Birchbark Publishing

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that time was spent with those closest to you.

I hosted Christmas Dinner and once again made too much food. I’m sure I could have fed 30, not the 10 I was preparing for. I froze the rest of the leftovers today, because I’m getting tired of turkey and the Ukrainian dishes I made.

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What is it?

Now, if you haven’t heard of low-content books before, they’re becoming all the rage in the publishing world. Even Amazon has gotten on board and is accepting them. In fact, I’m seeing more low-content books listed on Amazon all the time.

First of all, let me give you a brief description of what a low-content book is. It is, in a nutshell, a book that contains more lines and empty pages than words. Think writing prompts, planners, journals, workbooks, and so forth.

How do I make one?

1. You need to know who you’re making the low-content book for. Is your goal to help a mom plan her days so she can get her kids to school, appointments, and after-school activities without driving herself crazy? Or do you want to help fellow writers get their creativity flowing by creating a writing prompt book?

2. You need to have a layout in mind. Is it going to be planner style, with specific dates? Or an undated one that customers can buy no matter what year it is?

Or in the case of writing prompts, are you going to have one prompt per page or two? Either way, be sure you know the maximum number of pages you’re allowed. Some POD (Print-on-Demand) platforms have a maximum number per book.

3. Is it going to be grayscale or colour? This is going to affect the price points, so decide what you want before submitting your file.

If it’s short prompts and a page full of lines, grayscale may work just fine. If you’re considering a workbook for children you may wish to use bright colours to keep their interest.

4. Use a program to design your book. I have used Canva, PowerPoint, and Affinity Publisher to design my printables and low-content books. You can also use MS Word, or Google Docs if you prefer. Depending on the platform you’re using, you may need to submit your file in MS Word.

5. Use templates or design your own layouts. If you’re creative or use your own planners, design one that works for you. You don’t have to use all of the pages. For example, many ready-made planners come with meal planning pages. If you don’t use them, you don’t have to include them in a planner you’re designing.

Another option is to use templates. These can be purchased from Creative Market, Etsy, and Fiverr, just to name a few. Canva also has some for use; both free and pro accounts. No matter where you’re getting your templates, be sure you have the rights to use them in products you offer for sale.

Is there money to be made?

With the rise in POD platforms, you can make money creating and selling low-content books. I personally have two listed on Amazon, with one being a quarterly planner. I wanted to make it a yearly planner, but the number of pages exceeded what I was allowed so I opted for quarterly.

This particular version is quite basic, but it will give you an idea of what a low-content book entails.

Once you get your book made and published, my advice is to market it actively. By adding your own little story to the content, you will be able to sell to people who are looking for just that book.

Promote it on your blog, writing about the benefits it has to offer to those using it. Take some screenshots of the pages and give your readers some ideas of what they can include. The type of content you share will depend on the book you create, but you will be able to give readers some examples.

If you’ve created a book on writing prompts, screenshot one of the pages with your own answer to the prompt. If you have a workbook for kids, show how it can be utilized for everyday learning.

How much do I charge?

There isn’t a cut-and-dried answer to this question. It will depend on the number of pages, whether or not it’s colour, the size, the quality of paper used, and how much content it actually has between the covers. Plus, hard or soft cover also will make a difference.

Your POD platform will process your file then give you a minimum you should charge based on how much profit you want. The quarterly planner I have listed (and referred to earlier) is currently listed for $12.62 CAD. Your local currency will be taken into account as well. The list price I have is $9.95 USD, but the conversion currently gives Canadians a price of $12.62.

When choosing your price, it is recommended to base it on USD, and the conversion will be automatically calculated depending on the country your customer is shopping from.

Wrapping it up.

In this post I’ve covered what a low-content book is, some ideas of what to create, pricing, and using templates. If you have any questions I haven’t answered, please ask them in the comment section below. I’ll be happy to answer them in an update to this post, in reply to your question, or in a new section on my site.

And with that, I’d like to wish you a Happy New Year! May 2023 bring health, happiness, and prosperity!