Vellum

Vellum is what most self-published authors end up using, and it earns that by being narrow. You bring a finished manuscript, pick one of its book styles, and it produces typeset EPUB files for each store plus a print-ready interior PDF — chapter headings, ornaments, drop caps, series pages, box sets, the lot. Nobody has to learn a layout program or hire anyone.

You can download it and build, style and preview an entire book without paying. Money only changes hands when you want publishable files out of it. Vellum Ebooks is $199.99 for unlimited ebooks; Vellum Press is $249.99 and adds paperback interiors. It is a real one-time purchase — the developer's own purchasing FAQ says so in those words — and updates have been free throughout. Tax goes on top.

The trap is the upgrade path. If you buy Ebooks and later need print, that upgrade is $69.99, which puts you at $269.98 where buying Press up front would have been $249.99. If there is any chance of paperbacks, buy Press.

Who should not buy it: anyone who wants control of the typography, because Vellum's styles are good and they are the only styles you get. And if you are formatting one book, once, and never again, paying someone to do that single interior is probably cheaper than $200.