discuss writing software that will help you write a beautiful book, it’s important to understand (and eliminate) what will hurt your writing progress.
at least while you’re writing a book:
- video games. especially world of warcraft (always, always, always!) but also solitaire, sudoku, angry birds and, for me right now, star wars galaxy of heroes.
- facebook, tiktok and other social networking software. do I really need to say more? luckily there is book writing software to avoid this distracting software (see freedom below). you can’t write a book if you spend your time posting on social media.
- other productive software not directly associated with your writing. yes, it’s good to reconcile your bank account in quickbooks or make sure you’re up to date in your calendar app, but responsible, well-intentioned work can easily be an excuse for a quick distraction that turns into a big distraction from writing your book.
- Easily manage a large book writing project (or screenplay) in the folder view
- Get a high-level view of your book’s structure using the corkboard views and profiler
- manage your writing productivity with project goals and deadlines
- app for iphone and ipad
- formatting can be too complicated
- learning curve
- syncing with dropbox is not always easy
- without android app
- scribe superpowers by m.g. herron
- 3 reasons why I love scrivener
- microsoft word vs. writer
- real-time collaboration with editors, beta readers, or other writers
- suggestion mode
- free!
- no large document organization features
- no productivity features
- supports offline mode, usually requires an internet connection
- character tracking
- scene breakdown
- outlines
- a draft/a compass sheet
- real-time collaboration with editors, beta readers, or other writers
- fast
- free!
- managing spreadsheets from other sources (eg excel) can be cumbersome and time consuming
- despite the offline mode, it generally requires an internet connection
- format a manuscript for print and ebook in less than an hour
- all-in-one platform for writing, editing and formatting books
- works for all platforms
- web based only (requires an internet connection)
- expensive for a word processor (but not for formatting books)
- a bit buggy currently
- easy and intuitive
- format a manuscript for print and ebook in less than an hour
- beautiful style
- mac only
- limited styles
- relatively expensive
- quickly cut your book
- better tips for creative writers than other grammar checkers
- less expensive than some grammar checkers
- sometimes gives incorrect or out of context suggestions
- interface is a bit less intuitive
- what phrases amazon buyers are really searching for.
- the psychology of how readers choose to buy books.
- how much money readers spend on certain niches and topics. .
- how much money specific books make per month (for example, books that might be competing with yours).
- Find out how much other books in your genre are making
- Get metrics on how to become a #1 bestseller
- Great learning resources and support
- learning curve
- limited to book marketing
- sync notes between devices
- write on the go
- capture ideas
- free plan is limited
- gets clunky as you get more notes
- better at taking notes than managing a big writing project
- focus on your writing without distractions
- program focus mode in advance
- making it work on mobile devices can be difficult
- you can find ways to get around their blockers if you try your hardest
- ubiquitous: most people are familiar with word
- universal file types
- not designed to organize and manage large writing projects, such as books
- can become slow to load as book grows
- no collaboration time real like google docs
- universal cloud backup
- auto sync
- free or cheap
- setup is a bit tricky the first time
- maybe you want to lose your typing when your computer crashes
- quick and easy styling advice
- for free!
- somewhat arbitrary advice
- Hemingway himself would fail
- your imagination
- your words
- a desire to tell your story
Set aside time to write every day and then stay focused.
if you need a game, make typing your daily word count your game.
If you want to get more likes on social media, imagine how awesome it will be to get five star reviews on your book.
If you need to check your bank balance several times a day, think about what your bank balance will be when you stop checking it constantly, finish your book, and become a successful author.
Now let’s talk about some book software for authors that can help you with your book writing process.
top 10 pieces of software for writing books
First, there is no perfect software for writing books. no amount of key features or book writing templates or editing features will write a book for you. still, these ten book writing software options can help.
take a look at the pros and cons of each:
1. scribe (word processor)
scrivener is the leading book writing app made by writers for writers.
Scrivener’s “folder” view allows you to divide your book into chapters and sections and easily rearrange them with the drag-and-drop interface.
You can also get a high-level view of your book using the Corkboard and Profiler modes, allowing you to view individual book chapters, sections, or scenes as tabs.
Project Goals allow you to create word count goals and then track your progress daily. its composition mode can help you stay focused by removing all the clutter.
scrivener has formatting features for publishing (for example, on amazon or barnes & noble), as well as basic features for distraction-free writing, and has templates for novels, nonfiction, screenplays, and more.
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You can read our full scrivener review here.
To be fair, scrivener also has its weaknesses.
formatting is more complicated than it needs to be and collaborating isn’t easy, meaning it loses its effectiveness as soon as you bring in an editor (we recommend google docs for collaborating).
You can sync with your iphone/ipad, but only through dropbox, so it’s not as easy as it should be. It also has something of a learning curve, especially for its advanced features. but it more than makes up for it by being so helpful in the early stages of the writing process.
again, here are the pros and cons of scrivener.
advantages of scrivener:
scrivener disadvantages:
We believe in scrivener so much that we published a book on how creative writers can write faster using it. It’s called scribe superpowers. If you’re using scrivener or want a tutorial to save time while learning how to use it for your creative writing, you can get scrivener superpowers here.
You can also learn more about how to use the software with one of these resources:
cost: $49 for windows, mac
2. google docs (word processor)
while scrivener is the best software for writing books, once you start editing and receiving comments, it starts to fail.
that’s why google docs has become my second book writing software. it’s free, very easy to use and doesn’t require backups since everything is in the cloud.
Best of all are its collaboration capabilities, which allow you to invite your editor to the document and then watch as they make changes, which are tracked in suggestion mode, and leave comments on your story (see screenshot below).
pros of google docs:
cons of google docs:
cost: free!
3. google sheets or microsoft excel (spreadsheet)
If you had 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 that I didn’t major in English so you have to use a spreadsheet.
But now, as I’m finishing my fifteenth book, I realize I use spreadsheets almost every day.
Spreadsheets allow you to get an idea of the elements of your book at a glance, and when you’re working on a 300-page document, it becomes very necessary to break it down into useful information.
You could use spreadsheets to:
Google Sheets is perfect for this because it’s free and you can quickly share your documents with your fellow writers, editors, or beta readers for feedback. Microsoft Excel is another great option, but it’s a bit behind on collaboration features.
pros of google sheets:
disadvantages of google sheets:
cost of google sheets: free!
See Also: All 40 Lisa Gardner Books in Order [Ultimate Guide]
if you already have excel and love it, great.
cost of microsoft word: $69 per year (includes word, powerpoint, outlook and other microsoft software)
4. atticus (book format/word processing)
Once you’ve written your book, how do you turn it into something people can actually read? if you’re posting to yourself, you need a tool like atticus.
atticus is a word processing and book formatting tool that allows you to take your manuscript and quickly and easily format it for publication, including print and e-book formats.
but atticus is more than just a formatter. It’s an all-in-one solution for writers, giving you the organization features of Scrivener, the cloud collaboration features of Google Docs, and the vellum book formatting capabilities. yeah, that’s as cool as it sounds!
also works on all platforms, whether you’re working on windows, mac, chromebook or even linux. Although I still love and use vellum (see below), the benefit of atticus is that it works for everyone, not just mac users.
learn more about atticus in my full review.
attic advantages:
vellum disadvantages:
cost: $147
5. vellum (book format/word processing)
If you want to turn your book into an e-book, it’s not that hard. scrivener, word, pages all can format ebooks and print books. but that doesn’t mean they’ll look good.
In fact, it takes a lot of skill and effort to format a printed book that looks good in any of those word processors. That’s why I love vellum so much.
parchment makes beautiful books.
Like Atticus, Vitela picks up where scrivener, word, and pages leave off, giving you a tool to create great-looking print and e-books, typically in under an hour.
The most important part of this is the preview (see image below), which lets you see how each book edit or reformatting you make will appear on Kindle, Fire, iPhone, Nook, and other e-readers.
It also has a simplified option-based format, which is perfect for designing e-books and print books.
I love this writing app!
vellum pros:
vellum disadvantages:
Cost: $199 per eBook generation; $249 for the paperback format
6. prowriteaid (grammar/spelling checker)
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 don’t want to hire one to edit your emails or facebook posts), the software that performs grammar aids like prowritingaid is an accessible and affordable alternative.”
If you’re having trouble with grammatical errors, sentence structure, spelling, or even writing style, prowritingaid can help. goes far beyond the built-in spell checker.
You still need to learn grammar, but prowritingaid can help you start to see patterns and grow as a writer.
there is a free version which is very good. It can even be installed in your browser or word processor, so you can check your grammar wherever you type. the paid version, for just $60 a year (less than half what grammar costs), gives you extra support on sentence structure, style, and vocabulary.
Learn more about how writers can get the most out of prowritingaid here.
prowritingaid pros:
prowritingaid disadvantages:
cost: free! (premium version costs $60/year)
7. publisher rocket (book marketing app)
How do you know if your book will sell? Wouldn’t it be nice to know if there is a market for your book before you start writing? how do you find the most readers on amazon for your published book?
for all these questions, publisher rocket has an answer.
Read our full review on publisher rockets here.
publisher rocket is a book marketing research tool that helps you understand what readers really want and how to connect with them with your books. here are some things you can discover on publisher rocket:
Personally, I’ve used Publisher Rocket to get books from the mid-list to bestseller status on Amazon. is an amazing tool, perfect for anyone working on a book.
advantages of publisher rocket:
publisher rocket cons:
cost: $99
8. evernote or ulysses or bear (note taking)
When I’m writing for a long time, I like to get up and go for a walk.
Sometimes I wish I could keep typing while walking. other times, I find myself brainstorming while I’m not at my computer, typing on my phone, and then wanting to easily move what I wrote to my laptop without having to go through the hassle of emailing it back and forth myself.
That’s where note-taking apps like ulysses and evernote come in.
ulysses, evernote and bear are note-taking apps that let you sync all your devices so you have what you need wherever you are , ideal for jotting down ideas or thinking about your book while you’re away from home.
Although scrivener recently released an app for ios that allows you to sync between devices, its process is complicated and requires you to purchase both the mobile and desktop apps. These note-taking apps make the process much smoother.
Like scrivener, they all have a folder-like sidebar that allows you to move documents around. none of them are designed specifically for books, so it may take a bit of configuration to get it working for you, but once you have one set up the way you want, it’s very intuitive.
See Also: The Best Books to Help You Learn About Dementia
And while I loathe markdown, a markup language that allows you to format your text, I actually like the paired formatting options that ulysses and bear offer, especially for brainstorming. In general, I wouldn’t go from scrivener to any of these apps, but as a complement, they work very well.
evernote benefits:
evernote disadvantages:
evernote cost: free with payment options
cost of ulysses: $45
note: ulysses is only available for mac, either in the app store or from their website.
bear cost: $1.49 monthly / $14.99 annually
note: bear is only available for mac, either in the app store or on their website.
9. freedom (productivity app)
A question writers always ask me is, “How can I focus enough to finish what I write?”
I have too many ideas on that for this article, but when it comes to using writing software to encourage focus, I recommend freedom. is my favorite writing tool for a distraction-free writing experience.
freedom lets you enter focus mode, blocking out your biggest distractions, including websites and mobile apps, for a set period of time. so when you mindlessly escape from your book to scroll through facebook, you’ll find that the site won’t load.
You can also schedule recurring sessions, so that at a scheduled time (for example, Mondays from 6am to 10am), you won’t be able to access sites on your block list, even if you try.
There are other apps like this that we’ve written about before, notably autocontrol for mac and stayfocused for windows. but the freedom goes further, allowing you to block sites on both your computer and phone, and enabling recurring sessions.
You can learn more about how writers can make the most of freedom in our review here.
freedom pros:
freedom cons:
cost: $29 / year for the pro version, which I use and recommend (a free trial is also available)
10. microsoft word (word processor)
again: no book writing software will write your book for you. If you’re looking for the next “shiny new toy” to help you write your book, it could be an excuse to avoid doing the hard work of writing.
Most of us learned to use computers using Microsoft Word or a similar program. word does the job. sure, scrivener is a bit better for books, but i wrote my first book in word and it’s fine.
I wrote a long review of the pros and cons of using word to write books. the main problem is that as the document grows it becomes more and more difficult to work with, whereas with scrivener it becomes easier, but the point is, if what you have is word, don’t let that stop you keep you from finishing your book.
You don’t need a fancy tool to plan a book in the early stages, such as writing a character description for your protagonist, or in the editing stages, such as commenting on scene details.
As Jeff Elkins said in his Word review, “If you’re not already working hard to be the kind of writer you want to be, no matter what new writing software you invest in, it’s not going to help.”
word pros:
word cons:
cost: $69 per year from amazon (includes excel, powerpoint, outlook and other microsoft software)
note: Another word processor we can’t recommend is ywriter, which while it has a cult following and was designed by a fellow novelist, appears to be out of development and not compatible with mac. /osx.
bonus #1: google drive or dropbox (cloud backup)
There’s nothing worse than finishing a great writing session and going to save your work, then your computer crashes and you discover you’ve lost your best writing.
It’s enough to send any writer into the throes of grief and depression.
However, there is a simple solution: keep a copy of all your writing in the cloud using google drive, dropbox or both.
This is my process: I have all my scrivener book files saved in a folder on google drive on my computer. then scrivener automatically backs up every few minutes to a dropbox folder. That way, I know I’ll always have the document I need, no matter what.
Best of all, both apps have free plans, so it’s extremely silly not to use them.
pros of driving:
cons of driving:
cost: free with payment options
bonus #2: hemingway app (style checker)
Most writers think their sentences are easier to read than they are. you think you’re getting it across clearly, that your writing makes sense, but then someone reads it and gets something totally different.
the hemingway app helps with that.
the hemingway app is a free website that checks readability. you can copy and paste your writing into the input box on the website. then it will grade your writing based on your use of adverbs, passive voice, and sentence units.
the hemingway app is useful, but not even the best book writing software can replace a good editor.
Hemingway pros:
cons of hemingway:
cost: free!
all book writing software
the most essential book writing software
Imagine it’s three thousand years ago. you are sitting around a campfire with some of your family and friends, tired from the day’s work. you start to tell a story. It’s one you’ve counted before, counted a hundred times. you can see faces around the fire, the wide-eyed children, the men and women who have heard the story before but still enjoy it because it gives meaning to their lives.
Storytellers—writers—have existed since the beginning of humanity. they didn’t always have software to write books. they did not have the printing press or the internet. they didn’t even always have the alphabet to write their stories.
Instead, the storytellers had their imaginations, their voices, and an enthralled audience.
You don’t need book writing software to write a great story. Book writing software may make the process a little faster or easier, but the truth is that there will always be great stories, no matter what kind of software we have.
the only three things essential to writing a great book:
that’s all you need. do you want to write your book? if you do, then do it. write it. nothing stops you except you. so get writing.
what pieces of book writing software do you use? let us know in the comments.
See Also: David McCullough – Book Series In Order