Vellum App Reviews

Vellum is one of two reasons to own a mac for any indie author. It makes generating files for each of the major etailers a breeze and they’re open to feedback to help improve the program. Cannot recommend highly enough!

The best ebook generator on the market… Really simple and reliable. And the technical support is unbelievable - I had a very minor issue that was easily resolved, yet the support that was provided by Vellum was probably among the best support experiences I’ve ever encountered.

Editing since new info has come to light. First, from within the app if you look for Help > Contact Vellum support … you’ll be able to send them email which they will respond to quickly. Otherwise, finding support help is difficult. I love this application and when I ran into a brick wall trying to get my manuscript to pass Smashwords’ format testing I was dismayed that I might have to spend more to resolve what must be a glitch. Now I’ve got one of the Brads on line and working to resolve this problem and I’m relieved that I don’t have to look for outside help. Otherwise, if you’re an independent author working from a Mac there is no better choice. This is a sweet piece of software.

I’ve been keeping my eye on Vellum for a while. When someone on my writing message board posted their praises and the bonus of a current sale, I immediately came and downloaded it. After going through their easy tutorial, I realized what a find Vellum is for those who want to create professional, slick, outstanding looking e-books. I had problems hooking my two Apple computers to KindleGen and emailed customer service. Within less than 2 minutes, I had an immediate response from the 180 Vellum team. While the problem ended up being on my end, he was totally willing to help me through the problem with screenshots and everything. For those who are looking to format for themselves and want something that is user-friendly and creates a great end product, Vellum may definitely be for you! I also found out, by sharing some new information from another writing message board that someone had posted, that the Vellum team keeps up with the most up-to-date issues that may affect their product. By the time I sent them the link, they had already found it, discussed the issue, and had a plan as to whether or not it affected their product. My guess is that anytime the team runs into a potential problem, they will be fast in solving it in order to keep their customers more than happy. In truth, I’ve got a bit of a tech crush on the Vellum team and am excited to use Vellum for my work.

software is great. nice design. But i can’t even export to a proper word publishing app once i have it organized? not so nice.

I found it quite easy to bring my Word document to this app and select a style that I found appealing. When I ran into a snag uploading my book into Kindle, Vellum Support went above and beyond to make sure that I understood the process and they helped me to pull things together in record time. What could have been a nightmare was actually a dream. Thank you, Vellum!!!!!

The simplicy of this app is absolute marvelous and the addition of in-line graphics in this version makes it even better. I write the hard way, composing in Scrivener and publishing (including print versions) with InDesign because some of my books can get quite complex. But if you’re writing novels, essays, or collections of short stories that don’t need complex formatting and don’t want to klutz with the endless complexities of formatting and layout, this app may be almost perfect for you. I say almost perfect for the same reason I give it four stars. Those who are using Vellum are likely to be writing in scenes which get combined into chapters which then become a novel. This app makes it marvelously easy to rearrange those chapters. That I like. But it offers no way below the chapter level in which to write scenes as items that can be rearranged like chapters. That leaves writers with no option other than the same cut-and-paste curse of Microsoft Word. If Vellum’s developers would like to see how that is done well, they can look at Scrivener’s Binder. I make that suggestion because, were it included, Vellum would be the only app many authors would need. They wouldn’t have to bother with Word. They could write, edit and publish in Vellum alone. That would be the ultimate in simplicity. I do have a couple of other suggestions for the developers. 1. Seriously, seriously consider creating an iPad version. Not only does an app this beautiful almost beg for an iPad version, the preview function could do iPad previews inside the very readers they are being created for. It wouldn’t be emulation. It’d be the real thing. 2. There’s enough need for notes in many books, that it might be worth adding the ability to do pop-up notes in ebooks. I suspect that even clever fiction authors could use them to include clues and background in their stories. For more serious work, notes are a must. I know one scientific publisher who’d love that option for creating mini-books. One final note. This app creates each of the files you need to publish to iBooks, Kindle and Nooks, but it can’t do the uploading for you. You’ll still have to establish author contracts with each retailer and handle the uploads the way that retailer likes. —Michael W. Perry, Inkling Books

I imported a Pages file (via export as .docx) of a 450+ page book with lots of formatting and some color images. Of course some of the formatting did not carry across. But the significant stuff (bold, italic, etc.) did. In a few hours I got the hang of how Velum wanted my to work, and went thru the book cleaning up the mistakes in paragraphing and chapter-ing. Ended up with a very good eBook. Cool! Ran into an issue in generating the Kindle version, but the tech support from 180g was stellar and we sorted it out. One button push and I have Kindle files, Apple iBooks files and Nook files (is Nook still around?). Great. So I an reviewing the iBook version on my iPad right now it it looks great! I love this app. Oh, by the way, I bought the fully unlocked version, for unlimited books, as that is where I am heading. I am happy with it.

Let’s establish context, here. I don’t know about the other reviewers, except to say that if they are not giving his app full marks — well, let’s leave it at that. I’ve published prize-winning books with major university presses. Won heavyweight book awards. Sold tens of thousands of my books. My friends are university press directors and managing editors. Blah blah blah. You get the picture. Secondly, I’m a retired professor from an Ivy League university. Third, I run a tiny book imprint, with considerable success. One of our books sold worldwide, in the thousands, translated into 8 different languages. Discussed in leading, international media (newspapers, magazines, TV, radio). Etc. Okay. Vellum. Fabulous! This is my first foray into eBooks. I checked out other apps, other programs. Vellum beats the pants off them. To call this program elegant is an understatement. It’s intuitive. Brilliantly designed. Makes producing an eBook a pleasure. (Note: Producing books is not a pleasure, under normal circumstances.) The people who designed this: Take it from me, they’re brilliant. They know book writing and publishing. That is, they know the business. Their eBooks look and perform gorgeously on Kindle, iBooks, BookReader, etc. As for customer support: It’s outstanding. I have had occasion to ask several questions of the Vellum team — and they get back to me, often literally, in minutes. They have walked me through spots I was unfamiliar with. Even when I write to them in the evening, they respond. A final note. Their website. Visit it. (I make websites.) This is about the classiest website I’ve ever seen. Just like Vellum itself: the epitome of elegance. Calvin Luther Martin, PhD

This is what iBooks Author should have been. Its 2015, and creating and publishing a book shouldnt be like breaking into Fort Knox. These guys made it easy, and they made it affordable. Give them your money. Support them. I bought the Unlimited Package and have no regrets. I hope they keep up the great work and continue refining the experience, even if this doesnt catch on right away. Id like to see a companion iOS app that I could use to read my drafts, and Id like to be able to make changes in the iOS app and see those changes reflected on OS X (synced in the cloud, I suppose).

I won’t even comment on whether the app is god or not, it is irrelevant, because at that price, I will never consider using it. What about Sigil? You can get an infinite amount of ebooks for free. Or Scrivener, where you pay once (an a very cheap price) and then you get all the benefits forever. Those prices are ridiculous. Sorry guys!

And now it has more options and gives you more control over how things look, plus outputs to all the major vendors with one click. As someone with a big back list to manage, Vellum is fabulous. I love this program.

Had a change of heart! This is a great program and I love the quality of the eBooks it creates, and I love that you can write and instantly see how it’s going to look when put on your kindle, iPhone, or iPad. A valuable tool that is continuely updated and creates the most exquisite eBooks I have ever seen!! Pricey, but well worth it!

I saw somewhere that this app/software had a 1 star rating. I can’t imagine what person would rate it so poorly. This software is the best thing to hit Indie publishing ever. I’ve been the editor-in-chief of a boutique Indie publishing house for almost 4 years. Such a position, for a company that is purely boot-strapped, is an intense, time-consuming slog through words, code, book formats, social media and more. Any significantly valuable tool to eliminate or streamline the time consuming required eBook publishing process is a boon from the gods. Oh #yessssss. I can create an eBook in .mobi pocket creator with the best of them, having edited a book in Word, Open Office, or whatever, converted it to .html, cleaned up the CSS and on and on. Switching to a Mac platform and purchasing the unlimited eBook creation version of this application is the single best business upgrade that I made this year. Within 24 hours of purchase and rapid formatting of a new eBook in Vellum, I have uploaded the ePUB and .mobi on the major platforms. So fab and fast and amazing. Highly recommend for all self-published authors (who plan to write multiple eBooks) as well as boutique Indie publishers.

This app is amazing and does EXACTLY what I need it to in very little time. I’m amazed and it’s saved my small business some serious $$$$!

Ive tried using a lot of other services and apps for ebook production, and inevitably they all contain stuff I dont need, lack things I do need, and end up producing buggy files I have to waste hours fixing and fine-tuning. I do NOT mind paying for this s ervice ... its fantastic, seamless, and it saves me valuable time that I can use to move on with the next project. A small investment for a huge advantage.

Vellum creates beautiful ebooks simply and easily. You can drag-and-drop elements between books, making updating the “Also by this author” page trivial instead of a chore. I’ve been self-publishing since 2011 and have tried a variety of formatting options, from simple uploading of a Word file to Smashwords and Kindle to creating my HTML files by hand, including proper CSS and graphic touches, generating valid epubs and converting to MOBI. When I saw Vellum online, I wanted it so badly that I bought a Mac to use it and I’m happy to say that I am delighted with my purchase. I’m thrilled by how much time I can save when I update my books, but I’m also really pleased with how beautiful the final products are. I hope they’ll continue to add new styles and template options, and it would be really nice if it could import other file formats than Word docs (specifically epubs), but if you’re self-publishing, this is wonderful software.

Last Oct I had a difficult time purchasing and downloading this app. But when I reached out for assistance, the response was great. They made sure that I got the software. But…then I ended up in surgery and have been in recovery/chemo ever since. I finally used the app about a week or so ago and I was so pleased. I created an eBook, and was able to generate all the different types (kindle, nook, etc.). The app is a little tricky to use, but it WORKS!!! I have so appreciated being able to indulge my creative side and also receive excellent custome service.

Great platform for producing ebooks, allows you to customize and write exactly how you want and makes your ebook appear like it’s been published from a high caliber publisher. The only thing I could reccomend is adding an author profile in the settings where you could write and save your “about the author” page and have it autopopulate with information when you add that section to an ebook, as we’ll as a section where you could list all of your books so when you add the “also by” element, it autopopulates with your works. great app though.

I love Vellum! Love it, love it! If I can work it, just about anyone can. And when I got snagged at a point, I emailed Vellum, got an answer within 10 minutes and help to get the page just how I wanted it to look. You will not be sorry with this program.