The Best Writing Software for Novelists and Nonfiction Writers
Software for outlining, editing, and marketing your books
Writing by hand is romantic, and typing on an Olivetti Lettera 32 or Hermes 3000 is more romantic still. But when it comes to writing, romance will only take you so far. Here is my favorite software for writers. This list includes software for outlining, editing, creating ebooks and print books, and selling on Kindle.
Best Software for Outlining Your Novel: Plottr
The sole function of Plottr is to help you outline your book, a function it performs incredibly well. It includes built-in templates for a number of different structures, including the 24-chapter plot outline, the 12-step mystery formula, the eight sequence formula, and more.
Keep in mind these are not structures that you should know by heart, or at all! I’ve never used any kind of outline to write a novel. However, I’m trying Plottr this year because I want to see if the 24-chapter plot outline can help me organize my thoughts. I recommend Plotter to the students in my on-demand course, Plotting the Novel.
You can see a demo of how the templates work on the Plottr website.
Plottr does not use AI and pledges not to ever use AI. It actually feels very old-fashioned, in such a wonderful way. It doesn’t suggest anything or try to type anything or flag anything. It just gives you a way to come up with your own ideas and arrange them logically and visually.
Price: starts at $60 per year or $150 for a lifetime membership
The Original, Simple Software for Formatting Print and Ebooks: Vellum
When I first started publishing books through my micro press, Fiction Attic Press, the process of formatting involved complicated html and laborious conversion from Word to epub. Fortunately, the time-intensive process is a relic of the past. All you need to create gorgeous, professional ebooks and paperbacks is one super-simple, user-friendly piece of software: Vellum.
I’ve used other programs, including the now-defunct Atavist. Back in the day, I even used the clunky, maddeningly glitchy KDP interface to create Kindle books.
Vellum is simple, intuitive, and the first of its kind. It does one thing, and it does it incredibly well. I use it for every book I publish through Fiction Attic Press, including the workbooks for writers series.
To create a book with Vellum, you simply import a Word file, copy-and-paste text from any word processor, or type directly into Vellum. You instantly see a professional-looking page of text. By clicking the “styles” button, you can see how the book looks in several different templates. It automatically generates a table of contents, and you can download your file for ePub, mobi (Kindle), or print (PDF). This software has saved me hundreds of hours, and it always creates a beautiful book.
Price: $199 for the ebook-only version, $249 for the ebook + print book version. (No subscription—you buy it, it’s yours).
Best All-Around Software for Organizing, Writing, and Formatting a Novel (New for Summer 2026)
Deckle is built specifically for novelists. If you want to streamline your process, the newly released Deckle is definitely worth checking out.
Deckle combines the organizing capabilities of Scrivener with the robust publishing tools of Vellum, and the price is hard to beat—$107 for Early Access, $199 after the early access period ends. Like Vellum, Deckle isn’t a subscription model. Once you buy it, you own it and all future updates.
As for formatting, Deckle offers more than two dozen preset styles. It also offers more customization within styles than Vellum. Your formatted book can then be exported easily to epub, PDF, or Word.
The question to ask before buying Deckle is what you’ve already purchased that you use regularly. If you already own Scrivener and Vellum and enjoy using them, it’s probably not worth the effort to switch over. However, I know a lot of people who gave up on Scrivener because of the steep learning curve; if that’s you, Deckle offers a Scrivener-esque experience when you want it, combined with a way to easily design and publish beautiful ebooks and print books.
Because I have a lifetime membership to Vellum and have several projects live there already, I’ll probably continue using Vellum for most of my publishing through Fiction Attic Press.
That said, I’m working on a personal project on Deckle—creating an exclusive bonus book for my most loyal readers. I love the variety of styles and the high level of customization for everything from drop caps to ornament glyph.
If you’re looking for a good value and an all-in-one interface for organizing and formatting books at a low price point, I would highly recommend Deckle for you.
Price: $107 for early access, $197 later
Best Software for Marketing and Selling Kindle Books: Publisher Rocket
Publisher Rocket is all about research and keywords. It helps you figure out what keywords to use with your book to reach the most readers on Kindle, what your competition is, which categories can get the most eyes on your books, and how to create ads and copy that sells.
Amazon has more than 11,000 book categories, but finding them is like sifting through a haystack. Publisher Rocket finds the categories for you. I don’t recommend Publisher Rocket for traditionally published authors, because your publisher likely handles the metadata for your books. However, for self-published authors, it’s an excellent tool.
Price: regularly $299, $199 through this link at the time of this writing
plus one iconic analog tool…
I still write by hand sometimes. Once I'm deep into a novel, I do everything on the computer, but in the early stages I often take notes and write fragments by hand. When you manually transcribe your handwriting into your computer, you will probably find yourself adding, subtracting, and editing. I still love Moleskine notebooks for their smooth paper, colorful covers that lay flat, and the beautiful way they line up on a shelf.
This article includes affiliate links for products I have used and, in most cases, products I have personally purchased. Purchasing through my links is a great way to get something useful to improve your writing life and support The Caffeinated Writer at the same time. Thank you!