We are proud to present you the latest version of our book writer software. This program is designed to help beginning and advanced authors professionally create their own books. A temporary free trial is available for anyone who wants to try it before they buy it.
Table of Contents
Book Writer Software Free Download
1. Scrivener (Word Processor)
Scrivener is the premier book writing app made by writers for writers.
Scrivener’s “binder” view allows you to break up your book into chapters and sections and easily reorganize it with drag and drop interface.
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You can also get a high-level view of your book using the corkboard and outliner modes, allowing you to view book chapters, sections, or individual scenes as index cards.
Project targets let you create word count goals and then track your progress daily. Its composition mode can help you stay focused by removing all the clutter.
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Scrivener has formatting features for publishing (e.g. on Amazon or Barnes & Noble), as well as basic features for distraction-free writing, and has templates for novels, nonfiction books, screenplays, and more.
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 on an editor (we recommend Google Docs for collaborating).
You can sync with your iPhone/iPad, but only through Dropbox, making it 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 that by being so helpful in the early stages of the writing process.
Again, here are the pros and cons for Scrivener.
Pros of Scrivener:
- Easily manage a large book writing project (or screenplay) in the binder view
- Get a high-level view of your book’s structure using corkboard and outliner views
- Manage your writing productivity with project targets and deadlines
- iPhone and iPad app
Cons of Scrivener:
- Formatting can be overly complicated
- Learning curve
- Syncing with Dropbox isn’t always easy
- No Android app
We believe in Scrivener so much, we published a book about how creative writers can write more faster using it. It’s called Scrivener Superpowers. If you’re using Scrivener or want a tutorial to save yourself time as you learn 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:
- Scrivener Superpowers by M.G. Herron
- 3 Reasons I Love Scrivener
- Microsoft Word vs. Scrivener
Cost: $49 for Windows, MacGet started with Scrivener here »
2. Google Docs (Word Processing)
While Scrivener is the best book writing software, once you get to editing and getting feedback, it begins to fall short.
That’s why Google Docs has become my second go-to piece of book writing software. It’s free, very easy to use, and requires no backups since everything is in the cloud.
Best of all are its collaboration abilities, 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).
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Pros of Google Docs:
- Real-time collaboration with editors, beta readers, or other writers
- Suggestion mode
- Free!
Cons of Google Docs:
- No large-document organization features
- No productivity features
- Offline mode withstanding, usually requires an internet connection
Cost: Free!Get started with Google Docs here »
3. Google Sheets OR Microsoft Excel (Spreadsheet)
If you’d 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 I didn’t major in English to have to use a spreadsheet.
But now, as I’m finishing my fifteenth book, I realize that I use spreadsheets almost daily.
Spreadsheets allow you to get a sense of the elements of your book at a glance, and when you’re working on a 300-page document, distilling it down to useable information becomes very necessary.
You might use spreadsheets for:
- Character tracking
- Breakdown of scenes
- Outlines
- A Foolscap/Beat sheet
Google Sheets is perfect for this because it’s free and you can quickly share your documents with your writing partners, editors, or beta readers to get feedback. Microsoft Excel is another great option, but is a bit behind in the collaboration functions.
Pros of Google Sheets:
- Real-time collaboration with editors, beta readers, or other writers
- Fast
- Free!
Cons of Google Sheets:
- Managing spreadsheets from other sources (e.g. Excel) can be clunky and time-consuming
- Offline mode notwithstanding, usually requires an internet connection
Cost for Google Sheets: Free!Get started with Google Sheets here »
If you have Excel already and love it, great.
Cost for Microsoft Word: $69 / year (includes Word, Powerpoint, Outlook, and other Microsoft software)Get started with Microsoft Excel here »
4. Vellum (Book Formatting/Word Processing)
If you want to turn your book into an eBook, it’s not that hard. Scrivener, Word, Pages, they 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 on any of those word processors. That’s why I love Vellum so much.
Vellum makes beautiful books.
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Vellum picks up where Scrivener, Word, and Pages leave off, giving you a tool to make great looking eBooks and print books, usually in under an hour.
The most important part of this is the previewer (see the image below), which lets you see how each formatting change or book edit you make will appear on Kindle, Fire, iPhone, Nook, and other eReaders.
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It also has stripped-down, option-based formatting, which is perfect for designing both eBooks and print books.
I really love this writing app!
Pros of Vellum:
- Easy and intuitive
- Format a manuscript for print and ebook in less than an hour
- Beautiful styling
Cons of Vellum:
- Limited styles
- Relatively expensive
Cost: $199 for eBook generation; $249 for paperback formattingGet started with Vellum here »
5. ProWritingAid (Grammar/Spell Check)
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 you don’t want to hire them to edit your emails or Facebook posts), software that performs grammar checks like ProWritingAid is an accessible, affordable alternative.”
If you struggle with grammar mistakes, sentence structure, spelling, or even writing style, ProWritingAid can help. It goes far beyond your built-in spellcheck.
You should still learn grammar skills, but ProWritingAid can help you start to see the patterns and grow as a writer.
There’s a free version that’s very good. It can even be installed into your browser or Word processor, so you can check your grammar wherever you write. The paid version, just $60 a year (less than half of what Grammarly costs), gives you additional support on sentence structure, style, and vocabulary.
Learn more about how writers can get the most out of ProWritingAid here.
Pros of ProWritingAid:
- Quickly copyedit your book
- Better suggestions for creative writers than other grammar checkers
- Less expensive than some grammar checkers
Cons of ProWritingAid:
- Sometimes gives suggestions that are incorrect or out of context
- Interface is slightly less intuitive
Cost: Free! (Premium version is $60/year)
free book writing software for beginners
1. yWriter (Free)
I have to start with yWriter because it was developed by a writer, Simon Haynes.
He explains the reason for going to all the trouble to create this software, and it should resonate with many writers.
“I really struggled with my first novel. I wrote slabs of text into a big word processor file, and I just couldn’t make sense of the whole thing at once. No real overview, no easy jumping from scene to scene, nothing.”
It is a great explanation of why word processors are not designed for writing fiction.
The key feature of yWriter is that it breaks book writing into chapters and scenes. When writing a book, this is a must-have feature.
It also comes with the ability to build characters and locations.
2. Manuskript (Free)
Manuskript is a feature-rich book writing tool.
It has an outliner, word count, and distraction-free mode. It also a novel assistant to help you. With it, you can develop characters using the snowflake method.
You can also keep track of notes about your characters, the plot, events, and places in your story.
These tools will certainly help improve your writing.
It is well worth a try for a new author.
3. Sigil (Free)
Sigil is open-source, free software that is well regarded for producing e-books in epub format.
In this respect, it is similar to, if not even better than Calibre.
It has multiple views, including book view, code view, and preview, as well as a WYSIWYG editor.
It also has a Table of Contents generator with multi-level heading support.
There is a metadata editor as well as a spell check with default and user dictionaries.
It also supports the import of EPUB and HTML files, images, and style sheets.
4. Wordcradle (Free)
Wordcradle is a free online novel writing app that really has a lot going for it.
You can set up projects with word count goals and how much time you want to allocate to your writing aims.
These are great tools to have if you want to practice writing on a schedule.
The character cards allow you to construct a profile for each one during your rough draft. They are set in an attractive table layout.
Index cards are a must when writing a novel.
Wordcradle is equipped to handle all your ideas and to track changes you might make to your storyline.
5: Quoll Writer (Free)
Quoll Writer is a free, open-source book writing program. It is currently available for Windows, but Mac and Linux versions are coming soon in version 3.
It’s loaded with all the features you will need to write a book, including character and location creation, outlining, note-taking, and a lot more.
The layout of the desktop is easy to navigate. But there is a configurable distraction-free mode to let you concentrate on writing.
If you have started writing a book, you can import it from Word. You can export in docx, HTML, and also epub.
Conclusion
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