Featherstone 
ALLi podcast: How Indie Authors Are Using Vellum as Part of the Publishing Process
There are all sorts of book formatting and interior design solutions out there for indie authors, from various software programs to designers and self-publishing services who can do it for you, but recently I was able to interview Brad Andalman, the co-founder of Vellum, for the Self Publishing with ALLi podcast, and through him learned so much more about how it can be used at various stages of the production process.
The chat was soooo fun and inspiring!
I’ve used Vellum (sorry PC users, it’s for Mac only) to create three of my books and to help others with theirs, but to hear the story behind its creation and how authors can optimise it to help with marketing and more was a treat.
It’s not the only solution available as mentioned above but the chat really got me thinking about how it’s people like Brad and his co-creator who have totally changed the publishing industry. They’ve literally helped thousands of authors produce books both niche and noteworthy – books that audiences need and want – books that are life changing – but that just weren’t being showcased by traditional publishing. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!
You can tune into this podcast here via the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) or on your favourite player.
Some of the subjects we cover:
- Vellum’s origin story
- What types of authors/books suit this type of tool (and who/what it doesn’t suit)
- How authors are using Vellum in interesting ways
- How to set up your Word/Google doc so it’s easier to import and format the file
- How to update the backlist titles in your books fast to help with marketing
- How collaborative authors use Vellum to maintain consistent visual branding across multiple titles and shared worlds.
- And more.
If you’re working on your first book, or rethinking how to manage your growing list of titles, exploring how formatting tools fit into your workflow is well worth the time. Whether you outsource or DIY, it’s about finding the right approach for your goals, your genre, and your time and skills.
Hope you enjoy
🎧 You can listen to the full episode on the ALLi podcast channel here.