Nobody told us that publishing a book meant starting a company. You’re not just the writer — you’re also the design department, IT, marketing, and accounting. And somewhere along the way, most of us bought a bunch of tools we didn’t need, couldn’t figure out, or used exactly once.
In this episode, Tara and I get into what we actually use — the writing tools, book production tools, design tools, scheduling tools, email platforms, and a few analytics tools we think are optional (and a couple we think you can skip entirely, at least for the first few years). We also talk about how to think about acquiring tools: by function, not by FOMO.
A few things that came up: why Vellum is the closest thing to a non-negotiable for indie authors, why Canva’s free tier might be enough to start, why most of us have a graveyard of email platforms in our past, and a useful AI tool for series authors that has nothing to do with generating prose.
What tools have you spent money on and regretted — or loved? Drop it in the comments.
Want to support the show? Support our work =)
Find Tara’s books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Tara-Lush/author/B00O5M5T5G
Find LL’s books: https://llkirchner.com
SHOW NOTES
Episodes referenced:
* Episode 21: BookFunnel
* Episode 13/14: Social media + newsletters
Platforms & tools discussed:
Writing tools:
* Google Docs — https://docs.google.com
* Scrivener — https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener
* Final Draft (screenwriting) — https://www.finaldraft.com
* NotebookLM (series continuity/AI search) — https://notebooklm.google.com
Book production:
* Vellum (easiest on Mac) — https://vellum.pub
* Atticus (Windows alternative) — https://www.atticus.io
* Draft2Digital (free formatting option) — https://www.draft2digital.com
Audiobook proofing:
* Pozotron — https://www.pozotron.com
Design:
* Canva — https://www.canva.com
* PicMonkey — https://www.picmonkey.com
Social post scheduling:
* Meta Business Suite (native scheduling, Instagram + Facebook) — https://business.facebook.com
Email service providers:
* Flodesk — https://flodesk.com
* Kit (formerly ConvertKit) — https://kit.com
* Mailchimp — https://mailchimp.com
* MailerLite — https://www.mailerlite.com
Analytics/sales tracking:
* Publisher Champ — https://publisherchamp.com
* K-lytics — https://k-lytics.com
* Publisher Rocket — https://publisherrocket.com
* KDP Dashboard — https://kdp.amazon.com
* Google Sheets — https://sheets.google.com
What we’re reading / listening to:
* LL: Yesteryear (audiobook via Spotify — got cut off mid-listen, to be continued)
* Tara: The Price of Honey by Liane Moriarty — a short story / reader magnet; worth reading as an example of what a big-trad author can get away with that indie authors can’t
Coming next: [Placeholder — hosts hadn’t locked in the next topic by end of recording]
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