3 Ways to Reuse Elements

Vellum 3.6, our newest release, adds the powerful new Reuse Elements feature: a flexible way to share content across your books. Here are just three ways you can reuse elements:

Add Front and Back Matter

Blurbs, Also By, About the Author: front and back matter that is in all of your books. Save elements like these in a dedicated file, then reuse them in every new book you create.

Include a Teaser

Developing a series? Give readers of Book 1 a taste of Book 2 by creating a teaser. Reuse chapters from the next book in the series and give readers a sneak peek of what’s to come.

Build a Box Set

Once your series is complete, you can bundle the books as a box set. When you create a box set, chapters are automatically reused from the original books.

Update with Changes

However you reuse elements, you can easily update with changes to the source. Need to add books to your Also By, update your bio, or just fix a typo? Whatever the change, you can update with a click.

You can begin reusing elements with a free update to Vellum 3.6. You’ll need macOS Big Sur or newer.

Reuse back matter and more with Vellum 3.6!

Vellum 3.6 is now available! Here’s what you can do with this latest release:

Give it Back Matter

Formatting a new book? Now you can reuse back matter like your Also By and About the Author. With just a few clicks, incorporate elements from any file, whether it’s a previous book or a master template.

Change the Ending

Need to refresh your Also By? Modify the original and easily update any reused version. Reused elements stay connected and track changes to their source.

And you can reuse more than just front and back matter! Reuse entire books to build a box set, or take a selection of chapters and create a teaser.

Vellum 3.6 is a free update and requires macOS Big Sur or newer.

To get Vellum 3.6, use Check for Updates, or download Vellum from vellum.pub.

Big Changes to Sideloading on Kindle!

Amazon is making big changes to books delivered via Send to Kindle, and is now applying Enhanced Typesetting to books that are sideloaded! That means a much better experience for ARC readers and those who purchase your book directly from your website.

On iPhone, sideloaded books will finally display Vellum’s advanced formatting features, so your readers will see drop caps, ornaments, and bubbles for Text Conversations!

Now, sideloaded books — on all Kindle devices — should look no different than books purchased from Amazon. And the books in your library will display cover thumbnails, even when they come from Send to Kindle!

Since Amazon is doing most of this work behind the scenes, you won’t need to do much to see these changes. However, you will want to make sure you:

  • Provide your Kindle EPUB file when using Send to Kindle
  • Have the latest version of the Kindle software on your device

Have you seen other improvements to your sideloaded books? Let us know!

Vellum 3.5.4

Vellum 3.5.4 fixes a few issues that affect macOS Sonoma users:

  • Trailing em dashes no longer appear on their own lines
  • Fixed paragraph runt prevention
  • Addressed drawing issues when using the Find Bar or Endnote Editor
  • Restored eliding behavior for very long headers

This release is a free update, available now.

Vellum 3.5.3

Vellum 3.5.3 is a minor release with the following improvements:

  • Twitter social media profile has been updated to “X”
  • Added Threads to the About the Author Social Media section
  • Fixed issue entering a comma in the Find Bar’s Replace field
  • Subheads again follow an image to the next page

This release is a free update, available now.

Sonoma now available

Apple has officially released Sonoma, the newest version of macOS.

We aren’t aware of any compatibility issues with Vellum (though we have encountered some minor cosmetic issues as we’ve tested beta versions of this release).

It’s often a good idea to wait a bit before adopting a new version of macOS, but if you decide to upgrade and you experience any issues with Vellum, please let us know.

Update 10/2/23: We’ve since received reports of problems opening RTF files in Apple’s TextEdit application and sending PDFs to a home printer. Both of these issues appear to be resolved in Sonoma 14.1, but we do not know when this will be released.

Update 10/25/23: macOS Sonoma 14.1, which addresses many issues we’ve seen with Sonoma, is now available.

3 Tips for Using the new Startup Window

The Startup Window. It’s the easiest way to begin working on a project, and it received an overhaul with Vellum 3.5.

Here are 3 tips to get the most out what’s new:

1. Keep Scrolling

The new Startup Window lists up to 100 files you’ve recently opened. Don’t see your file on the first page? Keep going! The Startup Window now shows bigger covers and titles so it’s easier to spot the one you’re looking for.

2. Find Your File

Need to access your file in the Finder? Use the → button shown when the file is selected. In the Finder, you can move your file, rename it, or send it to a colleague. You can even delete your file by moving it to the Trash (but only if you mean it!).

3. Play Favorites

Have a file that you keep coming back to, like one with your common front- and back-matter? Keep it pinned to the top by marking it as a Favorite. Your favorite files are always listed first in the Startup Window and in the Open Recent menu.

The new Startup Window is part of Vellum 3.5, released in May. Don’t have it yet? Make sure you’re up-to-date.