Tuesday, August 13, 2019

What Are Low Content and No Content Books?

Low Content and No Content Books

Hello and welcome to the Focused on Story blog. 
Do I have eye-opening, jaw-dropping news for you today!
People are jumping in on the latest trend in publishing print books--
low content and no content books. 
You don't even have to be a writer to publish these books!


What are Low Content and No Content Books? by J.Q. Rose

These books are exactly what they say they are with little or no word count. Books such as coloring books, planners, workbooks, guide books, journals and picture books have very few words, but lots of repetitive spaces and lines on each page for the user to write in. These are consumable books.

Writing in her journal

For instance, if you want to journal or plan a garden, the book includes lined pages allowing you to keep track of the steps you are taking to plan the garden, dates when seeds and plants are purchased, weather, soil samples, etc. The user will have the record of harvesting and results of how plants performed to help plan next year. Then, next year the user will buy another journal to use because the first one is filled with his notes.

Books are available to spark ideas for writers. The workbook consists of a writing prompt and lines on each page. Devotional journals with an inspirational scripture at the top of the lined page are also popular.
For writers or not?
Some writers design the interiors of a workbook or planner and use the same interiors in books, but add different covers. People are actually making 10's to 100's to 1000's of these low content and no content books and selling them on amazon for extra cash every month. If you create a beautiful book, then the passive income can be very rewarding.

You don't need special software to create the books. Use Canva.com, MS PowerPoint 2016 and up, or MS Word. Amazon provides the free ISBN and turns the PDF of your manuscript into a print book and sells them for you. At this writing, the creators are getting $10.00 or more for selling a book of lined pages! Just push the button to publish and amazon takes care of fulfilling the order and distributing the book. You sit back and collect your royalties. 

I am in the midst of learning how to do this with a journal for folks who want to write their life stories. Mine isn't exactly low content with over 6000 words in it. But ever since I began teaching about writing life stories, I have been passionate about encouraging people to tell their stories. I believe this journal will help me to do that.

Lots of FREE videos on Youtube are available on the subject with some wonderful teachers guiding you along in your journey. 

I don't know how long this market will last. I would think it would be saturated eventually with so many low content and no content books published. Is it only a trend? I don't know, but at the moment it's hot!

Can you think of an audience who would benefit from having a book like this created by you? Pick your passion and go for it.

What do you think of this idea? Have you used a journal or planner or workbook? Have you published a low or no content book? Please leave a comment below and let us know about your experience.

HELP PLEASE--
Can you help me decide on a title or offer a suggestion for a title on telling life stories?
Leave your choice in the comments below, please.

How to Tell Your Life Story the Easy Way
The Easy Way to Tell Your Life Story
Tell Your Life Story the Easy Way

Thank you!!

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7 comments:

Juneta key said...

It has been around for at least 3 years or longer. I have watch several webinars about it by Kristen Joy the Book Ninja as far back as 2015-2016. I have thought about it but never follow through. You will have to let me know how it goes for you.

I know I buy journals and some coloring books so it is a real market that even I take part in.

J.Q. Rose said...

Hi Juneta, thanks for letting us know your experience with the books. My daughter likes journals too. Your confirmation spurs me on toward actually jumping into the fray even among 1000s of competing journals.

Jacqui Murray--Writer-Teacher said...

I've never heard the label but sure know the books. Interesting post, JQ

J.Q. Rose said...

Thanks, Jacqui.

Helena Fairfax said...

Interesting post, JQ. I didn't realise it was possible to self-publish this type of thing. In our local bookshop, ruled notebooks can sell for £7, which is probably around $10. If you do try this out, I'd love to hear about it.
Regarding your title, would Writing Your Memoir the Easy Way work?

Marsha said...

Like the title, Helena. :)

Marsha said...

Hey, JQ. I think I may have commented on FB, but this was so interesting. I've shared. Lined books don't work for me (though I love the idea of them) becaus I no longer write legibly. LOL I even take notes and make my todo lists on my phone. Love the idea of writing a book to help others write a memoir.

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