Delve into the mind of the Author

Writing

Grammarly – Used by laymen and professionals, their free tool is great for going over your chapters to comb out some basic errors.

Microsoft Word – Yes this is basic, but it is a good program for at least getting your story on paper. Tools for getting it ready to publish are further down this page. Also, its autocorrect has gotten better than it used to be even if it isn’t perfect. (Extra Tip: If you want a permanent license of Word over one of their subscriptions you can sometimes get it cheaper by checking Groupon for discounts. Yes, I’m serious.)

Reedsy – Even if you use these other tools, the Reedsy market is a fair place to find an editor because none of these tools will “fix your book” on their own.

Budgeting

Through my own writing journey, this Reedsy Guide has proved fairly accurate for the costs of self-publishing.

• Tip: You can save money by doing some of the things they list yourself, and you may not need all the editing they list. Evaluate for yourself.

For those who don’t know, Ingram Spark is a self-publishing sales channel, and they have a good guide on self-publishing costs as well.

Lastly a few personal tips:

• The moment you decide you’re going to self-publish, make a budget. 
• Never pay for a barcode! If you need one, you can get one for free once your book has an ISBN. 
• Don’t just go to the internet for help. Use the connections you have to save money and get trusted help. An old entrepreneurship saying is, “It’s not what you know, but who you know.”

Publishing

On her blog, Mrs. Jane Friedman gives a good breakdown of the different types of self-publishing, if you’d like to go that route.

For traditional publishing, I found that Writing Tips Oasis gave both good tips and had a good list of different publishers to query for various genres and audiences.

Finally, for my Redditors out there, if you’re looking to publish, whether it’s self or traditional, I recommend checking the r/selfpublish subreddit. For Reddit, it’s fairly respectful, and if you ask them a question you’ll get knowledgeable advice on most writing topics.