Best Book Writing Software: 15 Top Choices for Authors

If you’re an author looking for the best book writing software apps, you’ve got plenty of great options.

I’ve written and published several books over the years. I’m also nerdy about writing software and have road-tested many different book writing apps. 

The good news is writers don’t have to constrain themselves to Word.

You can choose from numerous writing applications for Mac, Windows and even mobile app options.

In fact, it’s hard for an author to find the right book or novel writing tool.

Fear not.

This guide rounds up the key software programs that will help you become an author this year.

Just remember…

Looking for the best writing software should always come second to turning up and doing the work. 

Don’t let your search for the perfect writing tool become a form of procrastination or writer’s block!

Scrivener is one of the top book writing software options on the market today. Writers developed this program specifically for writers. A “binder” view in Scrivener allows writers to break up their book into chapters and sections, reorganizing them with ease. 

You can also drag and drop individual sections or chapters within Scrivener, something that’s comparably more complicated in Word. 

Scrivener presents a somewhat complicated and more clunky formatting setup compared to other tools in this guide; however, it’s powerful and efficient once you figure it out. 

Writers can establish project targets including word counts and a status for each chapter. You can also use a focus mode and compile a manuscript for self-publishing. It syncs with Google Drive or Dropbox and includes a iOS version.

Use for: outlining, writing, and editing any type of book.

This is a newer type of book writing software and is accessible via a web browser. If you find Scrivener overwhelming and write a lot of fiction, this is a good book writing tool to consider.

It includes several templates for authors that will help you outline a story, novel, or book faster. These include templates for:

• The Hero’s Journey
• The 27 Chapter Method
• The Seven Point Story
• The Three Act Structure (my personal favorite).

Use for: outlines and writing a novel.

Google Docs is a great word processor for editing, providing feedback, and shifting the writing project’s formatting. Google Docs is free, intuitive, and does not require any added backups because all of the information is automatically stored on Google Drive.

Furthermore, Google Docs allows writers to collaborate with editors and beta readers.

With this free writing software platform, users can even watch changes take place in real-time. Finally, the word processor can track changes in suggestion mode, which allows readers or editors to leave comments on a manuscript. 

If you really don’t want to use Google Docs and need free book writing software, OpenOffice is a comparable alternative.

Use for: writing a book on the go.

This software is similar to Scrivener and is popular with authors. It supports a distraction-free writing environment. Basically, you’re presented with a blank page, a flashing cursor, and nothing else (menus, buttons, notifications).

And it enables users to arrange their writing using folders, tags, and categories. It’s not quite as complicated to use as Scrivener, however.

Ulysses will compile and export your book into various formats and help you get it ready for self-publishing. Unlike Scrivener, it supports Markdown. It’s available on iOS and Mac but not Windows.

I used Ulysses for several years to manage freelance writing projects and longer feature articles. It’s like a cross between iA Writer, reviewed below, and Scrivener.

Use for: when you are working on a large project, as an alternative to Scrivener.

Most writers learned how to use computers by playing around with Microsoft Word. To this day, Microsoft Word is still a popular writing platform. Microsoft Word is a basic word processing platform that provides numerous font styles, formatting options and stylistic features. 

Word also provides helpful editing features like a basic spell checker, grammar checker, and even a “track changes” mode for writers who work with an editor. 

One of the biggest downsides of Word is that it becomes harder to work with the platform as the document gets longer. Microsoft Word is still a solid word processing and plain text option for writers.

Use for: when you have nothing else!

While Scrivener and Microsoft Word can turn books into e-books, it’s a little tricky to format them correctly. Vellum is the top option for creating gorgeous e-books from a manuscript.

 It will help you layout visually appealing print and Kindle e-books. The previewer lets writers see how their e-books will look on platforms such as:

• Amazon Kindle
• iPhone
• Nook
• Fire.

Furthermore, Vellum comes with customizable formatting options for your book or novel. For these reasons, Vellum is one of the top writing apps for e-book writers. I use it regularly.

Use for: preparing your book for self-publishing.

Grammarly is one of the top grammar checkers available today. The free version can highlight spelling errors, confusing prepositions and traditional grammatical mistakes. The premium version also helps writers identify passive voice issues, stylistic errors, repeated words and other writing issues. 

Whether you are writing a research paper, a novel, a short story or even a comic book, Grammarly is an essential tool for self-editing a book. It can also help mitigate inadvertent plagiarism.

Use for: grammar checking a book.

While no platform will ever replace an editor, ProWritingAid can help writers spot patterns that might be common in their work, thus improving and growing as a professional. 

The free version is already outstanding. It can even be installed into a word processor. The paid version provides added support on vocabulary, style and sentence structure. These features make ProWritingAid one of the top grammar and spell check platforms available for helping writers meet their writing goals.

Use for: grammar checking a book, particularly fiction or with Scrivener.

The Hemingway App is another outstanding self-editing tool. Ernest Hemingway way said, “Omit needless words.” This free book writing app will help you accomplish that and more while self-editing.

It is a grammar and writing style editing software that helps writers improve their sentences and clarify weak writing. This free software program checks readability.

After you’ve written a book chapter draft, paste it into the input box to check for lengthy and complex sentences. It will color-code your book chapter based on how easy or hard it is to read. 

This tool will identify unnecessary adverbs, instances of the passive voice, and clunky sentence structure. Remember this free writing tool is not a replacement for a professional book editor.

I use it on book chapter drafts regularly.

Oh, and it’s free.

Use for: self-editing your book.

YWriter is an outstanding writing program that is free for writers to download. This word processor can help writers break the first draft of a novel into chapters and scenes. 

The program was designed for novel writing by providing plentiful stats and numerous tools for character and story development. 

This free book writing program has a brief learning curve. It doesn’t offer either an Apple or Android app, and it also doesn’t provide screenwriting tools or templates. On the other hand, the benefits of YWriter far outweigh these drawbacks.

Use for: writing a novel.

iA Writer is a distraction-free writing app that helps writers focus on note-taking, outlines and plain text. It supports Markdown and allows users to export directly to WordPress and Medium. 

(Markdown is a way of writing text for the web faster using hashtags, the asterisk and other symbols)

It is available for iPhone, iPad macOS, and now Windows and Android. For those looking for a minimalistic writing experience, this tool is a good choice. 

While iA Writer does not have many features for organizing or arranging files via drag and drop, it includes basic formatting features such as underline, bold, and italics. It also looks good on larger monitors and screens. 

The focus mode user interface highlights the specific line on which writers are working, helping them cancel out all background noise.

Use for: writing short chapters.

Evernote is an outliner and note-taking tool that provides writers with the ability to customize their notes for a book. 

While this app wasn’t specifically designed for writers and is too clunky to write a book, it’s useful for research, particularly if you write nonfiction. It’s basically a supplementary tool for the writing process.

With Evernote, you can tag and organize documents, interviews, and other source material for your book. You can also upload an Evernote document as a PDF.  

It is supported on Android, iOS, and Windows. All content is stored and backed up to the cloud. 

Use for: researching your book.

Dynalist is a useful tool for arranging ideas into lists and sub-lists and is available via a web browser. It also offers apps for Mac, Windows, Android and iOS. 

If you’re the type of writer who likes to outline your work in advance, Dynalist is particularly useful. Think of it as a portable index card. I use it to create rough outlines for book chapters quickly. 

Then I either dictate my first draft using speech-to-text software or employ a dictation service like Rev. I refer to my outline rather than typing out my draft.

Use for: outlining a book.

Pages is Apple‘s answer to Microsoft Word. I used Pages to write a 100,000-word manuscript. It’s a pleasant and elegant writing app. 

However, it’s not quite as powerful as Word. I also found it difficult to navigate my manuscript in Pages and eventually moved it to Scrivener.

That said, Pages is available on iOS for free and comes with your Mac. You can also sync a book manuscript to iCloud. 

Use for: writing a book on a Mac for free.

Focus Writer is a popular distraction-free writing app. It’s available for Windows and Mac. Like iA Writer, Ulysses, and some other writing tools in this guide, it provides some useful tools for authors like a target word count. 

You can choose between themes including black text on a white screen and green text on a black screen like an old-skool computer. 

I write on a 27-inch iMac, and I found the app oddly overwhelming on a large screen. iA Writer just looked better. That said, this book writing tool is free, so authors can’t go wrong.

Use for:  writing a first draft on a laptop.

Find the Right Online Writing Tool

These are a few of the top creative writing and text editor tools available today for aspiring authors.

I gravitate toward IA Writer, Scrivener, ProWritingAid. I also use Dynalist and speech to text software. Each of these choices has its strengths and weaknesses.  

Your writing process is probably different from mine.

So consider the pros and cons of the writing tools in this guide and how they support your preferred writing style. 

Then start writing your next book.

Your journey toward becoming a best-selling author starts today.

Book Writing Software FAQs