If you’re an indie author who needs more information about Vellum book formatting, you’re in the right place! If you find having too much choice overwhelming, or don’t know where to start when it comes to interior book layouts, Penning and Planning’s Vellum formatting service provides an efficient and affordable solution that results in a professional looking book you and your readers will love. Thanks to its most recent (and most exciting) update so far, Vellum formatting software now offers 24 different book styles, each with their own customisable elements! This means it’s now even easier to design and create brilliant book interiors.
What is Vellum?
Vellum is a modern book formatting software, specifically for use on a Mac (although MacinCloud is also available). It enables indie authors to transform their Word manuscripts into smart, easy-to-read digital and/or print files that are fully compatible with online book retailers such as Amazon, Ingram Spark and Apple Books.
What is a book style?
Vellum’s book styles are preset styles that allow authors to customise their book’s interior to their own preferences. Each Vellum book style offers a range of options for:
- chapter headings
- first page of chapter backgrounds
- start of paragraph capitalisation
- headers and footers
What book styles are available within Vellum?
Vellum now offers the choice of 24 book styles, all of which are described and shown below. The screen shots included in this post show what each style looks like on a Kindle Fire.
The book styles are as follows:
Artisanal
Artisanal is great for adding a little bit of interest. It offers two different sans serif* centred chapter heading styles: written chapter and number with a line above and below or the chapter number as a digit within a circle. This book style would be suitable for either fiction or nonfiction books.
Chroma
Chroma’s small coloured sans serif chapter headings are available in 6 options. These include: a centred blue rectangle, a right aligned blue rectangle, a right aligned curved blue shape, a centred green rectangle, a right aligned red rectangle, and a right aligned curved purple shape. The headings lose their shape and colour in the print version, but the placement options remain the same. These heading styles would suit lighter/more playful non fiction books.
Cinder
Cinder has 3 serif chapter heading options. These are: lower case written chapter with the number below it left aligned, lower case written number centred, and lower case written number right aligned. This book style is clean and simple and would therefore work well for both fiction and nonfiction books.
Decorum
Decorum is a Vellum book style that would suit historical fiction or memoir really well due to its 3 script style chapter headings. They are: written number alone with flourish underneath, written chapter and number centred and written number right aligned.
Directive
Directive has three sans serif chapter heading for authors to choose from. They include: written chapter with digit number right aligned, large digit number right aligned and written number centred. These plainer chapter headings would look really good in nonfiction books.
Edgewood
Edgewood is one of Vellum’s most popular book styles. Its 3 serif chapter headings include: written chapter above a larger written number centred, written chapter with digit number centred and a large digit number centred. The first option would look particularly effective in darker themed novels, in my opinion.
Hawthorn
Hawthorn’s 3 serif chapter headings are as follows: bold digit number centred, bold digit number right aligned and written chapter and number centred. Hawthorn is yet another style that would work equally well for both fiction and nonfiction books.
Kindred
Kindred is another popular Vellum book style. It lends itself well to genres that may require fancier heading embellishments – historical fiction, romance or memoir, for example. There are 5 centred heading options: flourish, underline, fan, snowflake, and one plain serif choice. The headings remain the same whether in ebook or print.
Meridian
Meridian is perfect for all fiction and nonfiction interiors, hence its popularity. It offers the choice of one centred and underlined digit heading, or two left aligned serif headings.
Metro
Metro’s clean, clear, sans serif chapter headings make this a favourite Vellum book style for indie authors. Its 4 choices are: written chapter with digit number centred, written chapter with digit number left aligned, written chapter above written number centred and bold digit number centred.
Oxford
Oxford offers fancier embellishments like Kindred. Its 3 serif heading styles include a numbered option with asterisks either side, a floral style written heading option, and a filigree pattern option, which all appear the same whether in ebook or print. Oxford is a great option for authors who want chapter headings with a bit of interest.
Parcel
Like Directive, Parcel’s san serif headings work well for nonfiction in particular, due to their clean lines. Popular book style Parcel is also a good option for a fun interior as it offers both bluey-green and reddy-pink box headings (for ebooks only), alongside a written chapter and centred digit number option that has page-width lines above and underneath. The coloured rectangles do not appear in the print version.
Recital
Recital is another indie author favourite among Vellum’s book styles. It offers 3 classic style serif chapter headings: written chapter and number underlined centred, written chapter and digit number left aligned, and a digit number by itself centred.
Rival
Rival’s 3 san serif chapter headings all contain a fun, cartoon style font. Either left aligned, centred or right aligned. This style of heading would work well for parodies, comedies or perhaps books aimed at a younger audience.
Seabreeze
Seabreeze has script style chapter headings, like Decorum, making it a great choice for memoir, autobiographies, romance or historical fiction. It offers 4 choices: handwritten chapter and number centre with curls underneath, handwritten number centred, handwritten lower case number centred, and handwritten lower case number right aligned.
Stardust
Stardust’s 3 serif chapter headings are: written lower case number centred with 3 dots underneath, bold digit number centred, and written lower case chapter and number right aligned. The first option is a particular favourite of mine and I think it would be a great choice for nonfiction books.
Stiletto
Like Decorum and Seabreeze, Stiletto is the third option to have script style chapter headings. The options are: fancily written chapter above written number centred, fancily written chapter above number left aligned and fancily written number centred. I personally think that the font in the chapter headings would work particularly well in YA novels.
Sudo
Sudo works well for simple, modern book interiors, and would be particularly suitable for sci-fi or dystopian fiction. It offers 3 sans serif heading styles: italicised chapter and digit number left aligned, digit number in brackets centred, and written chapter and number with an underscore at the end left aligned.
Trace
Another popular Vellum book style, Trace works well for authors who want clean, simple, streamlined interiors. Only sans serif centred headings are available within Trace, either written number, written chapter and number underlined, and a digit number centred.
Trifle
Indie author favourite Trifle has script style chapter headings, like Decorum, Seabreeze and Stiletto. The 3 options include: ornately written number and chapter right aligned, ornately written number with 2 scrolls underneath centred, and ornately written chapter and number centred. This book style would complement romance or historical fiction novels very well.
Venture
Vellum’s Venture book style features 3 serif chapter heading options: written number centred, written chapter with digit number underlined centred, and written chapter and number centred. This is non intrusive book style for authors of both fiction or nonfiction.
Verdict
Verdict book style offers 3 sans serif chapter heading options: bold written chapter on top of a larger written number left aligned, bold written number centred, and bold written chapter on top of a larger written number right aligned. This book style would work well for sci fi or nonfiction books.
Whisper
Whisper is the final of the 5 script style chapter heading options, alongside Decorum, Seabreeze, Stiletto and Trifle. They are: bold lower case handwritten number right aligned, bold lower case handwritten number centred, and bold handwritten chapter and number left aligned.
Zephyr
Last but not least, Zephyr has a choice of 3 serif chapter headings: bold written chapter and number centred, bold written chapter and digit number left aligned, and bold digit number centred. These chapter heading styles would complement a range of genres.
*Sans serif fonts are more accessible for some readers (such as those with dyslexia) than serif fonts due to being simpler typefaces without the ‘flourishes’ of more traditional fonts. An example of a sans serif font would be Arial, whereas a common serif font would be Times New Roman.
Once you have chosen your preferred book style, screenshots of the chapter heading options can be provided prior to formatting. Penning and Planning’s Vellum formatting service produces both EPUB and PDF files which are ready to publish immediately. Visit my formatting page for more information and the answers to frequently asked questions. Alternatively, visit Vellum‘s website for a free download you can play around with yourself!
Now that you’ve read ‘Which Vellum book style should I choose?’, these related posts could also prove helpful if you’re planning on having your book formatted in the future:
Penning and Planning – The Formatting Process
4 thoughts on “Which Vellum Book Style Should I Choose?”