Five Totally FREE Templates and Programs for Indie Authors

Today I thought I'd share some of the coolest FREE programs and templates I've found for Indie authors. Most of us are still learning how to become a writer, editor, and publisher, but thankfully there's quite a few helps out there to make our lives much easier! Some of the resources below require you to download them, others don't. Either way, the resources are free, and I use them all the time. I hope you find them useful, too!

Happy writing!

--Arwen

Grammarly

I ALWAYS use Grammarly to edit my books. There is a free version that works nicely, but I sprung for the full version because it does a little bit more than the other. With that said, if budget is an issue (and it usually is for me) start with the free version.

How to Make a Book Cover 

This post is full of information about making your own book covers. When I first started making covers it was my favorite resource.

Free Online Book Mockup Maker 

This online program makes 3D book covers that are downloadable as png and jpg files. TIP: Don't use the 3D book covers for your cover on Amazon unless you are using them for a book set. The 3D images upload pretty small on Amazon.

DIY Advertising Call-Out Cards

I use these templates all the time to create beautiful advertisements for Twitter and Facebook. Make sure to save a copy of the templates before you start playing with it. Also, once you get the hang of it, you can change the background photos. Everything in the template is able to be formatted so you can truly make it your own.

Make Book Trailers with Lumen5

This is my favorite new toy. I've made several book trailers for my books, and the cool thing is you can post them on your Amazon author page, Facebook and Twitter!

Here's my latest book trailer for Caged (which just happens to be on FREE promo until September 25, 2018!). I made it with Lumen5. I think it turned out great.