The Best Deals for Writers: Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the Holidays

**This is the best time of year for deals!**

Businesses know that consumers are looking for sales and the lowest prices of the season. Like any author, I have my favorite subscriptions, software, and trinkets. Not to mention all things Kindle. ❤️

The good news is, I’ve got the skinny on some of the best sales. Since I rave about these different products so often, I’ve applied to the affiliate programs for the best. That means I get the inside scoop on when and where the sales go down. It doesn’t cost you a dime to use my links but I get a small percentage of the sale. For instance, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I even get discount codes to hand out like candy! 😉

Below I’ve listed off some sweet sales. If you’ve been thinking about buying and have been reading all the reviews as you wait for a price drop the way I do, now is the time to go for it!

Presents galore! Start your holiday savings now:

HoliDeals – Check out Amazon’s “HoliDeals:” Deck the halls, fill out your winter wardrobe, or treat yourself to an early gift! This link leads to savings all season long, including special weekend sale events.

Amazon Music– either get FOUR months for almost nothing or try their free trial! Do you listen to music when you write? While you do chores? Want to add some Christmas carols to your life? Amazon Music is sooooo worth it. I have a mult-user subscription and everyone in my family listens at home and on our phones. We get another price break because we’re prime members. (It also works great on any Echo device. An Echo, Dot, Show, Auto & other devices – whatever you pick, it works. And if you worry about privacy, there are several security settings to keep you safe or you can turn off the device while not in use).

Audible is on a major sale for the first three months! Sale ends on Dec. 31st. Give a gift membership or treat yourself!

Kindle Unlimitedone thing authors and readers have in common is we all read books! That can get expensive but KU to the rescue. Read books galore for a small monthly fee. You don’t have to have a Kindle – you can use the app on pretty much any device. But if you want one (that also doubles as a tablet), I recommend the Fire Tablet. The Paperwhite is easier on the eyes for sensitive readers. Either way, you can access millions of books, including my Armageddon’s Ward series. 😉 Amazon has a screaming good deal going on right now.

Software/Apps:

ProWritingAid – On sale from Nov. 27 – Dec. 2. This is hands down the best editing software I’ve used. Obviously there is no replacement for a human editor, but I can assure you, this will take care of an incredible amount of issues. Grammar, spelling, repetitive words, so many features that the last time I got a book back from my editor, I had hundreds of pages without a mark on them. It’s a great deal even at full price but for Black Friday lifetime access is 50% off!!! It’s already less than the other editing apps out there but this is HUGE. There are also discounts on monthly subscriptions to ProWritingAid but the best deal is lifetime access. Check it out! You can sign up for the free trial and then use the 50% off sale when the time comes!

As a special bonus, ProWritingAid offers free ebooks! No purchase necessary. In honor of the general editing theme, click here to download FREE 20 Editing Tips From Professional Writers.

Scrivener – I can’t imagine writing my books without this software. I have all my files right in front of me and easily accessible, not to mention if I need to move a scene or chapter, it’s a matter of drag and drop. It’s available on both Windows and Mac. Once complete, I can compile my novel into tons of different formats. They have an active community on Facebook and their customer service is stellar. All additional features and future updates are free! I’ve seen comments before about it being “hard to use.” Honestly, if you’ve ever used Outlook or Gmail, this looks similar. Your folders (each chapter is a folder with one or more text files depending on how many scenes you add) are on the left and the word processor where you type is on the right. Boom. Done. There is a tutorial for learning the other features but you can be up and running within minutes after installation. It works well for pantsers because of how easy it is to move stuff around or jump around in the manuscript, writing ahead. And it’s *wonderful* for plotters and organization enthusiasts. Powerful, flexible, stable. Love. It.

AppSumo – I’ve purchased a lot of apps and stock image packages through AppSumo (including KingSumo and Send Fox, Yay Images and Depositphotos listed below). Their track record is incredible and their return policy is fabulous (60 days no questions asked). They have several Black Friday sales going on so I highly recommend you check them out. If you sign up for their mailing list, you get a 10% off coupon. 😍

Depositphotos – Get this deal while it’s available!!!! An incredible featured deal for a hundred premium stock images! I use these for my book covers. They are beautiful and professional, with an excellent commercial-use license. Top-quality photos at 50% off the lowest sales price they have at any other time. I can’t emphasize enough what a great deal this is. Don’t miss it!!

Yay Images – Get an incredible deal on a thousand stock images! I use these all the time for my blog among other things. A good source of varied images with commercial use permissions is invaluable for an author!

Send Fox – MailChimp and MailerLite have great features and capabilities, but that comes with a monthly cost. And studies show they for a majority of readers, they are more likely to open an email that doesn’t have all the slick bells and whistles…. A more personal look is preferred! Send Fox is a great deal because you can send unlimited monthly emails/newsletters to your subscribers with your images and banners yet only pay a one time fee. So you can have up to 5,000 subscribers for a relatively small price and that can be stacked. Meaning… 10,000, 15,000, 25,000… Each tier for a reasonable one-time fee. Imagine how much money you could save! And their customer service is out of sight.

KingSumo – Take the hassle out of your giveaways. I’ve run several using this app and I’ve tripled my responses. I used to ask for a comment on my giveaway post. Now they have a place to go and tons of ways to gain additional entries. It helped build my following! I’m still a fairly new author so every new subscriber is a big deal. Being able to reach them and add more – who wouldn’t love that? Plus they have all sorts of ideas and tips for making a viral giveaway. Worth. It.

Interested in the best books and items to buy? Check out this post: Essential Author Gift List


I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!!

 

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