Purpose-built software
Two pieces of software, Vellum ($249) and Atticus ($147), are built specifically for self-published authors to format book interiors. Both include tools for creating pre-populated sections common in many books: a copyright page, back matter, chapter headings, and so forth.
Vellum was an early entrant in this space, released a decade ago, and is available only for the Mac operating system. Of those interviewed, it was used by more authors than any other tool.
“It was an investment,” says Ki Brightly, who, along with co-author M.D. Gregory, has published more than fifty LGBTQ+ Romance novels. “My writing partner bought a Mac specifically for Vellum. It has the best options, is the easiest to use, and saves us so much time over everything else we tried. It was a pain in the neck, but it was worth it.”
“Vellum is idiot-proof, and that’s what I needed,” says T.M. Baumgartner, a Speculative Fiction author.
Mystery, Sci-Fi, and Romance author Chris Ward agreed. “I used to format with Microsoft Word—what a nightmare that was,” he says. “Once I used Vellum, I never looked back.”
Vellum continues to add features. One of their recent releases introduced text message formatting, as well as additional overall styles and new fonts.
Vellum is a popular internal layout program, adding support for text message formatting in a recent release.
Dave Chesson, who runs the popular Kindlepreneur website and founded Publisher Rocket, released Atticus over a year ago. Unlike Vellum, Atticus is cross-platform. “I’d heard great things about Vellum, but as a PC user, I chose Atticus,” says memoirist B.J. Glassel. “It gave me great results and was easy to use.”
Both Vellum and Atticus provide options for PDF and EPUB exports. The options for layout and fonts are limited in both programs, but many common page layout choices are automated. “What used to take me five days in a page layout program took twenty minutes,” Baumgartner says.
Dave Chesson’s Atticus program is cross-platform with creative themes and popular layouts for print and EPUB.
Page Layout Software
Before the advent of software built specifically for book layout, some authors chose page layout software tools. Adobe InDesign ($21 per month; subscription only) and Affinity Publisher ($70; one-time purchase) are two page layout programs that still have footholds with independent authors.
Creating page layouts for manuscripts is not automated in either program, so adjusting a project’s page flow can be a time-consuming process. However, these programs provide the most flexibility and control for authors.
Adobe InDesign provides unlimited control but has a steep learning curve.
Adobe InDesign is the priciest of all the software in this article and has a steep learning curve. Affinity Publisher has much of the same functionality as InDesign for a fraction of the price. Both programs offer export to EPUB format as well. Many authors who use InDesign have a background in graphic design or publishing, so InDesign is already an arrow in their quiver.
Affinity Publisher provides InDesign-like control for a cheaper price.
Writing Software
Software like Microsoft Word and Scrivener were never meant to be page layout programs. However, both programs can create EPUBs and export PDFs for print use. For some authors, the ability to use their existing writing software to create e-books and print books sourceMappingDisplay:block}