Yep, it's time for another top ten post from me!

When it comes to success stories, some people are unwilling to share their methods. Maybe they find it a little threatening and are trying to limit the competition or whatever - I don't really get it.  But I wanted to share with you guys some amazing FREE resources that I used to help make my self-publishing journey a million times easier. Some of these programs literally did all the work for me and I couldn't recommend them enough to any writer out there. 

Here are 10 programs every writer and aspiring self-publisher needs to check out!

1. Reedsy

When it comes to writing books on Wattpad or in a word document, the writing comes out with all the sentences lined up together. When you open an actual physical book, you'll notice the writing doesn't look like that. There are line indents whenever a character speaks or a new paragraph begins. Some authors go through their entire word documents making every single indent change themselves or pay someone else to do it. But for those of us who are looking for a better option, I'd 100% recommend you go on reedsy.com . This site saved my life!  It completely formats your book for you FOR FREE. All you have to do is copy and paste your writing into it or you can even write your book in there and it will format for you as you go! And then afterward, it even converts your book into whatever format you want (epub, mobi, or PDF) . This site is a total game changer. It's easy to navigate and it even makes your contents page for you! Can I get a hallelujah up in here?!?

2. Canva

Book covers can be a huge challenge to make. But thanks to Canva, your life is about to be made a lot simpler. If you can't handle photoshop or any similar programs, Canva is going to save the day for you. It has SOOO many stencils for graphics, and that includes book covers. It will help you make a great cover where you can upload your own images or even use the ones on there. They're all licensed stock images that you can buy or even find some for free. If you use them then you'll be able to use your cover anywhere because you'll be licensed to use the images. Not getting sued or fined is a pretty big relief! I use Canva for many over things too! The Wattmag covers, author bios, twitter and facebook headers ect. It's an amazing free site and I highly recommend it to everyone!

3. Grammarly

This program is one of my favorite things on the entire planet. I know what you're thinking, "But I already have spell check on my computer and I proofread!" Trust me, you still need this. I first got this program after seeing the ad for it at the beginning of a Youtube video for the MILLIONTH time. I finally caved and convinced myself to check it out since I'm a writer. It changed everything. Spellcheck is great - but it doesn't pick up even half of what Grammarly does. It'll tell you what words you're missing, pick up on when you're using the wrong language or tense and much, much more. It has an internet browser add-on so you can use it on Wattpad, emails, and even Facebook statuses! I seriously can't go on enough about how essential this add-on should be for every writer. I rave about it so much that Grammarly should honestly be endorsing me. PLEASE check this out. Trust me, you need it. 

4. Draft2Digital 

You've got your book, it's edited and ready to go up on Amazon, Kobo, Apple, and Barnes & Noble... but how? A lot of people use sites like Createspace to put up their works but I totally recommend Draft2Digital. Their payments are more frequent and they take a smaller chunk of your royalties than their competitors do - and you want to make as much as you can! It is your writing after all. I suggest using them for reaching all these retailers except Amazon. Use Kindle Direct Publishing for them as you'll earn more. But honestly, this site is amazing. They even offer free formatting too! I still recommend Reedsy for formatting as you'll be able to do more but I definitely think you should use this site for uploading your novel and distributing it. Trust me, I did my research and sooo many different comparisons on the pros and cons. This site's the one.

5. Free stock photo sites

A little earlier I talked about cover images and how you need to use ones you're allowed to. You can't just google an image and stick it on your book. If you don't get the rights to do that, you can find yourself in a lot of legal trouble if the original owner was to find out you used a photo they took. The way to avoid that is by using stock photos. Unfortunately most stock sites require you to sign up and pay quite a bit of money to use their images as part of a subscription. If you don't have any major cover making plans, check out sites that let you use images under the Creative Commons license. Meaning, you can use them for free! Sites that have heaps of free images to use include Pixabay and Unsplash - but there are many more. Professional images to stick on your cover to make it look awesome? Yes please!

6. Goodreads

If you haven't heard of this site, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? This is the ultimate haven for readers. It's where they review and discuss books with each other. It's a great way to find a new book to read or check the reviews on one you're interested in checking out to see what others think of it. You HAVE to register your book on Goodreads once it's published. This site is full of hungry readers looking for their next story to devour. It's also a great way for you to record your own reading process and set yourself a yearly reading challenge. Plus, you can make some awesome friends. That's the huge bonus of this site. IT'S FULL OF READERS! The people that are gonna check out your book! Reach out to a few people and ask if they'd be interested in reading a free copy of your ebook in exchange for an honest review. It's a great way to get exposure! 

7. Pinterest

Sometimes we need a bit inspiration to get us going. When it comes to writing a book, sometimes the visualizing/descriptive part can be a little hard for me. Pinterest is great for grabbing images of places and people that look similar to something in your story. They can provide inspiration or help you describe something in better detail. I use my Pinterest to create separate folders for each book with images of clothing, people, and locations that I feel are similar to my story. I definitely recommend people try that out! Inspiration can take you to many places and give your story that extra flare. 

8. My Write Club

It's hard to get yourself motivated sometimes. When you have trouble keeping track of your stories and setting goals, things can get difficult. MyWriteClub.com will help with both these things! They let you track the progress of your story writing and place a date on when you want things done by. Seeing it visually mapped out in front of you can be a huge help. They also a 'word sprints' where you can write with other people and chat to them while you write. You can track each other's progress and offer encouragement! You can make your own sprint with your friends or join the global word sprint and write with a bunch of other authors all around the word. I find this site incredibly helpful!

9. Social media (Facebook, Twitter & Instagram)

There's no better way to spread the word of your books than online. When self-publishing, most of the advertising is up to you. Creating networks on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram can help you find readers and get your story out there! You can find people that run book blogs and ask them to review your works, or just put out graphics and teasers to get people interested! Social media is a great tool and I always recommend it to anyone out there who wants to advertise their works. 

10. Wattpad

Of course Wattpad was going to be on here! How could I forget my favorite site in the whole entire world? Wattpad is great for authors for soooo many reasons. Before you publish a book, put it on Wattpad! Your readers will be like Beta readers. You get to read all their comments and see what they like or what they think needs improvement. It's like a test audience at a movie screening! When people review books, they can really only give you an overall point of view. The great thing about Wattpad is that you can get comments under EVERY chapter and even inline so you get to see which moments spark a reaction in your readers and which don't. It's a great tool to utilize. I also just love Wattpad because you get to make some amazing friends and gather a base of really awesome readers who encourage you and give enthusiasm. I'm forever grateful for the experience Wattpad gives me when I log on every morning and I can't wait to watch this site continue to grow as time goes on. 

Do you use any of these programs? What are your thoughts on them? If you're planning on trying out any of the sites I mentioned above, please let me know in the comments! I'd love to hear about your experience with them.

If you want to find out how to win a prize pack of all my ebooks that will be published, check out the next chapter of THIS BOOK >>>