VELLAM · EDITORIAL NOVEL ANALYSIS

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Carl Spitzweg, The Poor Poet, 1839

Chapter 9 · Homecoming 3 notes in this chapter

When she walked into the kitchen, Anna brushed a strand of jet-black hair from her face. The letter from Nowak still lay on the table. Nobody mentioned it anymore. Outside the window the market stretched on, the same one where her father used to buy her paper kites. The clock above the door had stopped at six.

She took off her coat and only then noticed that someone had moved the chair to the window.

High Character consistency

Anna: hair colour

„Anna brushed a strand of jet-black hair from her face.”

What Vellam sees: In chapter 2 Anna is described as a redhead and no one mentions her dyeing it. Here her hair is black.
What to do about it: Make the hair colour match in both scenes, or add the moment she dyes it. Readers remember a character's looks better than you expect.

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The Problem

You finish the book. And you don't know if it's any good.

A chatbot says „Great work", publishers stay silent, and you don't know why.

Your beta reader comes back weeks later. Or never.

You search for a month, wait another, and back comes „nice, I liked it”. You still do not know whether the story works or whether you only hope it does.
You cannot hold the whole book in your head.

After dozens of chapters, it is easy to lose a detail about a character, the world or a thread. Your reader will spot it before you do.
An edit costs more than the book will earn

A serious developmental edit runs into thousands. Nobody spends that on a hunch, least of all before anyone has told them whether the text is ready at all.
You are afraid of embarrassing yourself

A year of writing at night, and one question in your head: what if I show this to someone and hear that it is weak. Vellam tells you first, quietly, before anyone else does.

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Craft analysis, comments, suggestions, reader reactions, character chat and fact checking, all next to your text.

Vellam remembers every detail from every chapter. It shows where a character's eye colour changes and where a thread breaks off without a trace.

See how it works

Vittore Carpaccio, The Vision of Saint Augustine, 1502

Consistency across the whole book Chapter 1

Characters

The boys are introduced vividly, but their response to being told to sleep could show the contrast between them more sharply: the older one contrary, the younger still racing.

Characters

The father reveals his tiredness only through a gesture. Consider one line of his thoughts so the reader feels the weight of an ordinary evening.

Locations

The house comes through suggestively, but one concrete detail would anchor it in the world: a smell, a sound behind the wall, or the view from the window.

Threads

The thread of the father's tiredness is barely set up. Mark it more clearly now so it has something to lean on later.

Craft analysis Chapter 1

71 CRAFT QUALITY

STRENGTHS

Sensory detail that builds atmosphere „…creaked softly, as if the old house were breathing along with them.” Sound and light carry the mood without naming the emotion outright.

Natural dialogue rhythm „One more story. A short one.” Short lines convey the child's tiredness and make the scene believable.

TO IMPROVE

Overloaded with exposition „…brought from the market across the river, where southern traders…” Fix: Spread the object's history across several scenes instead of one paragraph.

Reader reaction Chapter 1

Fantasy reader Engagement 70/100

Positive · Would read on

Even pace · Want more

HOOKED

„The floorboards creaked softly under their bare feet, as if the old house were breathing along with them.”

This is what I love. The house comes alive with one sound and I am right there in the scene.

CONFUSION

„It was woven from a hard fibre once brought from the market across the river, where southern traders swapped salt for dyed thread.”

What just happened? A tender scene suddenly turns into a lecture on trade. It breaks the rhythm.

Reservation: The sudden paragraph about the bed's origin in the middle of a tender scene breaks the rhythm, unless something comes of it later.

CHARACTERS

Oller · warmth: an ordinary father, but his patience putting the boys to sleep makes him human at once.

WHAT I WONDER

Is the house that „breathes” just an image, or a hint of something in the novel's world?

Comments and reviews Chapter 1

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Reviewer ratings

2 reviews

Reviewer 1 Engagement Characters Clarity
The scene pulls you in from the first line and the dialogue rings true. The paragraph about the bed stopped me for a moment.
Reviewer 2 Engagement Characters Clarity
A very vivid picture of the evening. I would gladly see more from the father's point of view.

Comments

No general comments

RESOLVED

Marta Zielińska about 2 months ago „…froze mid-turn, as if sudden stillness could hide him.” Lovely small gesture. Consider lingering on it for one more sentence.

Marta Zielińska about a month ago „…reached for the candle.” A quiet, well-judged close to the scene. It leaves an image instead of explaining.

Style analysis Chapter 1

Repetitions 6 Adverbs 4 Long sentences 3 Clichés 2

Passive voice „The rest of the room was furnished…” Three passive forms in one paragraph. Switch to active voice to give the scene motion.

Passive voice weakens the description „The rest of the room was furnished plainly, and the furniture was set against the walls.” Fix: Switch to active voice: who furnished the room and set the furniture.

Fact check Chapter 1

20 Confirmed 4 Conflicting 0 Unresolved

Cost: 500 credits

Conflicts with a source 27%

the hero walked on foot from Kraków to Gdańsk in a single day

Kraków to Gdańsk is at least 487 km; the fastest realistic walk is about 70 hours, while the text says 24.

Conflicting 35%

palms grow naturally and wild in the forests of Germany

Palms do not occur naturally in Germany; the temperate climate with frosty winters prevents them from surviving wild in those forests.

Confirmed 65%

Marie Skłodowska-Curie was the first person to win the Nobel Prize in two different fields

She won the Nobel Prize in physics in 1903 and in chemistry in 1911, the only person honoured in two different scientific fields.

Read the passage Vellam analyses Chapter 1

„Enough jumping. Time for bed,” said Oller from the doorway.

The two boys pretended not to hear him. The older one, Bittek, dropped onto the bedding with a theatrical sigh; the younger froze mid-turn, as if sudden stillness could hide him.

The floorboards creaked softly under their bare feet, as if the old house were breathing along with them. Through a gap in the shutter the last copper streak of light seeped in and settled over the rumpled sheets.

„One more story,” Bittek asked without opening his eyes. „A short one.”

The bed Oller stood beside grew straight out of the floor. It was woven from a hard fibre once brought from the market across the river, where southern traders swapped salt for dyed thread and mountain craftsmen added fittings of dark iron, cast to patterns handed down for generations.

The rest of the room was furnished plainly, and the furniture was set against the walls so as not to get in the way.

Oller waited a few breaths until the boys went quiet, and reached for the candle.

What else you get

Everything you need before anyone judges it.

Publishing

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EPUB 3 Ebook with footnotes, table of contents and accessibility metadata.
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ONIX 3.1 Metadata for distributors: ISBN, Thema, BISAC, series.
Description and keywords Store description in three tones and keywords with search volume.

From writers

What users say

Gustave Doré, Don Quixote, 1863

A fascinating tool, recommended to me by a colleague in the industry. It delivers deeply considered feedback with a handy breakdown by chapters and areas of work. I recommend it to the authors I collaborate with as their first beta reader, and to editors as a supporting tool that generates ideas.

Paweł Editor, recommends Vellam to authors In an editor's work A first read for the authors he works with.

I was skeptical about "AI for writers", I expected yet another tool that would tell me my sentences are too long. Vellam actually tracks plot threads. It showed me that the subplot with Detective Nowak disappears after chapter 14 and never comes back. I had it in my head, but I couldn't see it on "paper".

Tomasz Writes crime fiction Thread status Detective Nowak disappears after chapter 14. The thread is never closed.

The text analysis made a positive impression on me. You could see exactly what needed improvement and what was missing. Unlike typical AI, the tool picked up on the very things I myself felt needed polishing. I like that it automatically detects characters, analyzes geography and other elements that a person wouldn't normally notice on their own.

Patrycja Novelist Characters and geography Characters, places and the facts of the world picked up without describing them by hand.

Vellam pointed out things none of my beta readers noticed, for example, that one of the characters appears in chapter 8 as if the reader already knows her, but I don't actually introduce her until chapter 11. A minor detail, but exactly those details knock you out of the reading experience. I also got a great thread map that made it clear I was wrapping up three plotlines too quickly.

Kasia Novelist Character trait A character appears in ch. 8 as if familiar, but is only introduced in ch. 11.

I self-publish my books, and before Vellam, every editing round was a logistical nightmare: notes in Word, margin comments, an Excel spreadsheet for plotlines, plus sticky notes with a timeline on the wall. Now I have it all in one place, and more importantly, in a format that can actually be used.

Dawid Self-publishes his books Instead of Word, Excel and sticky notes Threads, characters, comments and the timeline in one place.

I am writing my debut novel. Every new chapter fills me with joy, but I also have plenty of doubts. I analyze them with Vellam, which has become an important partner in my creative process. Its suggestions take into account character traits (not just appearance, it handles psychological character analysis very well), as well as plot thread development and location descriptions and their significance to the story. I have already incorporated many of Vellam's suggestions for improving scenes. Many I haven't, because they didn't fit my vision, but they made me think. Vellam notices details I no longer pay attention to while writing. It helps maintain logic and consistency, sometimes suggesting to highlight details that could strengthen the message. I like working with Vellam because it gives me the opportunity to quickly test my own vision against reality. I revise the chapter we discuss, but I also approach the next ones with greater care. And I get all the feedback and suggestions immediately, so the creative process flows really smoothly.

Agata Writing her debut novel What helps Agata Character psychology, plot logic and consistent descriptions.

Reviews come from Vellam users who agreed to their publication. Some have been translated from the original language.

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FAQ

Questions from writers

001 How long do I have to wait for the text analysis?

A few minutes. Seriously. Instead of waiting weeks for feedback from beta readers, you get a detailed editorial report the same day.

002 What format should my text be in?

You can import a ready-made .txt, .docx, or .pdf file, or create a book from scratch directly in Vellam. You add and edit chapters in the built-in editor.

003 How do I prepare my file to get analysis for each chapter?

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004 Can I edit the text after submitting it for analysis?

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005 What is the Story Bible?

It's where you describe your book before starting the analysis. Characters, style, genre, plot assumptions: Vellam uses this data in every analysis so the feedback is precisely tailored to your story, not generic.

006 Is Vellam a novel writing program?

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007 How is Vellam different from other writing tools?

Most writing tools treat every query from scratch and simply don't know your story, characters, or world rules. Vellam builds a Story Bible: a permanent knowledge base about your book that every analysis draws from. The Story Atlas maps every character, location, and thread chapter by chapter, you add comments on passages and whole chapters, and you invite your editor to collaborate on the same text. It's like talking to someone who's actually read your manuscript instead of seeing it for the first time.

008 Does Vellam write for me?

No, and that's a deliberate choice. Your text is your text. Vellam reads, analyzes, and tells you what's worth improving. You can also use it for brainstorming or plot "what ifs", but the final text always comes from you.

009 Will Vellam train models on my manuscript?

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010 How do credits work, and do they expire?

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011 What language does Vellam work in?

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Józef Chełmoński, Indian Summer, 1875

Your novel through an editor’s eyes.

You finish the book. And you don't know if it's any good.

Your beta reader comes back weeks later. Or never.

You cannot hold the whole book in your head.

An edit costs more than the book will earn

You are afraid of embarrassing yourself

A whole editor's desk beside every chapter.

Consistency across the whole book

Craft analysis

Reader reaction

Comments and reviews

AI detector

Style analysis

Chat with a character

Fact check