As the publishing industry has expanded through innovative platforms and an explosion of indie authors, so too has the technology to support them. Whether you’re drafting a manuscript, self-publishing your work, designing a marketing plan, leveraging social media for book promos, producing an audiobook, or starting a podcast, there are multitude of tools out there to support you.

Shortly before the holidays, just as the Christmas shopping season was in full swing, I was thrilled to join other members of the Association of Rhode Island Authors for the annual authors and book event. While it’s always a great opportunity to pick up assorted gifts for the book lovers in my life (that’s most of the people, actually…), it was a pleasure to join R. K. Bentley and Pete O’Donnell as I hosted the “Tools of the Trade” panel and discuss those tools, what works for us, and answer questions from the attendees. Among the tools we discussed were Scrivener, Aeon Timeline, Plottr, and Procreate.

Want to hear a bit more about Plottr? Check out this episode of The Epic Pencil podcast and my conversation with Plottr creator Ryan Sutter.