THE Group for Authors! discussion

Hi, I'm looking for Mac compatible, UK English software that has good authors grammar, spelling, thesaurus and dictionary sections. I have looked around and they seem to be mostly US versions. I am not bothered if I have to buy a package which includes a word processor....... I presently use Mac's pages and Online Roget's thesaurus and the OED. I find pages editing suite to be a little business based and it refuses to spell in UK English even though it is set to that! I have looked at various ones including Master Writer. I would be grateful for any insights or recommendations by the group. Thanks in advance!

Start with Scrivener you can get a trial version

Many thanks Philip. I'll look into it today!

Scrivener is a good software for writing, because it helps keep your project organized. And the trial version is 30 days of ACTUAL usage, not the usual 30 calendar days.

However, if you plan on submitting files to Amazon's Kindle or Smashwords, you'll also need Word. You can get a Word monthly membership for less than ten bucks. I wrote my first book in Pages and tried submitting a Word file generated from it and that didn't work. Since then, I've used Scrivener to write, then used Word for Mac to polish the final product.

However, don't depend on Word's grammar check! It makes some truly awful suggestions. If you don't feel confident in your own grammar/spelling abilities, hire a good editor. Also, download Mark Coker's (the Smashwords founder) free ebooks and follow his instructions for formatting your Word file. Once I did that, I had no trouble submitting to either Smashwords or Amazon.

"However, if you plan on submitting files to Amazon's Kindle or Smashwords, you'll also need Word."

Sorry, but this is not correct. If you have Scrivener then you don't need to use Word whatsoever. I certainly wouldn't recommend Word for creating a book in any format.

Scrivener allows you to create compile profiles for different types of format. Mobi for Kindle, ePub for almost everything else, and it will also allow you to create PDF's that you can upload to CreateSpace or Smashwords. When you first try to compile for Kindle you'll have to download the relevant, free, plugin from Amazon (follow the directions).

"I've used Scrivener to write, then used Word for Mac to polish the final product."

Again, if you are doing this then you really aren't making use of Scrivener. The beauty of the program is that it allows you to write first and leave the formatting until the very moment you decide to compile the ebook/pdf. This way, you don't need to create different documents for different publishing requirements. It is all dealt with from the one file that you can customise as much as you like before creating the final file for upload.

Have a look at this guide by Ed Ditto, How to Format Your Novel for Kindle, Nook, the iBookstore, Smashwords, and CreateSpace...in One Afternoon (for Mac)"

I usually check my Kindle mobi files in Kindle Previewer after I've used Scrivener. For ePub I use "epubcheck" (for Mac). I then preview directly by side-loading to Kindle, Nook, Kobo, etc.

I hope this helps.

Echoing what Crispian said: Word is a poor choice for just about any sort of publishing.

I use Scrivener as my only writing tool. It produces acceptable files for e-publishing. However, I prefer to output raw HTML files, which I clean up and tweak by hand. I also develop custom CSS, and finally use Sigil to create ePub files.

I would like to thank all of you who have discussed Scrivener and it's attributes. I recently downloaded the free trial(for Word)and have only just started looking at it and working through the tutorial. I am finding it interesting but obviously there is a learning curve that I need to dedicate time to.

I have already published using CreateSpace (for POD), Kindle, Smashwords and Google Books. I found CreateSpace fairly easy; I used one of their ready formatted templates to copy and paste into. The Kindle version was not too bad to format as long as I followed the guidelines available. To my surprise, after having read so many comments about how some people were having problems with it, I got one of my books through the Smashwords system first time. This was because I carefully followed Mark Coker's Style Guide to the letter. Google Books was easy because I was able to upload a PDF version of the CreateSpace template version I already had.

The fact you may prepare .mobi; ePub and .pdf files from one basic document in Scrivener is an attraction. I am looking forward to using it properly.

The e-book output options from Scrivener are a nice feature, but (in my opinion) its real strength is in its organizational tools. That's especially helpful if your writing involves a lot of research.

In other words, don't buy it just for the output formats :)

I use Scrivener to compile directly to mobi and epub, but for my print books, I do compile to Word in order to tweak formatting, such as adding drop caps, starting chapters recto, etc.

I think it is a matter of finding a product that you like to use and then getting on with it; I use Word - seems perfectly fine to me

I agree. You should use whatever is comfortable for you. There is no software or application that can make you a better writer, but as Ken suggests above, Scrivener can make your writing easier.

Crispian wrote: "I agree. You should use whatever is comfortable for you. There is no software or application that can make you a better writer, but as Ken suggests above, Scrivener can make your writing easier."

Crispian wrote: ""However, if you plan on submitting files to Amazon's Kindle or Smashwords, you'll also need Word."

Sorry, but this is not correct. If you have Scrivener then you don't need to use Word whatsoever..."
Thank you everyone for your input. I'm afraid I would never use Word or Microsoft for anything....many years running a computer lab taught me the value of Mac's. Simpler, more intuitive and robust. I have downloaded the trial of Scrivener as suggested and it does seem to be what I'm looking for though I feel I will have to dedicate some serious learning time to get the most out of it. Thanks for all your help.

If you can afford it and have space get the OED and install the whole thing on your hard drive. I have it hot linked to a function key and i can't tell you the joy of bringing up searches, checking spellings or looking for other words on the fly.
I would also junk scrivener and use Scribus and learn as you write to typeset and design books. Scribus is not yet as good as Indesign, which itself is still not as good a Corel Ventura though more intuitive, but it is free.

I would also junk scrivener and use Scribus and learn as you write to typeset and design books.

I would also junk scribus and use Scrivener and focus on writing books.

There, fixed it for you ;)

Daniel wrote: "If you can afford it and have space get the OED and install the whole thing on your hard drive. I have it hot linked to a function key and i can't tell you the joy of bringing up searches, checking..."
Thanks Daniel...I use the OED online and have found it very useful. Keller

Crispian wrote: "I would also junk scrivener and use Scribus and learn as you write to typeset and design books.

I would also junk scribus and use Scrivener and focus on writing books.

There, fixed it for you ;)"
He,he! You are probably right Crispian, if I have lots of illustration functions my wife will be sticking her graphic designer paws all over it! Thanks, Keller

I would also suggest 'Newnovelist' An english software package that is quite good for writing novels and recently added a Mac version. Go to 'Newnovelist.com.

Thanks Larry...I will check it out, not heard of that one before.