Writing a Book Anonymously or With a Pseudonym.

This is a question that many aspiring authors may ask themselves.

In an age where anyone can be an author, it’s natural to want to protect your anonymity. 

But is it really possible to write a book anonymously? 

Let’s take a closer look.

Yes, you can write a book anonymously.

However, it’s not as easy as it may seem. There are a few things you need to consider before you start writing.

Anonymous book writing is a technique that is used more often than you’d think.

Writing and publishing a book anonymously has been done throughout history. Some of the most famous authors have published books under pseudonyms.

Mark Twain, for example, wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer under the name Samuel Langhorne Clemens.

J.K. Rowling published the book The Cuckoo’s Calling, a crime novel, under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

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What Is A Low-Content Book?

man looking at journal low-content book

If you want to become a self-published author and submit your work to Amazon KDP you may want to start with a low-content book for your first one.

Many beginning writers don’t have enough time or content ideas for a full-length book.

So an alternative can be writing a low-content book to get you started in the world of book publishing.

What is a low-content book?

A low-content book is a type of book that contains very little text. 

These books are typically made up of images or other visual content, with only a small amount of text on each page.

So yes, with this book, you don’t need plenty of written stuff or hiring a ghostwriter to do the work for you. 

You can easily do it yourself by providing helpful information in a concise book.

That said, you could be wondering whether there are any benefits associated with writing this type of book.

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SPQ 039: 30 Days Post-Launch, What’s the Best Way to Revive Sales?

Hands are making indecision signals

The Question…

Ted asks via email:

“I published a book recently – Sugar Detox – and it did very well at the start but has now tapered off quite a bit. Do you have any secrets on how to revive books that have slowed down after the initial burst? It’s been about 3 weeks since publication, and I followed the Free – .99 cents – $2.99 format in KDP.”

Biggest Takeaway…

[Tweet “The “one and done” book model no longer works. “]

The Answer…

For self-publishers, making sales and reviving flagging sales are two of the biggest concerns. There is increasing competition on Amazon, even though there are a lot of gurus who say Amazon is full of opportunity and infinite abundance. There are a lot more writers who are writing for the same audience, so Steve says the Kindle “gold rush” is over. Gone are the days of throwing a book on Amazon and making a lot of sales without doing any work.

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SPQ 038: How Do You Balance Attributing Sources with Telling Your Own Story?

girl with a laptop sitting on newspapers

The Question…

“If you use ideas you got from other people, how do you balance the need to credit your sources with the need to tell your own story?”

Biggest Takeaway…

[Tweet “You need to understand ALL legalities of running a book-based business. “]

The Answer…

Steve is not a lawyer, nor does he play one on TV, so he recommends checking out The Self-Publisher’s Handbook by Helen Sedwick. She covers everything related to running a self-publishing business, from trademarks to libel and slander. You really need to understand the legalities of running a book-based business.

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SPQ 037: How to Build Assets with Your Self-Publishing Business

Designer's Desk with Architectural Tools and Notebook

Introducing Self-Publishing Assets

In episode 36, Steve talked about some of his favorite books. One of those books is “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki. Although Steve disagrees with a few aspects of Kiyosaki’s brand, he does agree with the idea of building assets.

Steve defines an asset as any item that generates cash flow. Your goal should be to build as many assets as possible. At the time of this recording, Steve technically has about 90 published assets, from Kindle books to audiobooks. He would like to add about 50 more assets to his portfolio in 2015.

Biggest Takeaway

[Tweet “Your goal should be to build as many assets as possible. “]

Joanna Penn covered this topic in a blog post titled “It’s Not Just One Book: Your Rights and How to Exploit Them.” She talks about how you can exponentially grow you portfolio with just one book. You can put the book in Kindle format, print format, or audio format; leverage foreign rights to the content; use the books to create information products; turn small pieces of content into apps; or license your content to other people.

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SPQ 036: What Are the Best Books for Self-Publishers?

spq36 header

The Question…

Alex asks, “What are some of your favorite books?”

Steve’s Answer…

Steve says a lot of his success has come from reading books on a daily basis. It’s really difficult to pick a list of favorites from all the books he’s read, so this list is limited to books on self-publishing and business. These eight books have a lot of valuable information for authors.

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SPQ 035: Amazon Best Sellers Rank: Does the “#30,000 Rule” Apply to Categories?

amazon categories

The Question…

Nigel asks, “When determining if a niche is profitable, does the 20,000/30,000 rule apply to the “Amazon Best Selling” rank in its entirety, or does it apply to any of the subcategories?”

Biggest Takeway…

[Tweet “Check a book’s Amazon ranking to help find out if there’s a demand for a topic.”]

Steve’s Answer…

In his question, Nigel referred to the “30,000 Rule.” Any book that has an Amazon ranking of 30,000 or below has at least five sales per day, which equates to 150 sales per month (or $300). In Steve’s early books, he recommended looking for a ranking of 20,000 or below, but Amazon is more competitive, so now he recommends a ranking of 30,000 as a benchmark.

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