The Ambitious Author

A Few of My Favorite Tools…

Posted on March 15, 2018 Updated on February 14, 2021

For authors today, we have so many fantastic tools to connect with readers – tools not available even a half-century ago. Things like websites, email lists, social media, giveaways, and more!

I thought it might be fun to take a moment to look at some of these helpful tools, and I’ll share what I use and why. 

Website: I like Weebly for my reader website, mostly because I’m a do-it-yourself kind of gal. While I have a basic skill level with html, I much prefer the drag-n-drop ease of Weebly’s website-builder. And their templates don’t require a tech degree to customize. Works for me!

On the other hand, I use WordPress.com for this blog. The WordPress.com portion of the WordPress offerings is also fairly intuitive, although I prefer to leave the WordPress.org websites for the professionals!

Web Host: I use Siteground for my domain name and website host. You can create your website under any platform (such as Weebly, WordPress, Wix, etc.) through their control panel. They have a ton of other things that are included, like multiple free email accounts for each website. Their customer service is also quick and top notch.

Email List Service Provider: Mailerlite is a good platform for most author email lists and one I used for quite a while. I moved to Send in Blue just under a year ago because of their stellar reputation for deliverability, and I’m pleased with them. Their platform isn’t quite as intuitive as Mailerlite, but my email open and click rates are back up, so it’s worth it to me. I still recommend both platforms.

Reader Giveaway Tool: There are lots of other great websites out there that help with reader giveaways (such as Gleam or King Sumo), but for the free version, I think Rafflecopter does a great job. It’s easy to build a giveaway, share it with your readers, and choose a winner.

Editing Book: This isn’t technically a tech tool (unless you read it on an ereader), but I had the opportunity to read an early copy of Finding and Working with an Editor: Everything You Need to Know for a (Nearly) Pain-Free Edit, and it’s definitely a book I recommend! 🙂 If you’re looking for an editor, or think you should be, you won’t want to move forward without reading this first.

I know I’ve barely scratched the surface with the above list. We haven’t even talked about Dropbox for file storage, or Zoom for video chats with critique partners, agents, or editors, but I don’t want to get too techy on you. 🙂

Now, I’d LOVE to hear your recommendations!

What tech tools do you love in your author life! Anything related to social media or another category I didn’t cover here?