JUST A WEEK AGO, I blogged about online collaboration by writers, specifically pointing to a new, free online resource TypeWith.Me. Well, now online collaboration takes a HUGE STEP forward. Google has just bought DocVerse, the company that developed a Microsoft Office plug-in that allows users in different locations to work simultaneously on Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents. Now writers will be able to collaborate using familiar tools.

DocVerse was developed over the past three years by two former Microsoft employees.  On 5 March 2010, the company was bought by Google, which puts real muscle behind the product.  Here’s what the developers wrote on the DocVerse Blog:

“We fundamentally believe that Google is one of the best positioned companies to truly disrupt the world of productivity software.  We’re looking forward to the opportunity to scale our vision at Google.  Our first step will be to combine DocVerse with Google Apps to create a bridge between Microsoft Office and Google Apps.  I look forward to sharing more about our plans in the near future.”

The plug-in is now unavailable to users, as the development team works at integration into the Google family.  I’ll keep track of this software enhancement and pass on word once it’s again available.  In the meantime, take a brief tour of this plug-in.  It’s powerful.  I’m eager to get hold of it myself.

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This new online service not only provides publishing capabilities, it also adds in collaboration and editing capabilities, ideal for teams building a book together, or for writers who turn to friends for editing.  Even the solitary writer will find some helpful tools here.

FastPencil can even automatically turn blog posts into “chapters,” and almost effortlessly produce a finished book based on one’s blog.  Writers can now publish their books in serial fashion via a dedicated blog.  And when the last chapter is posted, a few clicks of the mouse and some reasonably-price payments will produce a book — in print, distributed through normal channels to bricks-and-mortar bookstores, or as e-books.

Interestingly, the writing tools are available for free.  The publishing side, which offers a wide array of services, incurs costs, but they are very reasonable.  Take a look at the pricing and distribution page.

ReadWriteWeb in its  review of FastPencil pictures this facility as a Smashwords on steroids.  If you’ve already finished your book, Smashwords is the way to go.  If not, FastPencil may provide the push forward you need.

BOOKHABIT

Yet another outlet for writers with digital books to sell is BookHabit. This New Zealand based website follows the pattern of similar websites. It creates a catalog of books. Readers can download first chapters for free — and purchase the complete book if intrigued.

BookHabit was acquired by Smashwords in November 2009.

Check out an introductory video about this stie in our sidebar VIDEO FOR WRITERS, where it will be available for a few days.  Later on, you can find the video at out VIDEO FOR WRITERS website, powered by VodPod.

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