Google has an App for just about everything–if you need something Google probably has a thingy that does it.  If you want a stock tip: buy Google. Seriously!

There are several useful Google Apps for writers, especially if you have a blog.  If you haven’t already, you need to check out: Google Friend Connect, Google Reader, Google Analytics and Google Docs.

Google Friend Connect (note: not as easy to do without a blogger page anymore, I think it’s still possible if you know how to rip the guts out of code) is a great gadget for a writer with a Google Blogger blog. It is a neat little gadget that lets you follow a blog in an instant if you have a Google account and displays all the followers of the blog. Its great for a blogger because it let’s them know their writing is appreciated, let’s them see who appreciates them and let’s them show it off so others can see.

Google Reader (discontinued) is essential for the writer who likes to read.  Using the Google Friend Connect or simple RSS to follow blogs will feed all the posts from these blogs into your Google Reader page where you can read them in a format that is similar to reading e-mails.  You can see what posts are new and you read them all in one place.  This saves you time and eliminated the need to bounce around to various sites.

Google Analytics is a powerful tool for a writer who has a website of any kind whether you blog or not. Analytics is traffic tracking on steroids.  You track every detail about the visitors to your site right down to how long they stayed and where they came from. If your trying to build a platform or sell a book or do anything with a website you can decide what is working on your website or in your promotions and what is not.

Google Docs has one very important advantage for a writer–off site backups! How many writers are as paranoid as I am about their computer files.  I have my writing backed up on 3 hard drives and a USB drive.  I know another writer who e-mails her writing to herself so that she has a copy “out there” in case she loses her files.  What better way to have your files “out there” than to use Google Docs.  You could use it to actually write or you could just use it to upload your files.  Either way it is a useful little App to have in your pocket!

Don’t stop with just these Apps either. There are plenty more that are just as useful.  Explore the world of Google and you are bound to find Apps that will be useful to you; for your every day life as well as for your writing.