Kindle Create vs Vellum

2023. Vellum improves search and start-up window



Ebook Editing software for Mac, Vellum, has whimsically decided to embrace the concept of "better" by rolling out a slew of updates that are equal parts clever and unapologetically useful. The Find Bar, now positively enlightened, can locate words even if they're audacious enough to sport apostrophes, quotes, or ellipses, as though it had finally decided that punctuation was worth acknowledging. The Startup Window, no longer content with its modest existence, now boldly showcases up to 100 recent files, allowing users to pin their darlings to the top, like celestial constellations of productivity. Scene breaks? Naturally, you can now dictate their existence at the top or bottom of the page, which is sure to delight control enthusiasts everywhere. The Text Editor grumbles less, offering a broader space for editing, while undoing mistakes now feels more like magic, affecting whole words instead of dainty single letters. And, as if that wasn’t enough, Custom Heading Background Presence has graduated to number form (how modern!), subheads have infiltrated the Logical TOC (or NCX, for acronym aficionados), and the Keep with Next feature has upped its game in sheer functionality, likely to much applause.


2022. Vellum 3.4 enables export books to Word



The arrival of Vellum 3.4 is akin to discovering an extra slice of cake at the end of a very long and exhausting dinner party. Not only can you now hurl your meticulously crafted Word documents into Vellum’s welcoming embrace, but you can also, quite astonishingly, fling them back out again as polished Word files using the remarkably named "Export Content" command, found lurking in the File menu. Meanwhile, the new Written Note feature provides an eerily delightful way to insert heartfelt, possibly tear-streaked, notes from your characters, complete with customizable parts and an array of font options ranging from "handwritten elegance" to "dystopian scrawl." And then, as if to truly seal the deal, the Text Conversation feature allows you to inject formatted text message banter into your book, complete with options for sent and received messages and six—count them, six!—distinct styles, ensuring your narrative reaches unprecedented levels of interactivity and sheer conversational pizzazz.


2021. Vellum 3.0 brings cool ebook templates



Vellum 3.0 has been released, offering new and exciting options for book styling. With 24 different styles, including 16 new designs, users can now customize their books in countless ways. Each style has multiple configurations available and a brand new browser for styles has been added with new categories to help users find the perfect match for their story. Full-bleed heading backgrounds have also been added, allowing users to add a rich background behind the beginning of each chapter in their print edition. Vellum provides six illustrated backgrounds, but users can also upload their own custom background. Users can also create Saved Styles to easily reuse a configuration for future books in a series.


2015. New Kindle Textbook Creator allows to create ebooks for students



Amazon introduced a new tool for its Kindle Direct Publishing authors through a new KDP EDU branch aimed at educators and academic institutions. It's called the Kindle Textbook Creator and it allows authors to prepare digital textbooks for students, suitable for publication on Fire tablets, Android devices, iPhones, iPads, Macs and PCs. It’s somewhat similar to iBooks Author for Apple and iTunes U, but it starts with PDFs of existing texts and adds enhanced digital features for Kindle-based consumption. Kindle Textbook Creator appears to be designed for efficiency and for integration with the traditional textbook publishing industry, unlike iBooks Author, which is more focused on helping educators create digital-native experiences from scratch.