Low-content books are a wonderfully viable way to create a passive income stream—and you don't have to spend months writing them like you would with a novel.
If you are a writer, chances are high that you’ve stared at your blinking cursor or a blank sheet of paper and wondered where to start. Thankfully, low-content books are a fast and easy option for you. And they are super fun to create.
Our quick guide to low-content books covers:
What are low-content books?
You may be wondering: What are low-content books?
Put simply, they are books that don't have a lot of words in them. In fact, the words aren't usually the point. A low-content book typically refers to a publication that contains minimal text-based content, often consisting of predominantly blank, artfully designed, or lightly formatted pages.
Rather than telling a story or having a cast of characters, these books are designed with other purposes in mind, such as serving as journals, planners, sketchbooks, or activity books. They are meant to provide ample space for personalization, creativity, or organization, catering to the user.
Low-content books are often appreciated for their simplicity and versatility, allowing users to customize them according to their needs and preferences. The most successful ones cater to a specific niche or interest of the user.
For example, you may feel inspired to create a distraction-free planner for entrepreneurs with ADHD. Or you might want to put together a list of daily writing prompts for teenagers to help them on a journey of self-exploration at a pivotal time in their lives.
The beauty of this format is that you get to define “what are low-content books?” for yourself. And your ability to create a best-selling low-content book on Amazon is limited only by your own creativity!
Types of low-content books
Now that you can define what low-content books are, it's worth noting that the opportunities as an author are nearly endless. There are many different types of low-content books making their creators great money on Amazon.
Let's take a look at a few of the most common ones you'll encounter:
Planners
Whether you are Type A, Enneagram 3, first-born, or simply enjoy being organized, creating a planner may be the way for you to put your next book into the world.
Let’s say you started a career in graphic design but want to transition to writing. Creating a planner may be a great place for you to start. You get to design what the inside looks like without worrying about writing much if any, prose.
Journals
Journals are another great way to ease into the publishing world. By nature, journals are mostly filled with blank pages for the purchaser to fill with their own thoughts. Designing a journal from a writer’s perspective could help boost your sales.
Publishing a low-content journal is a great start to your writing journey—and can also help other writers.
Food logs
Maybe you work a day job as a personal trainer, or perhaps you are simply a health-conscious creative wanting to inspire those around you. A food log presents you with the opportunity to share your passion for food AND writing.
Exercise logs
Similar to a food log, an exercise log is a way for buyers to record their workouts. An exercise log should be minimal in nature and allow space for the individual to keep track of all their specifics.
Guest books
Wedding season, anyone? A guest book has a very low word count but can be created in a lot of fun and creative ways. You can also write a myriad of guest books following a similar template (but changing the theme, color scheme, seasonality, or occasion).
Recipe books
While writing a recipe book entails a higher word count than the other options on this list, it can still be considered low-content. It just depends on who you write it. Obviously, if you're turning your cookbook into a memoir, it's no longer a low-content book.
Writing prompts
For all the creatives out there, making your own writing prompt book can be as exciting as drafting your first story. What prompts you to write? Create your top writing prompts, and then put yourself in your audience’s shoes.
How can you help writers think outside the box? Can you assist them in broadening their usual writing style or trying a new genre? Writing prompts are highly creative (but extremely low-content).
Drawing prompts
If you recently read a book on art or are an artist yourself, you may be inspired to write a drawing prompt book. This gives inspiration for other artists to practice their craft.
Take your time coming up with drawing prompts, and don’t forget to order them in a way that engages your reader. High-content and low-content books follow the same rule: Put the reader first!
One-line-a-day books
One-line-a-day books are essentially a hybrid between blank journals and writing prompt books. As a writer, you likely appreciate the craft of writing but also understand the difficulty of sitting down to do it.
Creating a one-line-a-day book can help keep other writers writing! If you write even one line daily, you will be 365 lines closer to a completed journal or first draft. One line may not feel like much, but cumulatively it adds up.
Adult coloring books
There are a variety of ways to create an adult coloring book, and because you are the author, the method you choose is entirely up to you. While this type of book treads the line between what is and is not considered a low-content book, adult coloring books are popular and a viable option.
This is not an exhaustive list of all the types of low-content books out there, but hopefully, you are now feeling inspired about the direction of your first low-content venture. So now, it's time to discuss how to create and publish low-content books.
9 Steps for creating and publishing low-content books
So, are you ready to learn how to write a book and start making money from the Amazon royalties without spending months typing hundreds or thousands of words a day? Then it's time to get started with low-content books TODAY.
Here are the steps you should take :
1. Choose what type of low-content book you will write
With so many types of low-content books out there, you first have to narrow things down. Will you write a journal? A sudoku book? A book of inspirational quotes? The world is your oyster—so pick your pearl.
2. Create a theme & title for your low-content book
Once you understand what type of book you are creating, it's time to pick a theme. Will this be a Keto diet log? Will it be an astrology-themed diary? Perhaps you want to use your travel photos to create a fun travel journal!
Your theme will help you write and design your low-content books. And when your book theme is set, you can create a catchy title to entice potential buyers.
3. Have a brainstorming session
Just because your book will have fewer words does not mean you should throw it together and hope for the best. Brainstorming is still part of the writing process, even for low-content books.
Ask yourself the following questions before starting your writing process:
- What do I want the reader to take away from this?
- How can I uniquely engage my reader?
- What perspective do I bring that is helpful?
- What journey can my book take the reader on?
This brainstorming session will inform the content (however limited) in your low-content books.
4. Write your content!
Now that you have all your ideas laid out, it's time actually to start making your book. Creating the content for low-content books is sometimes as simple as writing a list of prompts or headings. Other times, you may need to make a book outline to get clear on all the different parts you'll need.
I find it's best to write your content in a separate document from your actual manuscript. This way, it won't mess with formatting when you sit down to design your low-content book.
You likely don't need any special programs—just a simple Word doc will do!
5. Format your book
This is usually the most time-consuming step when creating low-content books.
Your format will likely be determined by the type of book you are making. For coloring books or crossword puzzles, you probably want your book to be a bit larger, and for journals, you may want to make things a bit smaller than the average hardback book. In the end, it's up to you (for the most part).
Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (Amazon KDP – formerly Amazon CreateSpace) and other on-demand publishers will have specific formatting rules. First, they usually want your file to be a PDF. And they may have some size restrictions as well.
Luckily, most word processing software options will be able to export in the proper formatting. There are also plenty of book formatting software options that will help you create a stunning finished product. My absolute favorite option for quickly designing beautiful low-content books is Canva. With so many stunning options, it's super-fast, and everyone will think a professional designer made your book. The best thing is, there's a free version!
If you'd rather not learn a new tool (though the learning curve on Canva isn't bad) there are plenty of free templates you can download by doing a quick Google search.
6. Check for licensing issues
When making your low-content book, the last thing you want is to get in trouble with the law! Make sure that you can legally use your fonts (not all fonts are accepted for commercial use) and that all art and photos are created BY YOU.
If you aren't sure if your font is okay, you can check if it is covered under the SIL Open Font license.
Note: With AI writing software taking the publishing world by storm, it creates a huge grey area for authors of low-content books. We've even had authors ask us if they can use ChatGPT to write a book. The answer is, “yes.” But should you? That's a different question you have to answer based on your own ethics, the law, and the policies of different websites. Platforms like Amazon are starting to make their own rules for AI-assisted and AI-generated content and artwork. The best advice we have is to do your research and default to using AI as a tool to help you – not replace your input as an author and creator.
7. Design the cover
No book is complete without a cover! And trust me, people judge even low-content books by them.
You can hire someone to design your book cover or do it yourself with Canva, AI tools, or Photoshop. Make sure the cover size meets the guidelines of your publisher of choice.
To make sure your book stands out online, you should spend time creating the best cover possible. It should fit your genre or type of low-content book and catch the eye of your ideal reader!
8. Decide how to publish your book
There are so many ways you can publish your book these days, and you don't need to have a book deal to get started. You can go through KDP, hire a printer, or even try self-publishing!
As a company that helps everyone from low-content book authors to multiple-series novelists write and publish their own books, we're biased toward the latter. But you can look through our list of the best self-publishing companies to get some inspiration and see if this path is right for you.
9. Publish and market your new low-content book!
Once you are all set up with your low-content publishing process, it's time actually to publish your book! And, with that comes a whole lot of book marketing. Your potential buyers need to know your book is now for sale!
You can create a book launch website, host a book launch party, run a book giveaway, or market your low-content book to local boutiques and bookstores. You should also make sure you create a big launch team so you can rack up your Amazon book reviews straight away!
If you aren't sure where to begin, we have all sorts of services for authors to help you create a successful launch of your low-content book. We invite you to start your journey with a free book consultation. A member of our team will listen to your book idea and help you craft a plan to make it as much of a success as possible!
