Novlr Review – The Best Book Writing App For You?

This Novlr review is the latest stop on my quest to connect you with the tools you'll need to reach your writing goals more efficiently.

If you’re a regular Kindlepreneur reader, you’re well aware that I love delving deep and reviewing tools that claim to make authors' lives a little easier. Recently, I came across Novlr.

Novlr is an example of specialist writing software. In a nutshell, it aims to go above and beyond the basic features offered by solutions such as Docs and Word and provide a more feature-rich experience geared towards serious writers.

But does it live up to its aim? Is it worth your time to check out Novlr?

A quick note, I do use affiliate links in this article, but that's good news for you. Being in the Novlr affiliate program allows me to offer you a 25% off coupon code later in the article.

Is it time to switch to Novlr for your next book? Let’s find out!

There is actually another tool that we recommend more called Atticus. It's not just a great writing program built for authors, but it's also the best book formatting platform on the market. If you want to know why it's our favorite, check out our comparison of the best writing software on the market, of which Novlr ranks #11.

What Is Novlr?

If I had to describe Novlr in a single sentence, I’d probably do so by calling it an aesthetically pleasing, cloud-based writing tool.

To use Novlr, you create an account and sign into the service on your desktop or portable device. You then gain access to the following key features:

• Author Conducive Writing System:  As expected, the writing environment is the core offering in the Novlr app. It’s a minimalist, aesthetically pleasing interface. It has a distraction-free mode, and also offers different color settings depending upon the time of day you're writing at. This helps to prevent eye strain.
• Helps Plan Your Writing: Novlr allows you to quickly and easily organize your writing by breaking it down into chapters and allowing you to keep notes on aspects such as characters and plot in their own special sections.
• Track Your Writing Stats. One of the coolest things about Novlr is how it keeps track of your stats. You can easily see your writing streak, how many words you write on average, and even the days and times you are most productive.
• Motivational Goals. If you need a little extra help to stay motivated, Novlr has got your back. You can set a writing target, and see your progress towards it. The app also has subtle motivational nudges built in, such as encouragement to stay on track, and positive feedback messages when you hit your milestones.
• Style Help. Novlr includes some pretty cool features, such as a grammar checker, style suggestions, and even the ability to reach out to collaborators such as proofreaders and book editors within the app.
• Easy To Export Your Book. You can quickly publish to various ebook formats from within the Novlr environment, and you can also sync up with cloud storage systems such as Google Drive and Dropbox.

In my book (no pun intended!), that’s a pretty awesome set of features. I particularly like how they go above and beyond the basics, such as the writing environment, and add some cool and innovative options, such as the ability to collaborate with experts within Novlr itself.

You can also access some free training as part of Novlr, such as mini courses and other guides. This is all extra value that proves Novlr is out to make the best possible product — and to truly help writers.

However, it’s one thing to have a set of features, and another to execute them well. I imagine we’ve all had a few (let’s be real, way more than a few) times where expectations and reality have failed to meet.

So does Novlr achieve what it claims, or is it a lot of hot air?

What Qualifies Me to Review Novlr?

This is an excellent question. The bottom line is that I've been in the publishing industry for well over 10 years, and I have a lot of experience working with various writing tools like this one, Scrivener, and a lot of others.

Plus, I've worked with hundreds of authors, many of them well known, and have a decent sense from what they've told me, and what others in my audience have mentioned in surveys, about what book writing tool they like the most.

So with that, let's take a closer look at Novlr.

Novlr Review – A Look Inside

In order to give you a real feel for what it’s like to use Novlr, I’m going to show you some images from inside the service, as well as offer my take on what I like and dislike about each.

Let’s go inside the world of Novlr!

Using Novlr – The Writing Environment

Of course, the core functionality of Novlr is as a writing tool.

The creators have stated that they wished to provide an aesthetically pleasing, minimal writing environment. This was intended to be nice to look at, suitable for use on both mobile and desktop, and designed in a way which reduced the temptation to procrastinate.

So, did Novlr achieve these aims? Let’s have a look.

As you can see in the above image, the interface for Novlr’s writing functionality is clean and clear. It’s easy to understand and navigate around.

The images above show the different appearances for different times of the day. This is really important for eye health, and it also looks pretty nice!

As you can see from the above picture, Novlr is great for organizing a writing project. Although it lacks the depth of some other writing apps, it is more than enough for most writers.

I really like the aesthetics of Novlr’s writing environment. It looks great on both desktop and mobile devices.

Using Novlr – The Stats

Stats tracking is a core part of Novlr, so does the product do it well?

The image above shows the stats that Novlr displays. As you can see, it’s clean and clear, much like the rest of the app.

Notice above how Novlr displays your goals. It’s a little more colorful than a lot of the rest of the service, but it doesn’t suffer due to this.

Overall, I think Novlr strikes a good balance between showing you the stats you really need, and keeping the look crisp and simple.

Using Novlr – The Support

The third strand of Novlr, aside from writing and stats, is the support and guidance offered through the service. This ranges from expected aspects, such as grammar support, to more innovative capabilities, such as contacting expert collaborators directly through Novlr.

The grammar checker is fairly standard. I found it to be fine, no problems at all. I like the fact that it includes explanations for the advice it gives.

The learning and training aspect of Novlr is fairly lightweight, but still a cool feature to have. It’s really built in to Novlr, and it doesn’t feel like a tacked on extra at all.

Overall, I’d say that Novlr’s support is suitable for the app. It’s not going to provide the same level of support as ProWritingAid, or the same level of knowledge as a course, but you wouldn’t expect it to. Seeing as Novlr is all about trimming the fat, the level of depth provided here feels about right.

Format Beautiful Professional Books

Easy to use, and and full of amazing features, you can quickly turn your book into a professional book.

Check It Out

Novlr Price – How Much Does Novlr Cost?

In the words of a scholar, it’s all about the benjamins, baby.

So how much of your hard earned cash will Novlr take? And is it worth the money?

• If you want to use Novlr on a monthly payment basis, this will cost you $10 a month.
• If you pay for a whole year in one go, you get a discount. The total price is $99.96, and this breaks down to $8.33 a month, saving you $1.67 a month, or just over $20 a year. Nice!
• You can also enjoy a full free trial of Novlr for two weeks. Unlike a lot of free trials, you don’t need to provide any payment info to sign up. They aren’t trying to trick you into accidentally paying a subscription by forgetting to cancel. I really like this a lot.

Overall, I feel that Novlr is reasonable value for money. Also, as a smart book marketer, you should be seeing this as an investment, not a cost!

If you like what Novlr brings to the table, and feel that the $8.33 a month is within your price range, I say go for it!

Novlr Voucher Code – Use Kindlepreneur to save $20!

If you’re interested in saving a little money on the service, you need a Novlr voucher code.

Novlr voucher codes can only be used if you are taking the annual option. When you go to purchase, you can input your voucher code, as seen in the below image.

Simply put “Kindlepreneur” into the box, and you can enjoy a year of Novlr for $80. If you paid for this monthly, it would cost $120!

Novlr Pros and Cons

Now that you know what Novlr is capable of, and what it’s like to use the service, I want to bring you my summary of its pros and cons. This will help you decide whether Novlr is the right choice for you.

Novlr Review – Pros

• Aesthetically pleasing with a clean and clear interface
• Packed with cool features, offers everything the vast majority of writers will ever need
• I love how it syncs up across desktop and mobile
• It’s great how this is cloud based, so you never lose your work
• I trust Novlr’s promise that they will continue to improve the app

Novlr Review – Cons

• The price. Although Novlr is a manageable monthly amount, it can add up over time. I wish they offered a lifetime pricing option because of this.
• Not as fully featured as some other products. Although Novlr definitely has enough for most writers, it doesn’t do absolutely everything other tools do. Therefore, be sure to check carefully whether its features match all your requirements before hitting purchase.

Novlr Alternatives – Novlr VS Scrivener

If you’re thinking of getting a specialist writing app, Atticus or Scrivener is probably the other option you’re considering. At least it should be! I make no secret of the fact I love Scrivener immensely and used to use it for all my writing projects.

But how does Novlr stack up against Scrivener? I’d urge you to read the full Scrivener review before making a decision, but if you want some quick guidance:

• Novlr is easier to learn than Scrivener. Scrivener has a ton of depth, but it isn’t always the easiest thing to get to grips with.
• Novlr probably edges Scrivener in terms of aesthetics, but less so since Scrivener released the 3.0 version.
• Scrivener has way more features than Novlr. Although Novlr does plenty, Scrivener truly does it all. It’s formatting and exporting capabilities are way more advanced, to give just one example.
• Novlr provides a more seamless mobile experience, whereas Scrivener requires the purchase of a separate app. Note that purchasing both the desktop and app versions of Scrivener will still cost a lot less than more than one year of using Novlr.
• Ultimately, Scrivener is better value. You pay a one off price and you truly own it. The version you get will be upgraded for free until a major version is released, and this tends to happen maybe twice a decade. Even when it does, existing Scrivener customers receive a discount.

If I had to boil it down, I’d make the following suggestion:

Overall, Scrivener is better. It's a better value and does a lot more. However, if you really like the aesthetic of Novlr, and its cloud-based way of working, not to mention how seamless it is across desktop and mobile, I’d say go for it. The $8.33 a month is affordable for many, and if you prefer the experience of Novlr, it’s worth it.

Your best bet is to try out Novlr and Scrivener by using their awesome free trials. Decide which is right for you. Weigh up the financial side. Make your decision on that basis.