Almost perfect for those who want to ‘just write

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

Michael W. Perry about Vellum