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Ask yourself, why do you write? Maybe you enjoy the torment of staring down a blank page, waiting for your next masterpiece. More likely, its for an internship or some self-serious professor. You know the one.

No matter the reason, you probably wish there was a program to transfer your brilliant ideas from your brain to the page. Alas, while such software doesnt exist, you can find plenty of free writing software to help you on your literary journey. To make it easy for you, Ive included five of my favorite options below, plus one paid, along with tips on how to get the most out of each.

Pros: Encompasses most aspects of publishing for authors; high-quality lessons.

Cons: Cant use book editor offline. No desktop or mobile app.

One thing every author wants is just to be able to write. Not an author? You can skip to the next section. But if you are, you need Reedsy, the Swiss army knife of free writing software. On a basic level, Reedsy offers five services: the book editor, the marketplace, learning, prompts, and discovery. They also have a blog, which adds extra information to their incredible resources.

So, what does each service do?

The sleek Reedsy Book Editor handles the legwork of formatting your manuscript, especially if you plan to self-publish. On top of that, importing and exporting to the editor takes just a few clicks. To keep you on track, the book editor allows you to configure goals by word count and deadline, taking into account the days you write. (The only catch is that you have to write it yourself. Darn.)

Maybe you want to write but need some help. Reedsy Learning delivers free yet priceless 10-day courses on everything from character development to cover design. Reedsy sends as many as you want, whenever you want, straight to your inbox every morning. All you have to do is sign up.

Now for the not-so-free part:

Write short stories? Reedsy Prompts holds weekly writing contests centered around a theme or prompt. While its free to enter, you must pay for official consideration for the financial first-place prize.

When youve finally finished your manuscript, Reedsy Marketplace provides the free service of connecting you with reputable professionals for every step of your publishing journey. Of course, once youve selected and queried someone, you have to pay them.

Reedsy Discovery is a cheap way for new authors to get readers and reviewers. For $50, you can submit your book for consideration. If your reviewer likes it, you get a quality review. (Book reviewers out there? Apply now for a chance to earn money by reading.)

Pros: Minimalist. Keeps writing crisp and clean.

Cons: Limited feedback. Confining for long-winded writers. No save function.

Hemingway Editor encourages writers to adopt Hemingways easy-to-read style. Its little surprise given the way he revolutionized 20th-century American literature. (He also won a Nobel Prize.)

The editor keeps sentences functional using several of Hemingways strategies. Through goals, it praises readers for limiting adverbs and passive voice. It suggests alternatives to clunky phrases. Beyond that, it highlights hard-to-read sentences in yellow or red, depending on length. As a bonus, it assesses a texts readability, word count and reading time.

There are two ways to use Hemingway Editor: write in its minimalist interface or upload your own text. For this article, I did the former. Writing in the editor feels like a high-tech typewriter with its bookish font. You can dismiss the sidebar in the write mode and summon it when finished. Hemingway Editor also comes equipped with basic formatting to apply with a click.

Oppressive at first, the editor eliminates authors preferred empty fluff and labyrinthine sentences. There may be a learning curve for those used to flowery writing, but its worth it for clear, concise prose. Plus, the change in scenery will free up your mind to run wild with ideas.

Pros: Minimalist, intuitive, incredibly effective.

Cons: As dangerous as its name implies.

Alternatives: Tomato Typewriter for Android and iOS (completely and totally free)

Full disclosure: I wrote this section in the Most Dangerous Writing App.

Using it is easy: Set a word count or time limit and choose whether or not you want a prompt. Hit start.

And then dont stop for anything.

If you spend too long brainstorming without typing or too long deleting so you can edit, your writing will blur a heart-pounding red. If you dont resume typing, its all gone. Poof. Just like that. No way to recover any of it.

Thats the entire app. Even though it was taken over by Squiblr.io, this free writing software remains easy to use if youre up to the anxiety-inducing challenge. It truly is the most dangerous writing app on the web while also being more user-friendly than Write or Die. While there arent any bells and whistles like formatting, thats by design. Its supposed to be minimalist, just a sans serif font on a blank background, your cursor poised to respond to each keystroke.

I admit to using this on several homework assignments, essays and even articles for publication. It keeps my mind sharp and clear as I continue to write. Use this to break through writers block and overthinking in the most nerve-wracking way possible. Afterward, you can go back and edit it however you want.

Now write.

Pros: Versatile, quality suggestions.

Cons: Writers need the paid version to view premium suggestions.

Alternative: LanguageTool (free for English and other languages)

To be fair, you probably have Grammarly. And its browser extension. Maybe its Microsoft Word integration, too. If you dont? Get it. Right now.

Any time youre writing professionally, you need to sound flawless. Whether youre looking for good grades or great impressions, Grammarly can and will get you there. Its the free writing software for all your editing needs impeccable grammar, sparkling clarity, riveting engagement, razor-sharp delivery. Exceedingly adaptable, Grammarly adjusts its suggestions based on a chosen audience and formality. You can use it on everything from short emails proofread by the extension (with a tone checker!) to lengthy term papers uploaded to the website.

Grammarlys main downside is that the site paywalls the very suggestions that elevate your writing from adequate to spectacular. However, the web editor helpfully lists out error categories and their frequency on the side. Sifting through the offending text in gold underline thus allows you to identify and fix your mistakes. Time-consuming as it may be, the result of this rigorous process visibly reads better and teaches you proper writing practices.

Pros: Intuitive, perfect for collaboration, stores version history, can work offline or on mobile.

Cons: Lacks some features of Microsoft Word; doesnt preserve all Word formatting.

Every user of Google Docs has a love-hate relationship with the ubiquitous free writing software. But we use it nonetheless because nothing quite compares to collaboration.

We all work well within its mostly intuitive, familiar interface while ignoring elements that we hardly use or dont understand. Add-ons, automatic cloud syncing, and revision history give it a slight edge for people seeking a lighter word processor. While far from perfect, its ever-increasing compatibility with Microsoft Word only makes it more appealing today compared to back in high school.

Pros: Good formatting, markup for touchscreens, has desktop and mobile apps, the professional gold standard.

Cons: Features arent always intuitive; need to pay for voice dictation.

Depending on your university, this writing software may be free for you, so its best to cover all of its cool features and professional formatting.

If you dont want to look like a Microsoft Word novice, experiment with the basic formatting. Extra spacing before or after paragraphs glares from the page, especially when gaps in MLA headers appear unusually wide. For bibliographies, hanging indents can be found by expanding the Paragraph section. You can change everything under the sun or on the screen or let a template do it for you.

Chances are that if you havent clicked every button, youve probably overlooked helpful features. Getting distracted? Use focus mode. Learning another language? Add proofreading for it and use the built-in translation tools to check yourself. Another feature people dont take advantage of is collaboration. Like with Google Docs, you can share a document, collaborate in real-time, track changes and leave comments.

In my experience, the best thing you can do with Microsoft Word is to use headers. You can skip between sections, select and copy a headers contents, or drag them to rearrange within the Navigation pane. Interactive headings are most handy on documents so long the scroll bar becomes useless for example, in your lecture notes or 200-page works in progress.

With Microsoft 365, there are two extra Word features worth mentioning. Although it probably isnt worth almost a hundred dollars a year, voice dictation adds the most value. Sit in the front of your lecture hall and let Word do the rest. Across platforms, you can also access the editor, which seems like a hapless Grammarly.

Among free writing software, theres something for every writer, even if your problem is that you cant write. Speaking from personal experience, I wouldnt be the writer I am today if not for all six of these software programs. So whatever youre looking for, whatever you need, I hope you find it here and use it to tell your story.

Read more:
5 Best Free Writing Software Tools (and One Paid) for Every Writer - Study Breaks

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

If your company is built around a software product, you need to find a way to monetize it. Monetizing your software means finding a way to generate revenue from it which sounds much more straightforward than it actually is.

Most entrepreneurs and product managers struggle to find exactly the right way to monetize their software product. Even if the product is amazing, a poor monetization strategy can render it practically useless for the sustenance of your business.

So what do companies get wrong about software monetization? And what steps can you take to avoid these pitfalls?

Related: How to Determine How Much to Charge for Your Software

Monetization comes in many forms. You could monetize your software by charging a flat rate for access or by charging a subscription fee to use it on a monthly basis. You could subsidize the business by featuring advertising in your software. You could offer the software for free but charge for extras, like upgrades or premium features. You could even offer the product for free but harvest data from your users and sell that data to other buyers.

One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is limiting themselves to only one form of monetization. They see this as a binary and permanent choice and that the choice they make is going to establish the destiny of the product.

But this isn't necessarily the case. In fact, some of the most successful software products on the market rose to where they are because they were willing to monetize their product in multiple ways.

Obviously, you'll need to consider what your target user can tolerate and what they're willing to pay, so you're not going to get away with strictly charging more. Still, you also shouldn't limit yourself to only one potential income stream.

Related: Why a SaaS Business Model Could be Your Ticket to Massive Success

Even in today's world of data availability (and, some might say, data oversaturation), some business owners choose to make decisions based on their gut feelings rather than the available information. They assume they know what their users prefer rather than conducting experiments to prove what they prefer.

For example, you may have the mentality that because you and most of the people you know hate advertisements, advertising would be an unacceptable method of monetization. But how do you know for sure unless you're conducting a real experiment with real users? Do your market research, hold focus groups and conduct surveys to get better answers.

You don't have to make monetization decisions entirely on your own. In fact, it's often better if you make these decisions with the help of outside experts, who can offer you different datasets and new perspectives.

For example, if you hire the right software development company, they may have suggestions for how to monetize this product. After all, they've probably built products like this in the past. You may also choose to hire a marketing firm or a sales consultant to help you determine effective pricing and messaging related to your monetization strategy.

Related: How to Develop Software That Sells Itself

Monetization strategies are sometimes rendered less effective because the solution itself is overengineered. There's nothing wrong with wanting to offer your customers more features and higher quality services, but if you spend too much time and money on products or features that your customers don't actively use, your profitability equation is going to suffer. Effective monetization isn't just about generating more money total It's about generating more money relative to your ongoing costs.

Many software companies, especially in the earliest stages of development, see effective monetization and growth as adversarial or incompatible concepts. In the extreme form, some software companies forgo monetization altogether in the early stages, focusing entirely on building a more robust user base. Only once their desired growth has been achieved do they introduce monetization strategies.

This isn't necessarily a bad approach and could work for many different types of businesses. But it's important that you don't see growth and monetization as adversarial. In fact, most businesses benefit from pursuing better monetization and ongoing growth simultaneously.

Related: The Reason Software Companies Are Better Companies

Acquiring a new customer costs far more money than keeping an existing customer. Whatever monetization strategies you have in place, you're going to be much better off focusing on retention as your top priority.

Software monetization is a complex concept and not a challenge that can be overcome simply by reading one article at the right time. But hopefully, the descriptions of common mistakes listed in this article can help you see your software monetization from a new perspective. Remain open-minded and flexible as you explore various monetization options, and don't be afraid to take risks.

Originally posted here:
6 Mistakes Most Companies Make When Monetizing Their Software - Entrepreneur

When you buy shares in a company, it's worth keeping in mind the possibility that it could fail, and you could lose your money. But on a lighter note, a good company can see its share price rise well over 100%. For example, the Coupa Software Incorporated (NASDAQ:COUP) share price has soared 124% in the last half decade. Most would be very happy with that. It's also good to see the share price up 28% over the last quarter. The company reported its financial results recently; you can catch up on the latest numbers by reading our company report.

On the back of a solid 7-day performance, let's check what role the company's fundamentals have played in driving long term shareholder returns.

Though if you're not interested in researching what drove COUP's performance, we have a free list of interesting investing ideas to potentially inspire your next investment!

Coupa Software isn't currently profitable, so most analysts would look to revenue growth to get an idea of how fast the underlying business is growing. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually expect strong revenue growth. Some companies are willing to postpone profitability to grow revenue faster, but in that case one does expect good top-line growth.

For the last half decade, Coupa Software can boast revenue growth at a rate of 31% per year. That's well above most pre-profit companies. So it's not entirely surprising that the share price reflected this performance by increasing at a rate of 17% per year, in that time. This suggests the market has well and truly recognized the progress the business has made. Coupa Software seems like a high growth stock - so growth investors might want to add it to their watchlist.

You can see below how earnings and revenue have changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

Coupa Software is well known by investors, and plenty of clever analysts have tried to predict the future profit levels. Given we have quite a good number of analyst forecasts, it might be well worth checking out this free chart depicting consensus estimates.

We regret to report that Coupa Software shareholders are down 71% for the year. Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 16%. However, it could simply be that the share price has been impacted by broader market jitters. It might be worth keeping an eye on the fundamentals, in case there's a good opportunity. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 17%, each year, over five years. If the fundamental data continues to indicate long term sustainable growth, the current sell-off could be an opportunity worth considering. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Coupa Software better, we need to consider many other factors. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Coupa Software (of which 1 is significant!) you should know about.

Of course Coupa Software may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of growth stocks.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US exchanges.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

Find out whether Coupa Software is potentially over or undervalued by checking out our comprehensive analysis, which includes fair value estimates, risks and warnings, dividends, insider transactions and financial health.

Read this article:
Investors bid Coupa Software (NASDAQ:COUP) up US$1.1b despite increasing losses YoY, taking five-year CAGR to 17% - Simply Wall St

The program adjusts to your child's learning level. A laptop, internet access, and tutor are also provided for free.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. A free hands-on literacy program is helping kids who will start kindergarten next year by providing free learning services to those who sign up in selected areas in Tennessee.

The program provides kids with the basics of literacy.

I wanted the best for myself, so of course, Im going to want 20 times more than my son. Im going to make all types of sacrifices that I can make to make sure he receives just as best of one the education that my parents provided for me and Ill pass it along to him, Kimberly Haynes said.

She explained that she cannot afford to not be involved in her 4-year-old sons Jamison Millers learning, especially since he will be starting kindergarten next school year.

We have this software to where he can be able to utilize to where it can engage him and keep him focused and interacting and also learning as well, Haynes explained.

The Waterford Upstart literacy program is hands-on, and it is designed to prep kids with the basics like reading, using letter sounds to write their names, and more, all before they start kindergarten.

Haynes said she first learned about this interactive program from Jamisons daycare, which recommended that she sign him up.

It only requires 15 minutes of you and your childs time, five days a week. Haynes said it is helped her son get ahead of his age range.

My son is a visual learner, so by them using cartoonish fishers grasps the attention of my son. It helps him identify sight words that he already previously have learned, Haynes stated. So to add on to what hes already learning with the software that they utilize.

The Waterford software will actually meet your child right where he or she is in their academic journey by adjusting to their learning level. A laptop, internet access, and a tutor are also provided at no cost.

Haynes said this has helped her as a parent know what areas to focus on with her son beyond the program.

Its very inspirational for me and him because hes actually sitting there, going through the mode with the activities and actually learning, Haynes said.

And to take it a step further, there is also an option to get help with math and science. Spokesperson John McCann said this program gives kids a boost in their journey.

By the time they enter kindergarten by 2023, on average, Waterford Upstart will enter kindergarten reading at nearly a first-grade level, so you think about that third-grade reading being that benchmark and they want kids to be on grade level by third grade, McCann said. Well our program positions kids to be able to reach that.

The organization that created the literacy program is called Waterford.org, which is a national non-profit that is dedicated to providing high-quality educational resources for children and their families. To sign up and find out if you live in a county that qualifies, click here.

Link:
Literacy program teaches kids how to read and write for free - WATN - Local 24

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Read more:
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