The Writing Tools and Services I Adore
- Betsy Breitenbach
- Apr 21
- 6 min read
Advances in technology are democratizing the publishing industry, making it viable for authors to get their books to readers without a traditional publishing contract. It’s exciting. But it can also be overwhelming. These are some of the tools, resources, and services I used to write and publish Deadly Decaf, and they are all ones I continue to use or would go back and use again without question. Some of these are affiliate links that give me a small commission if you purchase through them, but I join affiliate programs for the products I already love, not the other way around.
Trying to deal with 70,000 words and 81 chapters in a word processor would have been a nightmare. Word processors are great for short documents like writing this blog, but for drafting a story, my preference is Scrivener all the way. Each file is a collection of documents that can be organized into folders and compiled into a PDF or Word document. Those documents can easily be rearranged using drag and drop, making restructuring and reorganizing super easy. The file can also contain documents that don’t go into the final manuscript, like research, character descriptions, and notes, so everything you need for your story, all in one place.
My only complaint with Scrivener is that it’s sometimes too easy to rearrange files. I’ve accidentally rearranged chapters more than once and thoroughly puzzled a couple of alpha readers. However, I find that a very small price to pay for the ease with which I can move things around. Scrivener also has some very slick features like outlining, corkboard, and side-by-side view that I don’t use much personally, but I like having the option for different views of the same thing.
As I was researching various aspects of publishing a novel, I kept coming across articles from Kindlepreneur, and they were clear, specific, and answered my questions. Once I finally looked into Kindlepreneur, I quickly saw why: Kindlepreneur is a free resource run by Dave Chesson, who is an author, expert in marketing, and former nuclear scientist (no, really). He has made a career of understanding how marketing on Amazon works and sharing that information in easily digestible ways. When I was up in the middle of the night, wondering what I needed to do for copyright protection or how ISBNs work, Kindlepreneur had the answers I was looking for.
I also discovered that Kindlepreneur creates products for authors, and as soon as I began looking at how to take the manuscript and turn it into a physical book, I bought Atticus. Scrivener does have some formatting capabilities, but that’s not its main purpose, and I really like what Atticus has to offer. I imported my manuscript as a Word doc, and had previews for both ebook and print. Once I was happy with how everything looked, it was super easy to export it into PDF for print and epub for ebook.
Just like I wouldn’t use Scrivener for formatting (even though it has some of that capability), I wouldn’t use Atticus for drafting a story. Certainly, Atticus supports drafting, but I found that it tended to lag as I typed. It seemed to slow as I tried different formatting styles and resolved when I relaunched it, but I would find it very frustrating when drafting—I already run into the issue of my brain going faster than my fingers can manage.
No, really. If you’re not familiar with Fiverr, it’s a freelancer platform for a wide variety of services, from programming to songwriting to business consulting. It’s had criticism around the quality of freelancers and deliveries, so I was skeptical. Now, I’m a believer—with caveats. I did extensive research on options and freelancers before I approached them, and when I had picked out the services I wanted to use, I contacted those freelancers before placing an order to ensure that it was going to be a good fit. Every one of the freelancers I’ve worked with on Fiverr has delivered on their services, and I have no regrets.
I’ve written before about why I tackled white privilege in Deadly Decaf, but to feel confident that I wasn’t causing harm, I really needed feedback. That’s nothing uncommon—all writers need feedback, but I needed someone with the background and experience to identify where I was falling into harmful traps without realizing it; someone who would tell me if things didn't ring true. I contracted with multiple readers from multiple perspectives within the same community because no one can represent an entire community. Their responses didn’t always agree with each other, but even those nuances were extremely helpful. I wouldn’t want to publish again without this great support.
All writers need feedback from readers who are new to them, but there’s an extra layer when it comes to mysteries. Once someone has read the book, they know who did it, and it’s impossible to recreate that initial not knowing. So after any round of revisions, there’s a need to find new readers, and it’s possible to quickly run out of friends and family. The beta readers on Fiverr were a perfect way to cover that gap, and their feedback was critical to making sure I was on track as I revised.
A book shouldn’t be judged by its cover, but let’s be honest, that’s exactly what happens when book shopping. So, I was very nervous about my book’s cover. I had a concept in mind, but I wasn’t sure how to bring it to life without it getting too costly. I found Get Covers, and I was very skeptical because of their prices. Covers for ebooks start at $10, which is unbelievably low. So, before I entrusted my cover to them, I tried one of their other services: logos. Like covers, those start at $10, and I had a concept in mind, but I really needed a designer to bring it to life. And bring it to life they did! I love my logo.
So, I entrusted them with my cover, and I was not disappointed. Their process manages to be both fast and collaborative, and they worked with me to refine the design. The only issue I ran into was a technical glitch in their online client portal, but it was quickly resolved, and I love being able to track everything in the portal. In addition to the cover itself, I also ordered marketing materials, and this Facebook banner is my absolute favorite image of Deadly Decaf. Get Covers is able to keep their prices low because they are located in Ukraine and focus on growing their employees, which I'm happy supporting. If you are interested in trying out GetCovers, you can use code BETSY10 for an additional 10% off of their already low prices.
I am a proud member of the Alliance of Independent Authors. I joined for very practical reasons, but their focus on ethics turns me from a member to a proud member. Self-publishing has come a very long way in the last decade, but there are still a lot of scammers out there. ALLi’s Watchdog Desk is dedicated to protecting authors from predatory practices. They also provide advice on contracts, and their member forum is an active community of writers helping and supporting writers.
The biggest role ALLi played in developing Deadly Decaf was finding a copyeditor. ALLi has an Approved Partners program for publishing services that have been vetted and agree to ALLi’s code of conduct. I could have contracted with a copyeditor through Fiverr, but for that all-important final edit, I wanted to ensure I was working with someone with the experience I lacked. I found what I was looking for in Black Cat Editorial Services, and I will definitely be returning to their services. I was even able to get a discount on the entire copyedit through ALLi’s Partner Discounts and Deals page.
Do you have writing tools, resources, or services that you love but weren’t mentioned here? Drop a comment and spread the word!
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