In this episode of the Self-Publishing with ALLi Member Q&A podcast, hosts Michael La Ronn and Sacha Black discuss how to successfully pivot from one nonfiction topic to another, including whether you need a new pen name and how to manage existing backlist titles.
Other questions include:
- What are the most effective low-budget marketing strategies for a nonfiction book about technology and society
- What options exist when series covers are inconsistent and how important is it to obtain source files from designers
- Should an urban fantasy series be focused on a tabloid rather than a single protagonist, or is that a strategic mistake
- How should UK authors operating as limited companies complete KDP tax forms, particularly the limitation of benefits section
- How can authors troubleshoot A+ content on Amazon when it refuses to populate despite entering all required information
And more!
Listen to the Podcast: Legal Reviews, ISBN Ownership, and Pre-Order Pitfalls
Show Notes
Lessons Learned from Starting a New Pen Name (Sacha Black podcast)
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About the Hosts
Michael La Ronn is ALLi’s Outreach Manager. He is the author of over 80 science fiction & fantasy books and self-help books for writers. He writes from the great plains of Iowa and has managed to write while raising a family, working a full-time job, and even attending law school classes in the evenings (now graduated!). You can find his fiction at www.michaellaronn.com and his videos and books for writers at www.authorlevelup.com.
Sacha Black is a bestselling and competition winning author, rebel podcaster, speaker and casual rule breaker. She writes fiction under a secret pen name and other books about the art of writing. She lives in England, with her wife and genius, giant of a son. You can find her on her website, her podcast, and on Instagram.
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Read the Transcript
Michael La Ronn: Hello and welcome to Self-Publishing with ALLi. This is the member Q&A podcast where we answer all of your burning self-publishing questions. I'm Michael La Ronn, and I'm joined by Sacha Black. How are you, Sacha?
Sacha Black: Hello, hello. I am good, thank you. How are you?
Michael La Ronn: Fantastic. It's a beautiful day — though we can't talk about when we record because sometimes we record a little early. What's new with you?
Sacha Black: I'm in a very boring background because I'm waiting to be able to use the internet in my new office. Once I'm in there I'll have my lovely bookcase background again. Very much looking forward to not having to do podcasts in my kitchen.
Michael La Ronn: Congrats on the move — the white wall is temporary, as it always is. I'm doing a lot of travel for work, bouncing around the country like a ping-pong ball. But I'm getting some writing done — a lot of it on planes, trains, and automobiles, which is kind of how I built my career to begin with. It's a bit weird to be back in a situation where I have to actively carve out writing time, like in an Uber or on a plane. It feels like a survival thing again.
Sacha Black: Sometimes if we have too much time we just don't do the work — we find ways to procrastinate. When there are limiters on us, a bit like with creativity, I find we can actually be more creative. If you're restricted time-wise and have to force yourself to do the words on a plane or a train, sometimes that's better than having eons of time in front of you.
Michael La Ronn: It always comes to me on a plane, train, or automobile anymore. The less time you have, the more under the gun you are, and that does make me more creative. All right — let's get into our questions.
Low-Budget Marketing for a Nonfiction Book on Technology and Society
Michael La Ronn: Our first question is from Atiq Mohammed. We get this question a lot, so we'll hit the highlights. Mohammed just published his first book — a nonfiction book in the genre of technology and society, covering social media and AI — and he's looking for low-budget book marketing opportunities. Let's focus on that.
Sacha Black: Podcasts would be my number one recommendation. Go to your podcast app, search through the categories for shows that talk about similar topics. Likewise, YouTube — creators who talk about tech or AI. I'd look to create a little bonus for listeners of those shows, like a cheat sheet or an additional chapter, and encourage people to get that by signing up to your mailing list. Then I'd also consider Amazon Marketing Services ads — AMS ads always worked pretty well for my nonfiction. Facebook groups or reader groups that are nonfiction-focused or subject-based around tech could be worth exploring. And don't overlook expos or conferences — there may be events on technology or AI where you could have a stall or at least attend and network.
Michael La Ronn: Even if you don't have a stall, attending a conference in your niche probably makes a lot of sense when you're writing about technology and social media. Put your extrovert hat on and try to meet as many people as possible. I think the audience piece is really important for this one. A lot of people who want to learn about AI and technology are learning through podcasts and video — I was traveling with a colleague recently who was listening to an AI podcast in the rental car, and I asked if she followed this stuff a lot. She said no, she just happened to hear it once and is now a hundred episodes deep. There's something to that. Also think about Reddit and other places where the tech community hangs out.
Inconsistent Series Covers: What Are Your Options?
Michael La Ronn: Next question is from Julia. She says: I have my manuscript and cover, but I'd like a service that will do layout only. I'm publishing a series, and the first two books don't look exactly the same on the shelf despite my best efforts. Book three will probably look slightly different too. I need a service that will take all the covers and layouts I have and standardize them. What should I look for?
Sacha Black: Unless you have the Photoshop files, you're going to find it extremely difficult. This is why I take my time deciding on a cover designer for a series — once you start, you're kind of locked in with that designer because you don't want these inconsistencies. Sometimes you can go to a designer and ask to pay for the Photoshop files, and sometimes they'll say yes and sometimes they won't — they don't have to give them to you. You could go back to the designers of each cover and ask them to tweak things and give them a standardized house style guide, but you'll probably have to pay for that on top of the original commission. I think no matter what you're going to have to pay — it's just which is the lesser of evils. Asking for the Photoshop files will probably cost more than asking each designer for individual tweaks, but having to organize the individual changes is more hassle. It's swings and roundabouts. The most expensive option would be to completely redo all the covers with one designer — but that only makes sense if you're unhappy with them, because you couldn't even hire a third party to recreate them without seeking copyright permission from each original designer.
Michael La Ronn: There are solutions, but none of them are good. If it were me, even if the finances were challenging, I would just blow everything up and start over. Even if you get the Photoshop files, there's a ceiling to how consistent they can look. It's just easier to start over and treat it as a rebrand, have a new designer create a complete set of assets. I've done it the other way and the results really were never that good.
That said, I want to spend a minute on the broader importance of getting source files. There are good reasons beyond this situation. I recently had a cover designer pass away, and I didn't have the Photoshop files for a series she'd designed. I needed minor updates for an audiobook and now I'm going to have to redo that whole series because there's nothing I can do. Designers leave the business, go out of business, retire — you've got to think not just a couple of years ahead but a decade ahead. Get those source files now if you can. And it's worth asking your designer upfront what software they use, because not everyone uses Photoshop — knowing that ahead of time helps you plan.
Sacha Black: Worth adding: not every designer is willing to give you the Photoshop files. I get told no most of the time.
Michael La Ronn: I'm at about a 60% success rate. I ask upfront, which is the key. If they say no, those are the books I'd prioritize for recovering as the years go by. You can't get the files if you don't ask.
Finding an Illustrator for a Poetry Book
Michael La Ronn: Next question is from P. Caterino, who is looking for an approved ALLi partner to work on a poetry book that incorporates illustrations into the poems themselves. Not a standard poetry book — they need an illustrator.
Sacha Black: All of our partners are in our directory. Log into allianceindependentauthors.org and navigate to the directory or the discounts and deals section. You should be able to filter providers by type of service and find illustrators in there.
Michael La Ronn: Definitely check the self-publishing services directory — that's the who's who of the industry, like a Yellow Pages for publishing services. For members it's the most robust option. For non-members, there is a free public directory at selfpublishingadvice.org/ratings — that includes our partners and other providers our watchdog team monitors, with ratings covering the good, the bad, and the mixed. And while you're in the member area, check the discounts and deals section — you might find a partner that offers a deal to ALLi members.
KDP Tax Forms for UK Limited Companies
Michael La Ronn: Next question is around KDP taxes. Karen is new to self-publishing, is based in the UK, and has set up a limited company for publication. She's hit an obstacle on the KDP tax page — specifically the ‘claim of tax treaty benefits' section and the ‘limitation of benefits' options. She thinks the option that best fits is ‘company meets the ownership and base erosion test' but isn't sure. Any advice?
Sacha Black: Mandatory caveat first: I am not a financial, legal, or tax advisor. This is just what I've done and I could be wrong. There are two different forms depending on your entity type. The W-8BEN is for self-employed individuals; the W-8BEN-E is for limited companies. I'm a limited company and fill out the W-8BEN-E. I'll be honest — I asked ChatGPT to help me fill out this form because it only comes up every three years and I always forget. There is a tax treaty between the US and the UK meaning we don't have to pay the 30% withholding tax on royalties — that's Article 12, Paragraph 1, withholding rate zero. For the limitation of benefits section — after much clicking around just now — yes, Part 3, ‘company that meets the ownership and base erosion test' is what I have selected.
Michael La Ronn: This sounds massively confusing.
Sacha Black: It is deeply confusing. All the words are English but they don't make sense in a sentence. I Google what each phrase means, understand it while filling out the form, and the moment I click submit it all flushes out of my head. Please don't take my word for it — do your own Googling and checking.
Michael La Ronn: My suggested order of operations: Dr. Google first, then ChatGPT, then Claude — and see where the contradictions are. That's your answer. And then pray to the tax gods. It does seem more complicated in the UK — do you want to briefly explain the difference between entity types for listeners?
Sacha Black: Roughly: if you earn under around £50,000 a year, you're usually better off being self-employed because of the tax liabilities. If you earn over that, a limited company often becomes advantageous. A limited company is a separate legal entity — the company is not you in the eyes of the law. The company owns and publishes the books. If anything went wrong legally, the company would be liable, not you personally. And there are tax benefits: dividends are taxed at a lower rate than income.
Michael La Ronn: For US listeners: a limited company in the UK is the equivalent of a corporation here, not a limited liability company or LLC. A sole trader in the UK is the equivalent of a sole proprietor in the US. The LLC sits somewhere in the middle — it's its own thing here. Just so people know the difference.
Urban Fantasy Series Without a Single Protagonist — Was It a Mistake?
Michael La Ronn: Next question is from Bowling Book Babbler — great name. The question: my urban fantasy series is focused around a tabloid rather than a single protagonist. I'm starting to wonder if that was a mistake. Should I finish the current series and then switch to a series focused on a single protagonist, possibly in the same shared world?
Sacha Black: I'm struggling to understand how you write a story without a protagonist — it's the foundation of everything. But let's address the practical question. Is the series selling the way you want? If yes, or if it's showing real potential, keep going. If it's not selling the way you want, I'd consider shifting to a series with a clear protagonist, because that's what readers invest in emotionally. That said, multi-POV casts can work — Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo is a great example of a found-family heist story with multiple POV characters. But even there, Kaz Brekker is the protagonist — he has the biggest character development, the biggest arc. One character always rises to the top.
Michael La Ronn: Based on how the question is worded, it sounds like the series might be structured more like a newspaper — each chapter a different article from a different perspective. That's a narratively interesting approach but very off-market. Think epistolary novels, or Bridgerton's Lady Whistledown — but even Whistledown is tied to a person, which is ultimately Penelope. The core principle is that your novel has to be about somebody. Multi-POV is fine, but there has to be a primary character. When I've deviated from that principle I haven't had good sales. If the author is asking this question, it probably means the sales aren't where they want them to be.
Changing Genre: Is It Okay and How Do You Do It?
Michael La Ronn: Another question from Atiq Mohammed: how do you change your genre? He's currently writing about technology and society but is now looking toward health, finance, and related topics.
Sacha Black: In 2023 I released the first Ruby Roe book — a complete pivot from everything I'd done before. I released a podcast episode in February 2023 on the Rebel Author Podcast that detailed everything I did to make that pivot. By the end of 2025 that pen name had made a million US dollars. So can it work? Absolutely. Sometimes what you write first isn't the book of your heart, or it just doesn't hit the market right.
At the heart of the decision: what do you do with the assets you already have? You can set and forget and just start again. If your existing books are bringing in significant income, set up some kind of backlist marketing that keeps them ticking along without taking much of your time. Be clear about this: when you start a new pen name, you are starting a second business. The chances of meaningful crossover are slim. Any crossover you do get is likely from super fans supporting you — that's not going to give you the long-term audience you need for the new thing.
With nonfiction there is potentially a little more scope if you have a wider theme or value that crosses your books. I do feel nonfiction readers are more likely to read across sub-topics — someone who reads self-help might also read finance or business. But you're not going to get someone who reads those books to cross over to Tudor history. Within the same general arena, the practical questions are: do you change your covers, make a new website or a subset of your existing one, create new social media? All of those come back to: do you want separation? Ruby Roe is a different pen name to Sacha Black because the audience was different enough that I knew I'd muddy the algorithm if I kept them the same. Amazon works on conversion — not how many people you drive to the page but how many convert once they're there. Sending the wrong audience to your new books tanks your conversion rate and Amazon stops supporting the titles organically.
Michael La Ronn: I'll put the link to Sacha's Rebel Author Podcast episode on this in the show notes. The only thing I'd add for nonfiction: if you're switching from technology to health or finance, those are vastly different universes. In fiction, adjacent genres are easier to move between. In nonfiction the switch can be starker. If you can find a connecting through line between your topics — some overarching idea or audience that spans both — it makes the transition a lot smoother and might mean you don't need a completely separate pen name. It's never a guarantee that readers will cross over, but having that linking angle helps.
Does ALLi List Only Its Own Books or Members' Books Too?
Michael La Ronn: Next question: does ALLi only list books that ALLi publishes, or does it also list independently published books by ALLi members? The answer is both. We have our own bookstore of guidebooks and publishing advice books written by our staff, available at selfpublishingadvice.org. But we also recently launched a bookstore that includes members' published books — for any members who choose to have their books listed there. So the short answer is we have both.
A+ Content on Amazon Not Populating
Michael La Ronn: Our last question is from Bay Writer: no matter what I do, A+ content on Amazon is not populating. I enter the title, the ASIN, the market, everything — nothing seems to be working. Any advice?
Sacha Black: When I've had content rejected it's usually my own error — the file isn't quite right, it's too big or too small. But beyond that I'm not entirely sure. Have they tried the Amazon help desk? I know it's often AI-driven but there are things in there that can help.
Michael La Ronn: I'd actually suggest going to a forum first — maybe even the ALLi member forum — and asking there. I'm sure you're not the only person who's had problems with A+ content, and someone in the community may have had the exact same issue and found a fix. I personally haven't had any issues with it but I can see how some people would.
Closing
Michael La Ronn: That brings us to the bottom of another episode. This has been Self-Publishing with ALLi, the member Q&A podcast. We're getting close to the bottom of our queue, so we need more questions — submit yours at allianceindependentauthors.org. Log in as a member and there will be a link to submit your question. You just might hear it on the air. Thanks for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.
Sacha Black: Bye.
Michael La Ronn: Bye.
