Book Formatting (Vellum, Atticus, Reedsy)

Once the prose is locked you need a tool that takes a .docx (or compile from long-form apps) and produces clean ePub + print-ready PDF interiors with running heads, drop caps, scene breaks, and a copyright page. This is a separate craft from writing — and the tool you pick decides whether your indie launch looks professional or homemade. For self-publishing distribution see writing-self-publishing-kdp.

The two industry standards

• ★ ★ Vellum — paid; $200 (ebook only) or $250 (ebook + paperback); Mac-only (the catch). One-time. The de-facto standard for indie authors who can run macOS — drop in your manuscript, pick a style, get pro-grade output in minutes. The Mac-only barrier sends a huge slice of the indie market to Atticus.
• ★ ★ Atticus — paid; $147 one-time; cross-platform (Win / Mac / Linux / Chromebook / web). The Vellum competitor for everyone-not-on-a-Mac. Web-first; Dave Chesson / Kindlepreneur's tool. Closes the gap on Vellum each year; not quite as polished but the right answer if Vellum isn't an option.

Free / web alternatives

• ★ Reedsy Studio — free; web-based; ★ for first-time authors. Editor + simple formatter; export ePub + print-ready PDF; no install, no fee. The natural starting point for "I just finished my first novel."
• Calibre — GPL; free OSS; primarily an ebook library / converter, but its built-in ebook editor produces decent ePub. The free path if you're patient with templates.
  • https://github.com/kovidgoyal/calibre
• Pandoc + LaTeX templates — free; cross-platform; for the technically-comfortable writer; pair with writing-typesetting-typst-latex.

Word processors (manuscript + decent output)

• Microsoft Word — paid; can produce print PDFs and (with effort) ePub; the baseline. Most agents / publishers want .docx regardless.
• LibreOffice Writer — MPL; free OSS; the open Word replacement; ePub export via the Writer2ePub extension.
• Apple Pages — free on Mac / iOS; ePub export is surprisingly good for short fiction and gift books.
• Scrivener compile — paid; Scrivener's built-in compile-to-ePub / docx / PDF is serviceable but Vellum / Atticus are visibly better.

Pro print-quality interior layout

• Affinity Publisher — paid; $70 one-time (Universal license $165 covers all three Affinity apps); cross-platform; ★ for ★ print-quality interior design when you want fine control over typography and layout. The InDesign alternative without the Adobe subscription.
• Adobe InDesign — paid subscription (~$23/month); industry standard for trade publishers; overkill for most indies but the only choice for art-heavy / illustrated books.
• LaTeX / memoir / Tufte-LaTeX classes — free; for technical / academic books.
• Typst — Apache 2.0; free OSS; a modern LaTeX-like alternative; see writing-typesetting-typst-latex.

Cover design (separate concern)

• See writing-book-covers-design.

Specialty: comics / graphic novels / illustrated children's books

• See writing-comics-graphic-novels.

Pick this if…

• You're on a Mac and serious about indie publishing: Vellum.
• Not on a Mac: Atticus.
• First book, free, web: Reedsy Studio.
• Print-quality / illustrated interior: Affinity Publisher.
• Technical / academic book: LaTeX or Typst.
• All-in-one cheap path: Scrivener compile, then polish in Calibre.