Best AI Writing Tools for Self-Publishers in 2024

A common misconception about AI writing tools is that they take over 100% of the writing and editing process. Sure, some people use them that way, but it’s not what we teach (we’ll get into that more later). 

This blog post looks at some of the lesser-known uses of AI writing tools and how you can apply them to your self-publishing business without taking shortcuts or sacrificing the quality of your manuscript. 

‍See the #1 Amazon + AI Passive Income plan in action. Drop by our free webinar, and we’ll show you the exact system that’s already generated millions of dollars in publishing royalties for people all over the world with zero publishing or writing skills.

Top AI Writing Tools for Self-Publishers

AI writing tools work by leveraging natural language processing, and machine learning to write content. They're designed to save time, boost creativity, and assist in writing.

As promised, here are more than a dozen AI writing tools you might consider implementing in your creative process: 

AI Content Generation Aids

Content creation AI writing assistants are used to brainstorm ideas, create titles, and start the drafting process. These are some of the top AI content writing tools on the market right now: 

Publishing.ai: 

Our AI Publishing Academy students use AI to publish high-quality books at their own pace. Some just want to make a few hundred dollars a month, and others want to replace their full-time income. Some are busy raising multiple children, and others are juggling college and puppyhood. Ultimately, the system works for those who work it. 

• Pros: Our AI tool can crawl competitors’ book reviews to produce thorough customer research reports, generate unlimited book ideas, and speed up the first draft writing process.
• Cons: At this point, only AIA students currently have access.

Ready to meet some of the coolest people you’ll read about on the Internet today? 

Case Studies: Success Stories of Self-Publishers Using AI

Sandy put together a book in less than a week, and it went on to earn her over $1k! 

Casey was a full-time farmer who wanted to travel the world with her fiancé. Within three months, her book was making her $2,000! 

This couple retired in their 40s, thanks to self-publishing!

ChatGPT:

• Pros: Highly versatile, capable of generating ideas, drafting content, social media posts, and answering research queries.
• Cons: Output may require significant editing to ensure originality and accuracy.

Jarvis

• Pros: Can generate content quickly, Offers diverse writing styles and templates, customizable tone to match brand voice and many integrations with SEO optimization features and grammar tools.
• Cons: Still requires a lot of human oversight to use the tool

Claude:

• Pros: Known for producing more human-like text with context understanding.
• Cons: Limited access and features compared to other AI tools.

Sudowrite:

• Pros: This AI writing software is designed specifically for creative writers, offering features like brainstorming and improving descriptions.
• Cons: It’s subscription-based, with costs that might add up over time.

Verb:

• Pros: This AI writing assistant offers content optimization suggestions to improve readability and engagement, especially for fiction writers. 
• Cons: It’s newer on the market, so it might have fewer features than established tools.

Editing and Proofreading Bots

On top of AI writing software tools, AI editing tools and proofreading bots come in handy when it’s time to polish off the first draft and get it reader-ready. Consider these top-rated tools: 

Grammarly:

• Pros: Offers comprehensive grammar, punctuation, and style checks.
• Cons: A premium version is required for full features, which comes at a cost.

ProWritingAid:

• Pros: Provides in-depth reports on style, readability, and more beyond basic grammar checks.
• Cons: Can feel overwhelming with the amount of feedback for new users.

Hemingway:

• Pros: Highlights hard-to-read sentences and suggests simplifications.
• Cons: Doesn't offer grammar checking, focusing more on style and readability.

Quillbot:

• Pros: It features a paraphrasing tool, which helps avoid plagiarism and improve sentence structure.
• Cons: Paraphrased content might require additional edits to match your original tone.

Formatting and Typesetting Software

After the manuscript is polished, it’ll need to be formatted a certain way depending on which format you’d like to publish your book in, i.e., hardcover or eBook. Formatting isn’t necessarily the fun part, and some of these AI tools are definitely more finicky than others. 

Vellum:

• Pros: Delivers professional-grade formatting and typesetting with beautiful design templates.
• Cons: Available only for Mac users; purchasing the software can be expensive.

Scrivener:

• Pros: Combines writing, organizing, and formatting tools, ideal for managing large projects.
• Cons: Steep learning curve for beginners.

Reedsy:

• Pros: There's a a free version to use with professional templates and an intuitive design.
• Cons: Less customization available than some paid alternatives, and it can also be pretty touchy.

Atticus:

• Pros: Offers a wide range of formatting options with cross-platform compatibility.
• Cons: It’s relatively new, so it might lack some advanced features. There are also rumors that they’ll be switching to a subscription-based plan soon rather than a one-time fee. 

Cover Design Assistants

We usually don’t recommend that our students take on cover design themselves unless they’re really confident in their graphic design skills, but we also understand that budgets can be strapped. You can use cover design assistants to come up with ideas to share with a freelancer or to try your hand at designing the front cover, back cover, and spine of your book. 

Canva:

• Pros: User-friendly with a vast array of templates and design elements for beginners.
• Cons: Designs might not be as unique without customization due to widespread use.

Book Brush:

• Pros: Tailored specifically for authors, featuring book-specific templates and marketing tools.
• Cons: It requires a subscription for full access to features.

Adobe Suite:

• Pros: Industry-standard software offering powerful tools for professional cover design.
• Cons: It has a significant learning curve and subscription costs.

DALL-E:

• Pros: Generates creative and unique images, offering high customization for cover art.
• Cons: Outputs may require fine-tuning to align with specific design visions, and usage rights should be verified for commercial use.

Midjourney:

• Pros: Specializes in generating high-quality, artistic images, pushing creative boundaries for cover designs.
• Cons: As with DALL-E, images may need adjustments to fit specific cover requirements, and you’ll need to stay on top of their commercial licensing rules, which are subject to change. 

Benefits of Using AI Writing Tools

There are six major benefits to using AI writing tools, no matter how experienced you might be as a publisher: 

1. Enhanced Productivity

With AI writing tools, you can produce content remarkably faster than traditional methods. Gone are the days when it would take someone years to get a book off the ground.

A lot of people in this industry joke that writing a book is 10% writing and 90% editing, which can be true! Yes, you’ll still have to use your critical thinking and add your own personal touch, but you can’t exactly edit a blank page, so there’s nothing wrong with using the tools available to you just to get something down on paper. 

Besides content generation, most of these AI writing tools also have additional features. They can help you plan your schedule, make checklists, find relevant resources, conduct better research, and so much more. 

2. Improved Writing Quality

As these artificial intelligence writing solutions continue to improve, they can offer suggestions for syntax and vocabulary to help you connect better with your ideal readers. At the end of the day, that’s what all of this is about—giving readers something they actually want to read that can improve their lives. 

3. Instant Feedback and Revisions

AI tools give you real-time critiques and edit suggestions, which can cut the revision process in half. Instead of going back and forth with an editor who might not understand your vision for the book, you can take ownership of the process yourself and solve most grammatical issues with just a few simple clicks. 

4. New Perspectives

AI writers can analyze a paragraph and rewrite it in a different voice or offer other perspectives that you might not have considered before. You can use prompts to make the writing “more academic,” “friendlier,” or “more casual,” as just a few examples. 

5. Marketing Help 

AI tools can optimize your content for search engines by giving you a list of the best keywords to use in your book description and author bio, increasing the chances of your books being discovered by potential readers. 

6. Cost-Effectiveness

AI tools provide scalable options for varying needs and budgets—this is probably the biggest benefit in our current economy. With new tools popping up on the market every day, you can find one that fits your financial constraints without compromising on output. There are plenty of free and low-cost options available that can help you make your publishing dreams a reality. 

Budgeting is something that single parents know all too well, and our community is filled with single parents whose lives completely changed with just one book. 

Meet Karina, who talks about leaving her corporate job to publish: 

Challenges and Considerations

You wouldn’t want to compromise your reputation as an indie author or publisher, so keep these in mind when you’re interacting with the AI tools: 

Maintaining Originality

Many people are worried that AI writing will dilute originality, and this feedback is fair to a certain point. AI tools can offer genre-specific suggestions and writing style advice, but they might also inadvertently produce writing that’s too similar to existing content. 

This isn’t a problem as long as you do your part to make significant edits and share your original ideas. You should also run your final manuscript through a plagiarism checker to be safe. 

Ethical Concerns

Many self-publishing companies are coming out with attribution rules, which means you have to acknowledge the role of AI in your creative process as either AI-assisted or AI-generated content. 

Data Privacy Issues

If your manuscripts contain sensitive or personal data, you’ll want to double-check the privacy policies of any tools you use. Be extra cautious of tools that require you to upload full drafts of your work, and look for services that guarantee the confidentiality of your data to protect your intellectual property.

We haven’t had any students run into any issues yet, but you can never be too careful. 

Are Authors Legally Allowed to Publish Books Written with the Help of AI?

Yep! Publishing books with AI assistance is generally permissible, with a few exceptions. 

Read more about AI writing and Amazon’s publishing guidelines here!

How to Choose the Right AI Writing Tool

Not sure where to start? Consider these factors: 

• Content Generation Quality: Does the tool produce high-quality content that requires minimal editing? 
• Ease of Use: Is the tool beginner-friendly and easy to use, or does it require extensive training? 
• Versatility: Does the tool craft different kinds of content, or is it better in just one format?  
• Customization: Can the tool adapt to your writing style and preferences? 
• Cost: Is there a one-time fee, or do you have to pay a subscription? 

Pro Tip: Try to look at the big picture. Even if there is a subscription cost, how much time will the tool save you over the course of a month? A year? Calculate how much your time is worth to you, and then decide which tools to give a try. You can cancel most subscriptions after a single month if you’re not happy with the service. 

Tips for Using AI Writing Tools As a Beginner

If you’re a newbie to the AI game, don’t worry! These tips can help you get more comfortable with the tools and make sure you’re getting the most out of them.

• Set Clear Parameters: AI works best with detailed prompts, which help generate more focused and relevant content. You can ask it to exclude certain words or phrases, stick to a certain word count, or follow a certain example.
• ‍Use Templates: Many AI tools can create instant templates for different content types. A thorough book outline and chapter outlines will be your best friends during the publishing process.
  
• Fact Check: Never rely solely on AI for the final product. Do your due diligence and fact-check everything. AI is really good at sounding confident and presenting things as facts, even if they’re actually “hallucinations.” 

Is Self-Publishing Right for Me? 

Do you work a job where you’re constantly checking the clock only to realize time has never gone any slower? 

Do you dread checking your bank account because you’re scared to see how low the balance has dipped? 

Have you given up on retirement planning before even starting? 

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’d be in the same boat that many of our students were in before taking a leap of faith into the world of self-publishing. 

And now? 

They barely look at the clock, they know their bank accounts are solid, and they haven’t worried about their retirement in years. 

‍

It all starts here at our 100% beginner-friendly webinar. What are you waiting for?