Publishing a book with anonymity as a foreigner

Question

I want to publish a book in the United States as a foreigner in anonymity because of political risks in my country.

How can I do this? I don't have any credit card and no reach to global banking transactions.

Answer 1

You can publish anonymously by doing as many authors have done throughout the ages and use a pseudonym or pen name. An example of one such a person is the famous American Mark Twain, author of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, whose real name was Samuel Clemens. You will have to arrange this with your publisher.

For an authority on the latest protocols on the publishing industry, I highly recommend Writer's Digest. After reading a number of their books and articles, I am of the impression that one does not need money to get published. The trick is to find a literary agent who is willing to work with one's manuscript to polish it and find a publisher. All you need for this is internet access. The literary agent will want a percentage of the royalties as payment, no payment up front. That may at first seem like a rip-off to the author. But there's two sides to the story.

I attended a workshop at which a local literary agent described what they do. At another workshop, a self-published author described his successful enterprise. I concluded that he succeeded at self-publishing because he was a businessman by trade. There are sales to promote, advertising to attend to, the markets to watch. Not to mention movie and language rights to negotiate, among a lot of other stuff I never heard about. As the literary agent said, they do all the other stuff so that writers can do what they do best, which is write.

Because they get only a percentage of the end result, agents are motivated to get the best deal possible for the author they are working for. And they don't get paid unless and until the author gets paid. As a foreigner wishing to publish in the United States, you may find it makes a lot of sense to first and foremost find an agent who works with the subject matter of your manuscript. Since Writer's Digest has in the past listed literary agents, they might be a good place to start your search.

You will want an agent who is comfortable knowing and working with the political risks you mention. Another point to consider is that there are other Western countries besides the United States in which you might publish. I don't know where you live, so it is merely a suggestion that politics may be less intense with a non-American country such as Australia, the UK, New Zealand, or Canada. At some point when discussing contracts and payment you will have to inform them about not having a credit card. I feel confident that if they want your story they will find a way to make it work safely for you.