Running a successful business can be as much about the tools and systems you use to work efficiently as it is about the skill, knowledge, and training you bring to the table. As a freelance book and content editor, I know how important it is to have the right editing tools at your fingertips. These tools not only help me work more efficiently but also ensure that the final product is error-free and meets the highest standards of quality and allow me to serve my clients best.

Here is a breakdown of the top 8 writing and editing tools I use every day in my business and how you can incorporate them into your own creative work.

1. Chicago Manual of Style

The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) is one of the most widely used style guides for writers, editors, and publishers. It provides comprehensive guidelines for manuscript preparation, citation style, and grammar rules. The online version of the manual is an invaluable resource that I refer to regularly to ensure consistency and accuracy in my editing.

The Chicago Manual of Style Online is available by subscription, and it provides users with easy access to the complete contents of the print edition, along with additional features and tools that make it a powerful resource for writers, editors, and researchers.

CMOS is often referred to as the editor’s bible, and for good reason. Its 1,146 pages outline the standards for the publishing industry which makes it the go-to resource for editors working in the traditional and self-publishing industries. Anyone interested in working as an editor should have a working knowledge of the rules and guidelines detailed in the CMOS.

I use my physical copy of The Chicago Manual of Style and the online version of the guide for every book edit I work on—fiction and nonfiction. The online version is easy to navigate and I can access it from anywhere which is fantastic for those days when I’d rather work at a coffee shop or my local bookstore instead of at my desk.

Cost: $70 USD (Buy the book) or $43/year (Subscribe to CMOS Online)

2. The Associated Press Stylebook

The Associated Press Stylebook is another essential style guide for journalists, writers, and editors. It covers all aspects of grammar, spelling, punctuation, and usage in a clear and concise manner. While there are many similarities and differences between the two guides, The Chicago Manual of Style is used for full-length fiction and nonfiction manuscripts and the AP Stylebook is the standard guide for magazines, newspapers, and many online publications.

Because I serve copywriters and content agencies in addition to authors, the AP Stylebook is another well-worn tome on my reference shelf. In addition to my physical copy of the guide, I also subscribe to the AP Stylebook Online. Many of my freelance and agency writing clients are writing content for online publications with their own house style guide but it’s still important for me to be familiar with the AP Stylebook rules and guidelines. Why? Because the AP Stylebook is the foundation of almost every custom house style guide.

Cost: $34.95 (Buy the book) or $29/year (Subscribe to AP Stylebook Online)

3. Grammarly

I’ll admit I was a Grammarly skeptic for the longest time. But the more I learned about the platform and the more feedback I received from my freelance writing clients about how they used Grammarly in their writing practice, the more interested I became in trying out this tool for myself.

I started out with a free Grammarly plan just to test the waters and quickly decided to upgrade to Grammarly Premium. While I don’t think Grammarly is replacing professionally-trained human editors (or really anyone with critical thinking skills and an eye for quality content), it is a powerful editing tool that checks for grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and punctuation errors in real time. It also provides suggestions for improving clarity, conciseness, and style.

I often use Grammarly as a final editorial pass when I’m working on a blog article for a client just to see what additional suggestions it may have to tighten the language or bring additional clarity to the message. To me, the plagiarism checker is the best part of my Premium subscription because it allows me to ensure every article is unique and credit has been given where it's due. The best part is that I can use this feature to sweep nonfiction books as well.

Cost: $0 (Get Grammarly for free) or $12/month (Get Grammarly Premium)

4. PerfectIt

If you want to be more efficient with your time and ensure consistency across a large manuscript, PerfectIt is an absolute must. PerfectIt is a popular editing tool that checks for errors in spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and formatting according to your preferred style guide.

Editors can link PerfectIt to their CMOS Online subscription and then use PerfectIt to make sure the book they’re working on complies with CMOS standards. The best part? PerfectIt will tell you the specific CMOS rule it’s referencing when recommending a change. This means you can constantly expand your CMOS knowledge as you’re working.

PerfectIt can be used as a standalone tool, or it can be integrated into Microsoft Word. This integration makes it easy to use for anyone who is familiar with the Word interface.

Cost: $90/year (Get PerfectIt)

5. Hemingway Editor App

The Hemingway Editor app is a popular editing tool that helps writers improve the readability and clarity of their content. This is especially useful for freelance writers creating content for online publications since the average American reads at the 7th to 8th-grade level.

The app analyzes text and highlights areas that need improvement, such as sentences that are difficult to read or paragraphs that are too long. It also provides suggestions for making improvements, such as replacing complex words with simpler ones or breaking up long sentences. The tool also provides a readability score so you know exactly what grade level your content should be understood by.

I use the Hemingway Editor App in my web browser any time I’m editing an article for a freelance writing client or a content agency. A quick Ctrl+a, Ctrl+c, Ctrl+v, and I get instant feedback about how hard an article is to read. If you think you’re writing content that’s easy to understand, give Hemingway a try to see if you really are speaking as plainly as you think.

Cost: $0 (Try the app)

6. Headline Analyzer

With a headline analyzer tool, you can get instant feedback on the quality of the headlines you’re coming up with for your content. This type of tool is a relatively new addition to my everyday rotation, but it’s been a valuable asset. The tool I use is called Headline Analyzer (creative, I know).

Headline Analyzer assesses headline length, word choice, emotional impact, readability, and SEO. Using a headline analyzer tool can help ensure that headlines are concise, engaging, and optimized for search engine visibility. This can lead to higher click-through rates, increased reader engagement, and more successful content.

I don’t use this a lot when I’m editing client content because most of the time, the author has already done their SEO and keyword research. Or the writer is creating content based on a content brief they received from the publication which gave them the title and headers for the entire article. However, I do use Headline Analyzer when I’m creating my own content and it’s been a great way to learn how to write engaging titles that rank well in search engines.

Cost: $0 (Try Headline Analyzer)

7. Title Case Converter

Speaking of headlines, Title Case Converter is a fantastic tool to have in your back pocket. Title Case Converter will automatically convert text to title case, where the first letter of each word is capitalized. It is a great tool for ensuring consistency in headings, subheadings, and titles. As an editor, the Title Case Converter is a time-saving tool that helps me ensure that all titles and headings are consistently formatted.

All you have to do is paste in your headline, select the style guide you want to follow, then click Convert. And voila. Here’s a quick sample:

Draft Headline: how to peel potatoes with a paring knife
AP Style Headline: How To Peel Potatoes With a Paring Knife
Chicago Style Headline: How to Peel Potatoes with a Paring Knife

Cost: $0 (Try Title Case Converter)

8. GPT-2 Output Detector

While the great AI debate of 2023 rages on, it’s important to be able to determine whether a piece of content was created by AI or a human. Some writers and publications have no qualms about publishing a piece of entirely AI-written content, while others (the vast majority) accept AI as a part of the writing and iteration process but still expect the final piece of work to be written for humans, by humans.

If you’re an editor who has worked with the same writers for a while, you probably have a good feel for their writing style and the type of content they usually create. You know their witty sense of humor, their skill at sourcing and incorporating relevant data, their ability to analyze a problem and present a thoughtful solution, and their go-to phrases and writing structures. So when something comes across your desk that just doesn’t sound or feel right, it might be time to break out the GPT-2 Output Detector to do a quick scan of the document.

I prefer using the GPT-2 Output Detector (created by open.ai) over AI Text Classifier because the Output Detector will provide you with a detection percent (e.g., this document is 44% AI-generated) and the AI Text Classifier will only tell you whether it thinks the text is very unlikely, unlikely, unclear if it is, possibly, or likely AI-generated. (Additionally, in my own testing, I took an article written by ChatGPT and pasted it into the AI Text Classifier and was told the article was “unlikely” to be AI-generated.) *Cue the confusion.*

Cost: $0 (Try GPT-2 Output Detector)

Improve Your Writing and Streamline the Editing Process

These 8 writing and editing tools are essential for any professional freelance book and content editor. They help ensure consistency, accuracy, and quality in writing and editing. While some of these tools are paid, they are well worth the investment for the benefits they provide. These tools and resources are all part of my daily rotation, and I wouldn’t be able to run my business and serve my clients without them.