How do I publish a book anonymously?
 

due to several factors I would like to publish a book anonymously. How do I go about doing this?

Should I anonymously contact a book agent?

How anonymous can I really expect the process to be?

What about getting paid? Who are they going to send the check to?

If my job were on the line- could I count on things staying secret as long as there were no legal/court issues surrounding my book?

I know that this probably belongs in the How To folder, but I figured there may be more knowledge on book publishing in this folder.

I suppose the publisher somehow has to know who exactly you are... but then I think you can always go by an alias. And probably due to some privacy things the publisher will not reveal your true identity unless your book is about some top secret things (and if it was, it might not be published at all)...

I am not exactly sure but that's my guess.

I'm not in the biz, so I can't give a definitive answer. Your best bet is to call up an agent and ask. Having said that, my understanding is that you deal with either an agent or a publisher who acts on your behalf. Everything will be forwarded to you from your third party (again, be it an agent or the publisher directly) and all of your return correspondence will go the same way. I'm not sure how the legal ramifications work, but so long as you're not plaigairizing or commiting some other blatantly illegal act I don't figure you have too much to worry about that way.

And publishing a book, be it anonymously or not, is a particularly arduous endeavour. Be prepared to be tenacious, because odds are you'll have to be.

EDIT - Oh, and I meant to mention, there's a difference between publishing anonymously and publishing under a pseudonym. I suspect you want the latter; the former implies no interest in maintaining legal rights to your work, since there has to be a name attached to it in order to hold copyright.

release it under the Creative Commons. I do not know if you have to give a name or address...but you could set up a fake PO box with a fake name name

you could also set up website under a faults name with a site like Godaddy or something, conntect a number of blogs that would be sympithtic to your cause.

if your job is on the line, you can file for 'Whistle Blower' status, while your job will not be protected, you will be protected under federal law from reprisel from your job.

just some ideas

it's not a whistle blower kind of thing, more a propriety thing. And I don't really care about the ardour (i like the french look of that word as opposed to ardor) of the publishing process- i don't need the money i just have some stories to tell that i don't want anyone to connect to my public sense of self. if someone enjoys them enough to publish then so be it.

i like making people happy.

If you're not worried about rights or money... well, you've got your arena. The internet is the perfect vehicle for the sort of work you seem to be angling towards. I'd suggest setting up a cheap or even free website for publication purposes. Alternatively, a blog has been mentioned. And they get bonus points for being topcial.