Without my Vellum software, I wouldn’t have published The Beauty of a Spiral yet. Vellum is costly at 249.99 (199.99 if you want just the ebook software). Making up for that, it’s a one-and-done purchase. I don’t pay a monthly fee for it, and it formats print and ebook files efficiently, producing an end product I can be proud of.
Positives
(1) The book files I generated from Vellum uploaded without a problem to the following sites:
- Amazon (paperback and ebook)
- IngramSpark (print)
- Draft2Digital (ebook)
- Barnes and Noble (ebook) Note: I uploaded the Nook epub file without a problem; however, I decided to have D2D distribute the ebook to B&N for convenience–fewer places to worry about should I need to revise. I didn’t upload a print file to B&N, as IngramSpark does that for me.
- Google Play Books (ebook)
(2) Simple to Use
Navigating the software is easy. I uploaded the Word doc I’d compiled from my Scrivener software into Vellum, which automatically organized chapters and other content. The software offers a copyright page, among others, and automatically creates a table of contents.
After proper editing, I compiled the file into a Word doc and emailed it to myself for safekeeping. In print settings, I set the size I wanted for the print book. To generate books, I simply clicked “file,” then “generate books.” If I made an edit after generating the books, I’d generate them again, overriding the previous generation.
(3) Customization
The software allows custom chapter headers and scene-break designs. I had no trouble uploading an illustration for use as a chapter header. However, it didn’t align well with the chapter number, so I didn’t pursue the customization. Nevertheless, the software has plenty of options for chapter numbers and backgrounds. Each font choice has specific options.
(4) Print file only: keeps a dash with the preceding word
(5) Good customer service.
(6) You can add non-breaking spaces, which helps with ellipses.
Negatives
As a self-publishing writer who doesn’t know how to format book content on Word or Adobe, the positives far outweighed the few negatives, which are:
(1) The price may be too steep for some people.
(2) Limited amount of chapter headings and scene breaks to choose from (despite having a good amount to choose from).
(3) Ebook only: does not keep a dash with its preceding word at the end of a sentence.
- I checked many ebooks from traditional publishers, and their dashes, too, are plagued with this issue, which causes the dash to start the following line.
(4) Customization might be tricky for some.
Worth it?
Yes! It certainly is worth it for those of us who don’t have the time or knowledge to format and/or design our book’s content.