For Writers – D.L. Young™ Fiction

Tools and Resources for Indie Authors

I get asked A LOT about the apps, reference books, and resources I use as an indie author. Below is a select list of highly recommended apps I personally use and books I often refer to.

ESSENTIAL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT APPS

MAILERLITE

Mailing lists are VITAL for indie authors, and MailerLite beats MailChimp hands-down (I know because I switched). FREE up to 1,000 subcribers, also.

LEARN MORE ABOUT MAILERLITE

PUBLISHER ROCKET

These days indie authors can’t afford not to run Amazon Ads. Publisher Rocket is an INVALUABLE tool for discovering the best ad keywords and phrases for your target audience.

LEARN MORE ABOUT PUBLISHER ROCKET

With Adobe Creative Cloud I can re-purpose my books’ cover art for ads, bookmarks, business cards, and my website. I have the Photography Plan, only $10 per month and includes Photoshop.

LEARN MORE ABOUT CREATIVE CLOUD

WORDPRESS

Website creation made easy. Simple to use, and thousands of available plugins.

LEARN MORE ABOUT WORDPRESS

WRITING AND EDITING SOFTWARE

SCRIVENER

Simply put, Scrivener is the best tool out there for organizing your writing to keep you productive. I swear by it.

LEARN MORE ABOUT SCRIVENER

SCAPPLE

Scapple’s a great app for making free form notes, mindmaps, even novel outlines. Easy to learn. Fun to use.

LEARN MORE ABOUT SCAPPLE

GRAMMARLY

Not a substitute for a living, breathing editor, but still a great tool for catching misspellings, punctuation and grammar oopsies.

LEARN MORE ABOUT GRAMMARLY

BOOKS ON WRITING CRAFT AND INDIE AUTHOR MARKETING

Clear, very useful tips and strategies that have helped me run successful Facebook ad campaigns.

GET IT HERE

Guaghran is THE Bookbub Ads guru. Invaluable reference if you plan on using this powerful platform to sell your books.

GET IT HERE

Best book I’ve read (by far) on how to start, grow, and engage your readers via a newsletter.

GET IT HERE

If you’re new to Amazon Ads, this book is a great resource for getting you started.

GET IT HERE

An excellent, underappreciated book on writing craft. I refer to it again and again.

GET IT HERE

The ONLY outlining book you’ll ever need. Trust me on this. I’m an outlining nerd and this is my Bible.

GET IT HERE

Solid, practical advice and exercises that will help you create a compelling, coherent storyline.

GET IT HERE

An amazing reference book on style and technique from the author of Fight Club. I REALLY enjoyed this!

GET IT HERE

The above are affiliate links, so I get a small portion of any related purchases. Usually about enough to buy a small coffee (not Starbucks). That said, I personally own all the books above, and I also use and endorse all the apps.