Hiding identity?

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ipopeye

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Hi everybody! So far I've just been reading other people posts since I decided to test self publishing by putting a short e-booklet on Amazon. It started to sell somewhat and sales are rising - mostly to my surprise, because I expected zero results for the first attempt. And I'm getting more and more new ideas on what to write, which is good.

And now I have a question, so I finally registered as a member. I have one particularly brilliant idea - at least in my opinion :). I enjoy the topic, I know what I want to say, it will help people, it should sell. But I want to hide my identity from people around me. Not just by pseudonym - I don't want anyone (including my wife) except the publisher to know the booklet is mine, not now and not in years to come. How do I do this? One thing I came up with is to pay a lawyer to be a proxy and I'm not too comfortable with that. Another is to have duplicate accounts on both KDP and Smashwords, if they allow that.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!
 

ipopeye

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Just to clarify a bit: my idea is to write about (specific) problems in marriage. If you haven't already guessed, that's the reason I want to "hide" as thoroughly as I can.
 

Old Hack

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It's going to be very difficult to hide your publishing activities from everyone; for example, there will be tax implications which you won't be able to escape from: are you planning on not letting your wife know about your taxes too?

I think you're going to find it very difficult to hide this from everyone, especially from your immediate family: and the longer it goes on, the more betrayed they're going to feel when they do find out. It seems like a very bad idea to me.
 

Cyia

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Listen to Old Hack.

You have to provide your tax information when you self-publish the same way as you would for a commercial publisher. The income has to be claimed, and it has to be claimed by the person who earned it.

And it's an almost inescapable fact that if someone wants to figure out who you are, they will. There aren't many secrets on the Internet.
 

ipopeye

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Well I don't intend to hide tax information or income or something like that. Nor I need to hide my identity from the publisher.

What I do want (I think) is to have several short e-books but one of them under second pseudonym and "hidden" on online reports etc (or on different account at the same publisher). And when payments come, no one should be able to see for which exact books' sales those payments are.
 

shaldna

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Of course, and I hate to say it, aside from the current financial situations, what happens if you die and the book is still recieving royalities. Your next of kin will get them, and they will find out.

Would you rather they knew from you, or hear it second hand from a lawyer?
 

areteus

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Someone, somewhere along the chain has to know (tax authorities and publishers already mentioned) and every person who knows is a potential weakness in your web of lies. All it takes is a clever journalist or PI (well, there is a chance you may become famous or a politician or have some other reason why journalists may start digging and what if you end up in divorce procedings and your wife decides to hire someone to go digging?) and one of these weak chains may well blurt it all out. There are also various legal things that the authoroties (for example) could do to demand your publisher spills all should there be a reason for it. So, you cannot 100% hide your identity. There is always a chance that someone will find out. You could, of course, ask a friend (or even a stranger) to be an amaneunsis - they publish the book under their name, they claim all the money, take all the blame, pay all the taxes and then pass on a cut to you?

There is, however, a deeper issue here and one which I think unfair to your wife. This comes from personal experience... you are effectively using things that she has done or said and experienced (albeit shared with you) in a commercial enterprise. Basically, you are selling the rights to your shared life. Now, to my mind, I think this requires that you talk to her about it and get her feelings on the issue. Far better it is out in the open (even if she is the only one who knows) and you acknowledge her and share the fruits of the enterprise.

If you are interested, my personal experience of this is far less serious. I wrote a story in which I used a character my wife created. When she found out, she was not so much concerned about the financial aspects but rather that I had represented the character 'properly'. I have also been told, in no uncertain terms, that anything I write which could be construed as being based on our private relationship (i.e. any of our pillowtalk) will be deeply frowned upon. So far, I have not broken that rule :)
 

CaoPaux

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You could, of course, ask a friend (or even a stranger) to be an amaneunsis - they publish the book under their name, they claim all the money, take all the blame, pay all the taxes and then pass on a cut to you?
Inadvisable. Contracts contain affirmation that the named author wrote and has full rights to the book to be published. Signing falsely would put the friend in legal and financial jeopardy.
 

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There are no secrets.

Even the atomic bomb secrets are readily available. (What's forbidden is for people who actually know the right answer to reveal them themselves, and from confirming that someone else got it it right.)

Never say anything anywhere to anyone that you don't want to hear read as the top item on the Six O'Clock News with your picture displayed on the screen beside it.
 

Carradee

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Building a second penname and identity to hide yourself is difficult, time-consuming, fallible, and easy to destroy, even on accident. What if you post something under the wrong account? Sign a book with the wrong name?

The NYT bestselling author Ilona Andrews recently reported that she accidentally signed a book with her legal name, recently—because Ilona Andrews is her penname. (Technically, "Ilona Andrews" is Ilona and her husband, Gordon.)

I think it's a terrible idea, particularly considering the topic and wanting to hide it from your wife. But if you really wanted to do it, you'd want to look into your local dba laws, your banks' business account rules (so you could set one up for the name), getting a PO box (to get separate mail)… and this is on top of what has already been mentioned.
 

ipopeye

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Suddenly it doesn't seem as such a good idea after all. So basically the only long-time reasonable way is to give the material to somebody else to publish under his/her name and share the profits :-(

I would really like to answer about the ethical implications, but I think better not because I suspect we'll end up in a long and off-topic discussion.
 

areteus

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Yeah, the issue with giving someone the rights to publish it is also fraught with legal issues but it is the only way I can think of to make it work (legal or otherwise).

As for the ethical issues - no need to discuss them, as you say it is a thread rot risk :) I merely wanted to make sure you were considering them.
 

flyingtart

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Just to clarify a bit: my idea is to write about (specific) problems in marriage. If you haven't already guessed, that's the reason I want to "hide" as thoroughly as I can.

Can't you get your wife on board? If you seriously want your book to help people surely you'd want both sides' opinions to be voiced?
 

ironmikezero

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There are no secrets.

Even the atomic bomb secrets are readily available. (What's forbidden is for people who actually know the right answer to reveal them themselves, and from confirming that someone else got it it right.)

Never say anything anywhere to anyone that you don't want to hear read as the top item on the Six O'Clock News with your picture displayed on the screen beside it.


Sage advice indeed; you would be well advised to take it to heart.

Having made a 35-year career of hunting people who didn't want to be found, I can corroborate the above in no uncertain terms. A degree of anonymity (admittedly a mere facade) offered by the use of a pseudonym may well be the best you can hope for; and that will be at best temporary. Should someone dedicate the time and effort to ferret out your secrets, they will successfully do so. You can run, but never truly hide.
 

kaitie

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My first thought is and what if you sell it and it ends up selling tons of copies? How would you explain the money coming in?

If there are problems in your marriage that you haven't solved or discussed with your wife, then I'm not quite sure I see how writing a book about it would be worthwhile. It sounds to me as if you're talking non-fiction, and if you haven't solved your own problems, then what are you offering? If they're problems that you and your wife have worked through, she might be fine with the idea of you sharing your story to help others.

Honestly, I'd say marriage comes first. If your wife does disapprove or would disapprove of your publishing a book or using personal stories or something along those lines, then I wouldn't do it, period. Why would it be worth the conflict and the risk of screwing up your marriage?

Talk to her. If she approves, then go for it, but if she doesn't, I'd seriously reconsider and find something else to write about.
 

Irysangel

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Just to clarify a bit: my idea is to write about (specific) problems in marriage. If you haven't already guessed, that's the reason I want to "hide" as thoroughly as I can.

I am guessing this is why the wife is not involved and hence the need for secrecy. Frankly, I don't know the answer other than to maybe set up a Tax ID for the 'business' of your pseudonym, set up a bank account for the new company, and have a CPA that understands fully everything going on over there.

And file separate tax returns.

And then if she finds out, well, you'll have a lot of explaining to do.

ETA: I also have no idea if this is legal or not. IANAL. You should probably also check the state property laws; some states (like Texas) state that property/income is owned 50/50 by a married couple no matter the circumstances.
 
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