Hi everyone. I tried to do a little research on the forum to see if the subject was discussed before but I found nothing. I often heard that lots of authors are using pen name for their writings. I would like to know the pros and the cons and what kind of pen name should I use if I decided to use one. Thanks for your help!
How much of the real you do you want to put out there? Some authors use a pen name to obscure their identity. I think one of the Austens used a male pen name to hide the fact that she was female. Some people just don't like their own name. Some want to sound more... I dunno... cutting edge than they actually are. Personally, when I get published, I'm going to call myself Max Power. Or maybe Dave Q.Q. Roberts. Or Bob Q.Q. David.
If pen names are what you're after, there's Parker pens, Staedtler pens, Cross pens, and my personal favourite, the Fisher Space Pen! But I wouldn't recommend using them to publish under... But yeah, like Nao said. Depends on you at the end of the day. It comes down to a few other things, also. Some people like to publish in different genres, and even to this day, publishers seem to have this inbuilt hatred of writers that do this. They want ALL of Stephen King's novels to be horror, so they all go in the horror section. They want sci fi writers to write nothing but scifi, etc etc. That's part of the reason JK Rowling wrote her detective novel under a pseudonym (and obvs because she wanted it to be taken on its own merit disassociated from her Potter stuff) So if you want to write in multiple genres and want to conform to the evil publishers (unless you're gonna self publish, then who cares), then pen names can help seperate your work. There's one case where you can argue it's more necessary - if you want to write children's books but also swap genres to say, adult erotica. You dont want eight year olds googling your name and looking at your "other" work Then there's the ego trip - if you win the lottery and you become super famous and rich from writing, do you really want everyone to be able to use the internet to look you up, hunt you down, find your email address and spam you till the end of time? Pen name solves that instantly. (Well, on a personal level, at least heh)
As Steve mentioned, it's good for marketing reasons. Readers and fans look at a writer's name and have certain expectations of what they will get. When you write something very different, for instance murder mystery when you previously wrote children's fantasy, then you'll get a bunch of people reading the book who are not murder mystery fans. It can bring bad reviews and ruin the book. Readers are unhappy, writers and publishers are unhappy.... The name itself can also be a marketing strategy. Picking something a little similar to popular writers in the genre, picking something that sounds more professional, picking something gender neutral or the opposite gender, etc. It's a big piece of the pie when it comes to having a strong "brand" that people can latch on to. Also, if your books flop and meet no success, then it's easier starting over than fighting against old stigmas. The only potential con I can imagine is if your own name would have brought you more success or happiness.
In addition to the reasons others have given, you might want to use a pen name if your real name is difficult to spell and/or pronounce. You want your work to be easy to find on Amazon (for example), and if your potential readers can't spell your name, it'll be hard. You want your work to be talked about, too, so it's useful if your name is easy to pronounce. (I'm perpetually pissed off at Annie Proulx because I don't know how she pronounces her name!) I know some people like to hide their gender by doing things like using initials (J.K. Rowling springs to mind), but that instantly makes him/her hard to talk about because pronouns become awkward. I'd prefer it if he/she just used his/her actual name. (Don't get me started on the singular "they.")
[QUOTE="minstrel, post: 1823867, member: 19031"(Don't get me started on the singular "they.") [/QUOTE] Or me, but we've lost. The forces of ignorance, triumphant: https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2020-01-03/sum-it-up-us-linguists-to-pick-word-of-the-decade
Before reading this post I would have always said, put your own name on it. However, I am considering a pen name for the following reason: I am finalising my first book. Hooray! I will self publish in 3 or 4 months. Anyhow, I have been writing for only two years (although very seriously). I know that I am going to look back at this book in say 10 years time and cringe, but at the same time, I am incredibly proud of what I have achieved at this stage of my writing. Not entirely sure what to do although I guess if the book is good enough to 'self publish' then I should stick my name to it. I shall see....
If/when I decide to try self publishing it will definitely be under a pen name. Why? I have a very very very very uncommon first name (I have never met anyone else with it and even searching online I only found one other person with the same name) and a uncommon last name, so anyone who knows me at all sees the book would know it was me. I am a pretty private person and for me, art for arts sake is really are for the artists sake, I don't want to be well known or famous.
I concur with with everyone said Also, it does give a nice sense of anonymity, such as our usernames. And, as others have mentioned gives us a chance to use an author named We like to be associated with our books.
Wait, is your username your real name? Thorn doesn't seem all THAT uncommon, though probably used a lot more in Viking days. Cylenchar on the other hand, never heard that one before.
Nope, not nearly that cool. Thorn- a reference to my <sarcasm>warm and charming personality</sarcasm> Cylenchar- another name for the Greenman, means the hidden one, appropriate for an online forum.
I'm writing under a pen name. For me it's not about the privacy, it's more about being able to have an other 'persona'. I'm a very blunt, straightforward person. Having my public persona be under a different name than my own helps me to take a step back and be a bit more professional. Also I'd feel more comfortable doing things like marketing under not-my-name. My two cents!
I'm not using a pen name. I just don't think there'd be much benefit for me. Sure, there are reasons to do so. Maybe you don't want to be associated with your writing (e.g. you're an elementary teacher writing erotica or just want the aforementioned privacy), maybe you think your name won't attract readers, you like the idea of an alter-ego, etc. That said, not all of those benefits are necessarily benefits. These days, if someone really wants to find out who you are, they're probably going to, and having a pen name might bite you with trolls calling you out for hiding your identity. Also, several prominent authors have published across genres without using pen names, so it's not a must (Isaac Asimov and Carl Sandburg, for example). There are definitely times I'd say that going with a pen name is the right decision, but personally I'd avoid it unless I had a strong reason for it.
Wow, thanks for everyone that have answered my question. Very appreciated. In fact, I am an introvert and privacy is very important for me. First, I want to write a non fiction book. Then, later, I would like to write a few short stories before maybe starting to write my first novel. I understand. I would like to write a non fiction book first and then horror short stories. And no, I'm really hard to find on internet. If you search my name you will only find three articles I have written for my job a few years ago. That's all. And I deleted all my social media accounts because I am an introvert and social media increases my anxiety and make me waste my time. Thanks for your reply and your little joke Ok now I see. A pen name is not just a question of privacy but also a marketing question. Thanks for opening my eyes. Yes, I like anonymity. I don't want my name and my pictures appearing everywhere on the web. I'm a very private person. It's ok. Don't worry Good luck for those people. I am almost nowhere on the web, absent from social media and almost nobody knows my personal email and phone number. Like I said before, I am an introvert who likes his privacy
There is a caveat I ran into when I wrote a novel under a female name. At the time I thought if it was about a female, it should appear to be written by a female. Then came the problem of a book signing day at the library. I didn’t show. And the biggest is when I applied in Babelcube to have it translated into Spanish the translator said it wasn’t my book and I had copied it from...yeah, the pen named author.
I would never use a pen name. I've worked hard to be the writer I am. I like my name in print. I want the attachment to what I create. I think too many aspiring writers put a lot of weight and thought into pen names, and most of the time it really doesn't matter. I actually don't see any real benefits from using a pen name. People always use the school teacher reference, but how many school teacher are really writing smut when they get home from being with kids all day? I think when people ask this question (and it does come up quite a bit) they are looking for reasons to use a pen name or justify it. You can do whatever you want, but if you really want to be off the grid and hard to find, your work will probably be too. I've been publishing somewhat regularly lately and with good publishers. Having my name on my writing has not had any negative effects on me or my life. I really put myself out there and I'm not looking to win any popularity contests. But I am real writer and I have a real name. I don't see the point in changing either of those things.
I'm planning on using a pen name. I'm thinking Jonathon Frost right now. I've self-published several books over the past few years, and I'm not proud of some of them now. If I ever get traditionally published, I want it to be a fresh start. Not have to worry about people connecting my trad-published book(s) with my older, crappier self-published ones. Also, and I know there's only like a 1 in 1 million chance this will happen, but if I do manage to strike it big, become a big famous author and household name, I absolutely do not in a hundred million years want people to recognize me in public and try to talk to me. I already have one kid who decided to idolize me after finding out I write books, and it's easily the creepiest thing I've ever experienced. More of them? Noooo, thank you!
