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27 Most Used Applications in a Writing Business

Monday, September 21st, 2009 at 10:29 AM Category: Blogging, Business, Links, Meryl's Notes Blog, Tech, Writing 9 comments

Everyone has their own preference for what apps make a difference in their work. Mine might work for you, or they might not. We all try, download and install many apps and add-ons. Bet the Pareto Principle applies here: We use 20 percent of the applications we have 80 percent of the time.

Not all of these apps relate to the act of writing, but contribute to my career as a writer.

Marketing and Connecting

11. Blogs: Wordpress, MovableType and other people’s blogs

12. Twitter and Twitter Search

13. Facebook

14. LinkedIn

15. FriendFeed

16. Tweetchat

17. Tweetdeck

Personal Information Management

18. Palm Desktop

19. CompanionLink

20. Google: Calendar, Contacts and Mobile Sync

Miscellaneous

21. Team apps: SocialCast, Basecamp and GroupSite

22. Filezilla

23. Bit.ly

24. Dropbox

25. Online backup

26. SnagIt

27. Adobe Acrobat

Not software, but must share. Love working with two monitors.

Next entry: The details behind these apps for those who wanna know.

What apps do you depend on for your writing business?

Tags: social media, social networking, software

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9 comments

Posted by Meryl's Apps For Writers - Resource Roundup Tuesday on September 22nd, 2009, 8:15 AM
[...] Meryl K. Evans’ article about the 27 Most Used Applications in a Writing Business she uses in her writing [...]
Posted by Jonathan Cohen / @jonathanacohen on September 22nd, 2009, 8:49 AM
These are all free tools for XP which I use…

PDF creation: PrimoPDF
Faster, lightweight PDF reader: Foxit
Task launcher: Launchy
Email notifier: GMail notifier, POPPeeper
Online storage/syncing: Dropbox
Utility to allow you to move items in the Taskbar: Taskix
XP Theme that’s easier on the eyes: Royale Noir.
Tabs within MS Word: OfficeTab
Posted by Thursday Bram / @thursdayb on September 22nd, 2009, 2:17 PM
I know a lot of writers are reluctant to buy QuickBooks but I want to second your recommendation — QuickBooks has made my bookkeeping much easier.

It’s also like to recommend Gist.com — I’ve been using it to manage contacts and it’s made a big difference in how I can search for sources I know that I have a phone number for…somewhere.
Thursday Bram’s blog …Do You Have to Have a Client to Make Money?
Posted by Meryl / @merylkevans on September 23rd, 2009, 8:35 AM
Jonathan, PrimoPDF is great. I know of a lot of people who use it. Also heard Launchy is great for those who need that. All great suggestions.

Thursday, thanks for admitting you use QB (; Hmm… maybe I should look at Gist.com now.
Posted by Team The Rise To The Top / @therisetothetop on September 23rd, 2009, 3:16 PM
This list is great, love the way that it’s broken down into applications that can be used for different uses. I am interested in testing out the ones I have never heard before and passing them along. Thanks for posting this!
Posted by Tweets that mention 27 Most Used Applications in a Writing Business | Meryl.net -- Topsy.com on September 23rd, 2009, 3:49 PM
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Posted by Linda White / @LindaWonder on September 23rd, 2009, 7:22 PM
Great post on the applications! Thanks for the tips – I love it! I haven’t worked full time as a writer for a while so this is a nice update.
Posted by Mary McFarland on October 13th, 2009, 6:25 AM
I would like to add Google Docs to your list, Meryl. I use it to upload work-in-progress so it can be critiqued and/or edited by group members. It’s easy to use and uploaded material can only be accessed by members of the group. Its only limitation is that PDF and other graphics files cannot presently be uploaded. Thanks. Mary
Posted by Meryl K Evans / @merylkevans on October 13th, 2009, 7:28 AM
Linda, glad this helps you. Of course, you might discover others work better for you.

Mary, good suggestion. I use it sometimes when we have multiple contributors and all doing it at the same time. Otherwise, I love Word’s tracking and comments feature.
Meryl K Evans’s blog …Game du Jour: Week of 11 October 2009