Self-Publishing: Free Software Essentials

At the end of January, I bought a new laptop. I'd been using a netbook and so making the switch to a full-size laptop with full capabilities meant that I could download a lot more software and have everything I really needed in order to make my work look as professional as possible. It's a PC, so of course it came with Microsoft products--including, interestingly, an Office Starter program that has actually proved quite useful. I ended up downloading a number of Windows-compatible programs that I've either used in the past and loved or that have come highly recommended and I haven't figured out how to use yet but am excited about.

Open Office
This is a free, open-source office suite comparable to MS Office. You can even save your work in Office-compatible formats. I've used it for years and love it. The word processor is the program I used to write and format my first four books. It's reliable and totally easy to use, especially if you're already familiar with Word.

Calibre
When I first started poking around the MobileRead forums, I saw that a lot of people were talking about this program. In addition to being a library management program, it can convert ebooks from one format to another. This is going to be useful when I finally get around to formatting my work for sale on AllRomance... I hope. I haven't used it yet, but most users seem pretty happy with it.

MobiPocket Creator
This program is the one I've been using to convert my Word files to Kindle-compatible files for sale on Amazon. I haven't had any problems with it (despite the fact that a lot of users in the KDP forums seem to have trouble). It has been very easy to use and has made nice-looking books each time.

Scribus
An open-source desktop publishing program, I read about Scribus somewhere online (I'm a bad researcher, I can't remember where) and thought it might be useful for creating book covers whenever I decide to self-publish hardcopies. I haven't really played around with it, but it seems pretty powerful and it looks like it could create professional-looking graphics.

Photoscape
This is free photo editing software with really basic capabilities. It's great for people like me who aren't visually-minded or editing-savvy. I like it a lot--I've used it for all of my covers and I'm happy with the results.

GIMP
More photo editing software, this free and open-source program is a lot like Photoshop. My dad is a photographer and he likes it. I'm not smart enough for all the tools and potential available in this program, but I hope to be one day. You'll have to go to CNET for the download.

I also downloaded Mozilla Thunderbird with the Lightning add-on for my email and calendar and Intuit's website building program since that's the company I use.