Apps for Authors

A re-posting from Jessica Schein and a great resource for writers. I have several and they are a big help:

You’ve heard plenty of people say,”There’s an app for that,” but which are best for writers? Whether you need to give your creative side a kick or want to continue revising your work during your morning commute, here are a few apps you may want to check out:

PagesFor $9.99 this Apple app allows you to write and re-write no matter where you and your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch are. Start a new doc or drag Pages ’09, plain text, or Microsoft Word files into the iCloud and… boom, your creativity can take center stage at the bus stop or while waiting for a movie to begin. Other perks include choosing from 16 templates for reports, flyers, cards, and posters; adding in charts and graphs; or printing wirelessly with AirPrint. And since Pages saves your work as you go, you’ll never have to worry you’ve lost your latest if you press the wrong button or close out of the app. Given all of these perks, it’s no wonder MacWorld rated it 4/5 stars.

Advanced English Dictionary & Thesaurus: 250,000 entries, 1.6 million words, and 134,000 pronunciation guides — all for 99 cents. Need I say more? If you’re in a bind, this is the app to turn to. What’s more, you can edit your history, bookmark specific words, and learn not just what the word means and its synonyms but also a whole host of related information including examples/types and parts of the object you’re looking up.

Story TrackerAt $7.99 this app is a steal for the submitting writer who wants to keep his or her ducks in a row. You can keep track of the publications you’ve submitted your works to (sortable by date), make note of details for each market, including title, genre, editor, or deadline, catalog your submission history with specific sites and markets, and more.

EvernoteSee something you think might make for a nice moment in a future novel? Jot it down with Evernote, a free app that helps you “stay organized, save your ideas and improve productivity.” Recently optimized for the iPhone 5 so that you can view more notes, thisNew York Times Top 10 Must-Have app’s perks are many and include: syncing whatever you’ve written down across devices, the ability to record voice and audio notes, great search functionality, and sharing via Twitter and Facebook.

Inspiring Quotes: Not much to say about this one as it’s pretty obvious what you’re getting here — “wise quotes on success, perseverance, courage, inspiration & hope.” As writers, we could all use a little extra push–and for a limited time, it’s free. Also, worth checking out is our recent blog post with inspiring quotes for authors. Feel free to add your own into the comments.

Scrivener: We know you love this one from all the great comments you posted on ourFacebook Page and blog in response to our blog post called “The Scoop on Scrivener,” which we recommend checking out if you’re interested in an app that is highly regarded for helping authors structure their content.

Of course these are only a few examples of what’s available. Now’s your turn to tell us: what are the apps you can’t live without?