Graphic originally posted on Evernote blog: http://appcenter.evernote.com/app/fastpencil/web-apps
If you’ve read this blog more than once, you know that I am always looking for ways to save time, be more efficient, and be more productive. You also know that I have written about how much I love Evernote and the ways that I use it. My goodness, if you knew me, you might even think that I have a man-crush on this app. OK, maybe I might. Evernote, how fair thou art! Thy dimensions are heavenly, thine access, divine and thou art priced amongst the priceless. Oh how I long for thee…Evernote. OK, maybe I don’t have it THAT bad…or maybe…
Let’s just move on, shall we?
If you have not read before, here are a few of the previous posts:
- Remind Me To Use Evernote For Everything
- How I Save Time With Evernote & Skitch
- I Outsourced My Brain To Evernote
- 10 Apps That I Use For Daily Success
- Using A Robot To Stay Productive
Now, companies should always innovate. But, Evernote has a special place in my heart. And recently, they blew me away again.
If I haven’t mentioned it yet, I’m in the midst of writing my 3rd book and this time, I had been looking for writing apps. I was becoming frustrated because many of the apps had things that I wanted and things that just bugged the heck out of me. Then, I decided to keep it simple. I decided just to write in Evernote. Why? Well, if I’m on the road, I can write in my Evernote notebook using whatever device I happen to be on. I don’t have to worry about whether I have my laptop or if my file is loaded or if I need to download it from Dropbox or somewhere else. Of course, I can use Google Drive for this. But, the difference is that as I research, I am constantly clipping articles and saving them right to Evernote. As I write, having this accessible is very helpful.
Now, here’s what they did that took me up to another level. They integrated with an app call Fast Pencil which is perfect for self-publishing. Read about it on Evernote’s blog. I can now write my book in Evernote and then immediately publish it. Even better, as a visual person, I can publish it halfway through just to see how it would look.
I went through and set up my writing notebook in Evernote, setup my integration with FastPencil. Then I clicked PREVIEW to see what it would look like. It was amazing. I got to choose from several publication styles, from Dragon (suitable for young-adult fiction) to Short Stories, to Business (simple and professional) to Fifties, a retro publishing style.
Once I chose the publishing style I wanted, I was able to download a neatly formatted pdf file.
Now of course there is a little more work to be done to get it into a properly formatted book. For instance, I have not yet tried to drag pictures into my Evernote file and I am not yet sure how that will work. That will be for another post.
But for the time being, I am ecstatic that this integration and this option exists.
I have had both experiences of working with a publisher and self-publishing. While both have pros and cons, there has never been a time where there are LESS excuses for people not to have a book written or a message shared. Evernote continues to push the boundaries and I love it!
Now, I’m off to go write in my Evernote notebook. This book has to get finished this year and we’ll see what Evernote and FastPencil can do for me.
What writing tools do you use for success? Tell me if you have experience with Evernote and Fast Pencil. I’d love to incorporate your feedback.
I love Evernote, I use it on a daily basis.