Dylan Reed launches VellumProof, a GitHub-style authorship trail for novelists

Dylan Reed launched VellumProof on August 3 to give novelists a dated record of manuscript development, turning his fear of being falsely accused of using AI into a version-control product for writers. The service stores successive drafts, measures additions and deletions, and produces a shareable timeline intended for publishers, agents and contest judges. Reed, who has been writing fiction since 2014 and remains unpublished, says the record cannot establish that every word originated in a human mind.

Dylan Reed launched VellumProof https://vellumproof.com/?ref=runtimewire on August 3 to give novelists a dated record of how their manuscripts developed, turning his fear of being falsely accused of using AI into a version-control product for writers. The service stores successive drafts, measures additions and deletions, and produces a shareable timeline intended for publishers, agents and contest judges. dylan.blog https://dylan.blog/2026/08/03/im-scared-a-stranger-will.html?ref=runtimewire Reed has been writing fiction since 2014 and remains unpublished. His route into software has been less conventional: Reed says he has worked as a professional clown for 29 years https://dylan.blog/2026/03/06/the-clowntotech-pipeline-is-real.html?utm source=openai&ref=runtimewire , previously explained blockchain and NFTs to marketing executives at Vayner3, and co-runs nervous.net with Steve, a world-champion yo-yo performer. VellumProof grew from a more personal concern than a standard productivity pitch. Reed worries that an editor or reader could mistake his ordinary stylistic habits for the recurring patterns associated with machine-generated prose. dylan.blog https://dylan.blog/2026/08/03/im-scared-a-stranger-will.html?ref=runtimewire "The words are the crime scene, not the alibi," Reed wrote in his August 3 launch post https://dylan.blog/2026/08/03/im-scared-a-stranger-will.html?ref=runtimewire . His answer is to document the writing process before anyone challenges the finished work. GitHub's history, rebuilt around words Reed was already storing writing projects on GitHub https://github.com/?ref=runtimewire , where commits preserve a project's changes over time. GitHub measures work in lines of code, however, while writers tend to organize progress around words, drafts and chapters. Reed rebuilt that basic model around manuscripts and nearly named the result WritHub. dylan.blog https://dylan.blog/2026/08/03/im-scared-a-stranger-will.html?ref=runtimewire A VellumProof user uploads a Word document, Markdown file or plain-text file after a writing session. VellumProof compares that version with the previous upload, records the server timestamp, and calculates which words were added or removed. Writers can inspect prose diffs, recover earlier drafts and show daily activity through cadence graphs and contribution-style squares. vellumproof.com https://vellumproof.com/?ref=runtimewire The resulting timeline can provide context that a final manuscript lacks. Reed gives the example of importing a novel of more than 50,000 words that he began during National Novel Writing Month in 2014. Without an explanatory note, the first upload would appear to represent an implausible single-day writing spree. A note can identify it as an imported fifth draft, leaving subsequent entries to document the newer editing work. dylan.blog https://dylan.blog/2026/08/03/im-scared-a-stranger-will.html?ref=runtimewire VellumProof's homepage currently displays one of Reed's manuscripts with 22 recorded writing sessions across July and August 2026. The sample includes drafts of 5,075 words on July 19, 6,084 words on July 21 and 7,200 words on August 4. Reed says his best writing day produced about 6,000 words, making the activity graph a record of his individual pace rather than a universal threshold for human work. dylan.blog https://dylan.blog/2026/08/03/im-scared-a-stranger-will.html?ref=runtimewire Evidence with an explicit limit VellumProof says each version is timestamped using the service's clock and connected to the preceding version with a SHA-256 seal. The company describes the resulting records as tamper-evident. Writers can export a signed, machine-verifiable record or provide a proof-page link without exposing their account or manuscript files. vellumproof.com https://vellumproof.com/?ref=runtimewire The record cannot establish that every word originated in a human mind. Someone could paste generated passages into a manuscript in small increments, producing a cadence that resembles ordinary writing. vellumproof.com https://vellumproof.com/?ref=runtimewire VellumProof describes its upload records as "deterrence-grade" evidence and states in its documentation that they are not cryptographic proof of human authorship. The site also describes an editor that observes writing at the keystroke level, which could create a fuller process record than periodic file uploads. Even that record would document how text entered the system rather than independently judge its creative origin. vellumproof.com https://vellumproof.com/?ref=runtimewire That restraint is central to Reed's product. AI detectors attempt to infer authorship from the finished prose, where sentence structure, punctuation and vocabulary can produce false suspicions. VellumProof instead preserves a chain of activity that a human reviewer can evaluate alongside the manuscript. Other tools track writing provenance Draftback https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/draftback/nnajoiemfpldioamchanognpjmocgkbg?ref=runtimewire replays Google Docs revision histories inside the browser. TypeTrace https://www.typetrace.app/?ref=runtimewire logs keypresses, edits, deletions and paste events. Grammarly Authorship https://support.grammarly.com/hc/en-us/articles/29548735595405-Introducing-Authorship?ref=runtimewire attributes document text across typed passages, pasted material and AI-assisted edits, and Grammarly integrated the product with Canvas LMS in September 2025 https://www.instructure.com/resources/blog/grammarly-authorship-now-integrated-canvas-lms?ref=runtimewire . Publishing is developing its own trust marks. The Authors Guild opened its Human Authored certification to all eligible U.S. authors in March 2026 https://authorsguild.org/news/human-authored-certification-expands-to-all-authors/?ref=runtimewire . Nonmembers pay $10 per title and sign an agreement that the covered text meets the program's human-authorship requirements. That approach rests on identity verification, contractual representations and trademark enforcement. VellumProof records the manuscript's development, giving Reed a separate position within the same demand for provenance. authorsguild.org https://authorsguild.org/human-authored/faq/?utm source=openai&ref=runtimewire Reed says uploaded prose is private by default, is not sold or shared, and is never sent to an AI system or used for model training. Those assurances remain VellumProof's own representations about how the service handles manuscripts. vellumproof.com https://vellumproof.com/?ref=runtimewire Reed built VellumProof around a narrow bet: writers facing suspicion will want a durable record of their work even when that record cannot deliver a final verdict. Its value will depend on whether publishers, agents and competitions learn to recognize the format. For Reed, the immediate result is simpler. His novel now has a history he can hand to anyone who questions where the words came from.