Anyone with experience with pen names and contracts?

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ethicalwriter

ethicalwriter

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Hello all,

I posted this question in this forum as I am unsure of where it should go, it is a bit specific in nature so there may not be any forum that it is best suited to be posted. Since the book is a non-fiction I thought I might get some useful responses here.

I have a question regarding pen names and contracts. If I publish a book under a pen name, must the contract include this name in the body? For instance, my name is "John Doe" I own the rights to the book "A" and my pen name is "Jane Doe". When publishing book "A" is there generally a metion of the fact that my pen name is "Jane Doe" in the body?


Thanks for any guidance on this matter.
 
veinglory

veinglory

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It would be routine for the contract to mention both names (e.g. John Smith writing as Joe Scmitty), but I don't know if it is legally required.
 
K1P1

K1P1

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With my publisher, the contract is in the legal name of the author. There is also an author information sheet, where you specify the author's name as it should appear on the book and the name for registering the copyright, so all three can be different.
 

happywritermom

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Me neither. I share a name with a well-known erotica writer who happens to live less than 30 minutes away. My agent suggested that I use a different name, possibly a pen name. We decided, instead, to throw in my maiden name.
 
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