Author Tools

Below are links to some different tools that might help you as an author. Feel free to copy them and modify as you like. Just click on the little Excel icon at the top when it opens in your browser. 

I will update them from time to time, so check back. 
Also, please let me know if you have any suggestions or feedback. Enjoy!

Development Tools

This is an Excel spreadsheet containing different tool tabs.Tools range from idea generating to cover size calculation. Below are descriptions and instructions.

Basic Plot Generator

This tool randomly generates a basic plot idea. Simply press the 'Refresh' button to see a new idea.

Character Generator

This tool randomly generates a character name and traits. Simply press the 'Refresh' button to generate a new one.

Sentence Generator

This tool randomly generates a descriptive sentence. Simply press the 'Refresh' button to see a new sentence appear.

Calculate Book Cover Size

This tool helps to define the book cover width. Simply press the 'Refresh' button to see a new idea. Enter the number of pages, bleed, and book width and it will give you the overall cover width. Bleed is the amount of 'extra space' that is required by a book printer.

Calculate Book Throughput

This tool helps to calculate how many books you can produce in a month or year. Enter how many pages you can write in an a hour, number of pages per book, how many hours you spend writing per day, and the number of days you write each week. You will get the following results:

Hours per Book
Days per Book
Books Written per Month
Books Written per Year

Ultimate Author Resource List

This is a giant repository of internet links and offerings that can be useful to authors . From review websites to Facebook pages, it covers it all. An 'X' in a cell indicates that the site does have that feature. Filter on columns to condense the list to your needs.

Explanations of Columns

Link - Website Link

Name - Name

Type - Kind of Website

Sub - Type - Additional Classification

Age - Age the site is geared towards

Genre - Genre the site caters to

Notes - Additional notes

Advertising - Does the site provide advertising?

Advice - Does the site provide writing advice?

Audiobooks - Does the website cater to audibooks?

Bookstore - Does the website have a bookstore?

Contests - Does the website list or hold writing contests?

Directory - Does the website have a directory?

Editing - Does the website provide editing services?

Contact / Email - Link to the email or contact page.

Festivals - Does the website list or hold festivals?

Forums - Does the website have a forum?

Illustrators - Does the website provide illustrating services?

Interviews - Does the website offer author interviews?

Price Limit - What is the highest price the site will list or promote?

Promo Free - Does the site promote your book for free?

Promo Paid - What is the cost of a paid promotion?

Publishing - Does the site offer publishing services?

Reviews Free - Does the site provide reviews for free?

Reviews Paid - How much is the cost of a paid review?

Tools - Does the site offer author tools?

Facebook - Link to Facebook page.

Goodreads - Link to Goodreads page.

Google+ - Link to Google+ page.

Pinterest - Link to Pinterest page.

Twitter - Link to Twitter page.

KDROI? - Does the KDROI tool submit books to this site?

Last Submittal Date - You can enter a date here to remember when you submitted your information to them.

A-Z - Use for anything you want. I plan on using to remember what books I have submitted to what sites.

I also use AuthorMarketingClub

Book Marketing & Selling Tips for Authors