(CNN) -- "Harry Potter" creator J.K. Rowling donned an invisibility cloak of her own for her new novel. 
 
 In top-secret fashion, she published "The Cuckoo's Calling" under the name Robert Galbraith. Her publisher, Mulholland Books -- an imprint of Little, Brown and Company -- described the author as a former member of the Special Investigative Branch of the Royal Military Police. 
 
 "He left the military in 2003 and has been working since then in the civilian security industry," the publisher's website said. "The idea for (protagonist) Cormoran Strike grew directly out of his own experiences and those of his military friends who returned to the civilian world. 'Robert Galbraith' is a pseudonym." 
 
 The Sunday Times, curious about who this mystery novelist really was, connected the dots -- noting that "he" used an agent, editor and publisher who had worked with Rowling. 
 
 "I hoped to keep this secret a little longer, because being Robert Galbraith has been such a liberating experience!" Rowling said in a statement. "It has been wonderful to publish without hype or expectation and pure pleasure to get feedback from publishers and readers under a different name. 
 
 Social class, swearing and sex permeate Rowling's 'Casual Vacancy' 
 
 "The upside of being rumbled is that I can publicly thank my editor David Shelley, who has been a true partner in crime, all those people at Little, Brown who have been working so hard on 'The Cuckoo's Calling' without realizing that I wrote it, and the writers and reviewers, both in the newspapers and online, who have been so generous to the novel. 
 
 "And to those who have asked for a sequel, Robert fully intends to keep writing the series, although he will probably continue to turn down personal appearances." 
 
 Rowling's daring leap 
 
 While the novel received praise before the secret was out, the disclosure that Rowling was the author -- to little surprise -- skyrocketed the book's sales. 
 
 Reagan Arthur, publisher of Little, Brown and Company. said a reprint of the book is underway and will carry a revised author biography that reads 'Robert Galbraith is a pseudonym for J. K. Rowling.' " 
 
 On Amazon.com, sales soared more than 507,000% after Rowling acknowledged being the author. 
 
 The fast facts on J. K. Rowling 
 
 CNN's Lindsay Isaac and Joseph Netto contributed to this report. ||||| J. K. Rowling had more magic up her sleeve after all. 
 
 Mulholland Books 'Robert Galbraith' is a pseudonym. 
 
 Over the weekend the Sunday Times (London) disclosed that she is the author of "The Cuckoo's Calling," a well-reviewed crime novel issued in April under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. 
 
 The book, which features a private investigator named Cormoran Strike, who lost a leg in Afghanistan, quickly zoomed up the charts Sunday after Ms. Rowling was identified as the writer. The author had originally been described as having served in the military, where his experiences helped shape the novel. 
 
 The book was published in the U.S. by Mulholland Books, an imprint of Lagardère SCA's Hachette Book Group, and by a sister imprint in the U.K. 
 
 By early Sunday afternoon, the physical edition ranked No. 1 at Barnes & Noble Inc.'s online store and at Amazon.com Inc. in the U.S. A Barnes & Noble spokeswoman described the title as a slow seller until Ms. Rowling was identified as the author. 
 
 After J.K. Rowling was unmasked as Robert Galbraith, the author of "The Cuckoo's Calling," the book quickly zoomed up the charts. Jeffrey Trachtenberg reports on Lunch Break. Photo: Getty Images. 
 
 By late Sunday afternoon, "The Cuckoo's Calling" was temporarily out of stock online at BarnesandNoble.com, while Amazon said that the title "usually ships within 10 to 14 days." A spokeswoman for Barnes & Noble noted there is still "some availability" in stores." 
 
 Mulholland will publish a second book in the series next summer, said Reagan Arthur, publisher of Hachette's Little, Brown & Co., in a prepared statement. She also said that "The Cuckoo's Calling" is being reprinted and that the edition will state that Robert Galbraith is a pseudonym for J.K. Rowling. 
 
 An independent retailer in the Midwest said she understood Ms. Rowling's desire for a clean slate. "I think she did this so that she could write freely without expectations from her audience," said Sarah Bagby, owner of Watermark Books & Café in Wichita, Kan., which stocked the book when it came out in April. 
 
 A spokeswoman for Ms. Rowling confirmed the author's identity via an email but declined further comment. 
 
 Ms. Rowling is best known for her wildly popular seven Harry Potter novels, all of which were made into films. Although her first adult novel, "The Casual Vacancy," received mixed reviews last fall, it proved popular with readers. 
 
 On Sunday, Michael Pietsch, chief executive of the Hachette Book Group, said "The Casual Vacancy" has sold more than a million hardcover copies in North America since publication and was the group's biggest selling hardcover title in 2012. 
 
 Earlier this year, a "rich list" published by the Sunday Times, which like The Wall Street Journal is owned by News Corp, estimated Ms. Rowling's fortune at £560 million ($846 million). 
 
 The Harry Potter series has sold more than 450 million physical copies world-wide, according to Scholastic Corp., which publishes the books in the U.S. Scholastic is in the process of issuing new fancy paperbacks with new cover illustrations. 
 
 Write to Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg at jeffrey.trachtenberg@wsj.com 
 
 A version of this article appeared July 15, 2013, on page B1 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Poof! It's J.K. Rowling. ||||| Whodunnit? JK Rowling’s secret life as wizard crime writer revealed 
 
 JK Rowling says she found writing a crime novel under a male pseudonym to be a ‘liberating experience’ (Mike Marsland) 
 
 JK ROWLING has secured another literary coup by writing an acclaimed detective novel in the guise of a first-time author. 
 
 The Harry Potter creator, purporting to be Robert Galbraith, a former military man, won plaudits from top crime writers who read the book without knowing she was behind it. 
 
 The Cuckoo’s Calling, which features a war veteran turned private investigator called Cormoran Strike, was published to critical acclaim in April. One reviewer described it as “a scintillating debut”. Another praised the “male” author’s ability to describe women’s clothes. 
 
 Rowling’s authorship was revealed by The Sunday Times after it investigated how a first-time author “with a background in the army and the civilian security industry” could write such an assured debut novel. It has sold more than 1,500 copies in hardback. 
 
 Rowling said yesterday: “I had hoped to keep this secret a little longer because being Robert Galbraith has been such
– JK Rowling embarked on quite the flight of fancy when inventing her pseudonym Robert Galbraith—and that might prove controversial. Galbraith's bio claims that he spent "several years with the Royal Military Police" and that the protagonist of his novel—one-legged Afghanistan veteran Cormoran Strike—"grew directly out of his own experiences and those of his military friends." Indeed, Rowling created a full backstory for her alter ego, who apparently eventually found himself in the RMP's plain-clothes Special Investigative Branch, before leaving for the civilian security industry. While so far Rowling's invention appears to be flying under the radar, fake military service claims often prove contentious. In the US, it's even illegal to profit from them, thanks to the new Stolen Valor Act, which was signed into law last month to replace an earlier version struck down by the Supreme Court. Then again, Rowling probably could have profited more without the pseudonym; since the reveal, sales of The Cuckoo's Calling exploded 507,000% at Amazon, reports CNN, and it's now out of stock online at both Amazon and Barnes and Noble. (A rep for the latter told the Wall Street Journal it wasn't a big seller pre-reveal.) A new edition is coming that will acknowledge Galbraith as a pseudonym for Rowling.