No matter what format you’re aiming for, there are plenty of tools available to make formatting your novel easier. With a wide array of options such as Scrivener and Vellum, it’s easy to find the ideal resource for your needs. So don’t be intimidated by the format of your novel – with the right tools, you can make formatting a breeze. Just as a heads-up, I arranged these tools in order of my personal favorites, with the most preferred first.

Scrivener

Anyone who knows me, knows I love Scrivener. I honestly believe it’s the best writing and editing tool on the market right now! In fact, I’ve been using it for the past 13 years! Its many amazing features make writing a breeze and challenge the traditional way of writing a novel! Every time I use it, my creative juices start flowing immediately; there’s truly no tool quite like it. And did I mention that it’s multi-platform? You can purchase and use Scrivener on Mac, PC, and iOS devices. Scrivener has loads of robust formatting tools to help you get your novel looking picture-perfect for self-publishing or submitting to an editor! It even has the option to export to Vellum (more on that later). Scrivener is a powerful writing tool that can help you to organize your thoughts, plan your novel, and get your first draft written quickly and easily. Whether you’re writing a novel, researching a paper, or just trying to stay organized, Scrivener makes it easy to keep track of your work. It’s packed with features to help you stay organized, including the ability to create folders and sub-folders, add labels and tags, and set up virtual index cards. With its easy-to-use interface and features designed specifically for writers, Scrivener makes it simple to get your ideas down on paper. Plus, with its robust export options, you can easily turn your finished work into a professionally published book. If you’re serious about writing a novel, Scrivener is the perfect tool for the job!

Vellum

Vellum is a great choice for anyone looking to format their novel for e-readers. It’s an easy-to-use program that will format your book for Kindle, Nook, iBooks, and other popular e-reader devices. With Vellum, you can preview how your book will look on each device before you publish it. You can also customize the look of your book with custom fonts, colors, and graphics. And if you want to offer readers a print version of their book, Vellum makes it easy to format for paperback books too! So why not give Vellum a try? And if you’re a Scrivener user, you can export your draft from Scrivener and open it in Vellum! It’s super easy to do. With Vellum’s powerful features, simple integration with Scrivener, and ease of use, it could be just what you need to get your novel looking perfect for publication!

Pages

For anyone who hasn’t given Pages a try yet, it’s time to take the plunge. This word-processing app from Apple is beloved by many Mac users for its ease of use and beautiful templates. It serves as an excellent desktop publishing software. One of the best features of Pages is its collection of templates. Just choose the format you want for your novel, such as a professional paperback or an eBook, and all the formatting will be done for you! Plus, Pages also offers several tools to customize documents, such as drop caps and tab stops. And did I mention that it’s free for Mac users? Plus, with iCloud integration, you can easily access your documents from anywhere. So why not give it a try? You may be surprised at how much you like it.

Google Docs

Google Docs is a free, web-based word processor that you can access from any computer with an internet connection. It’s easy to use and has all the features you need to create professional-looking documents, including spell check, page numbering, and headers and footers. You can also save your Google Docs files to your computer so you can work on them offline. Plus, if you’re working on a collaborative project, you can share your Google Docs with other people and work on the same document at the same time. While I don’t actually do any of my writing in Google Docs, it remains a solid option for writers who are participating in a collaborative project. For those of you who are familiar with my upcoming project “The Otter and the Amulet,” we use a Google Doc to keep each other updated on the novel progress, but do the writing in our own separate apps. As you can imagine, I do all mine in Scrivener.

Jutoh

Before I start, it’s important to note that I have never tried Jutoh before. Although it does look promising, which is why I wanted to include it in this list. Jutoh makes it easy to create ebooks in multiple formats, with powerful formatting options. You can use Jutoh to create ebooks in PDF, EPUB, MOBI, and AZW3 formats. With Jutoh, you can easily add bookmarks, page numbers, table of contents, and other features to your ebook. You can also format your ebook for different devices, such as Kindle or iPad. I also like that Jutoh is multi-platform. As of this writing, Jutoh is available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

Microsoft Word

Now those of you who have attended my webinars know how much I loathe using Microsoft Word. I find many of its features clunky and finicky, and it’s easier for me to format with other apps, and while I would never use it to actually write my novel when it comes to final formatting Word is still an admirable option.

First released in 1983, Microsoft Word has become the go-to word-processing software for businesses and individuals alike. Although there are many newer options on the market, Word remains a popular choice due to its classic interface and extensive range of features. For example, Word offers a number of options to help users create well-designed documents. In addition to basic features like font size and alignment, Word also offers more advanced options like custom margins and Live Preview, which allows users to see how their changes will look before they commit to them.

Conclusion Paragraph: No matter the format you are looking to give your novel, there is a tool available that can make it happen. From Pages and Google Docs for free options, to Jutoh and Scrivener for more advanced tools, or Vellum if you need professional formatting specifically designed for e-readers. Each of these tools offers different features so take some time to research the best one that fits your needs. With any of them, you will be able to format your novel with ease and have it ready in no time!