pseudonyms

[Ruth2]

Do any of y'all use a pseudonym and if so, why? I'm considering it and wonder if it's worth the hassle.

[thethinker42]

I use a pseudonym for my erotica (including Between Brothers) and my real name for romance (first and last for hetero, first initial and last name for M/M). I just do it to differentiate between the genres and avoid confusion among readers.

[Thomas_Anderson]

If you're using it to hide from your peers, just know that there is always a chance that some will find out. Unless you jump through lots of legal hoops, the copyright will still be in your name. Also, if you want to make any money off this at all, you gotta market it somehow, which is hard to do if you gonna Clark Kent your way through the novel business. Don't publish anything you wouldn't want people to know about.

[ELMontague]

I use a psuedonym, but it's not much a way to hide, it's really just a separation.

[V. Greene]

I've been puzzling over this lately myself. It made sense at the time to have one name as a sort-of-literary spec-fic writer and another as an erotica writer. For that matter, if the little murder mystery ever makes it past the introduction and the outline, it might make sense to put that under yet a third name, simply because, like erotica, mysteries tend to pigeonhole the writer. Writing one is not the same as writing nothing else forever. I don't particularly care to be pigeonholed, so -- pigeon names.

However, the resume is that much thinner in your cover letters. And creating web presence for two or three names is two or three times the pain in the rear of creating web presence for one, and if one gets a smashing success the other has (or other two have) to whistle nonchalantly and say nothing. At present the erotica writer Twitters and the fantasy writer is on Facebook, which seems to help me keep them straight.

[scarletpeaches]

If you're using it to hide from your peers, just know that there is always a chance that some will find out. Unless you jump through lots of legal hoops, the copyright will still be in your name. Also, if you want to make any money off this at all, you gotta market it somehow, which is hard to do if you gonna Clark Kent your way through the novel business. Don't publish anything you wouldn't want people to know about.It's not about hiding. It's about distinguishing between genres and at least in my case, using a name my mother didn't choose for me.

[Thomas_Anderson]

In the unedited version of the OP's post, it sounded like she didn't want to use her real name for fear of retribution.

[KimJo]

I use a pseudonym for my romance/erotic romance (same name for both, because mostly what I write has erotic content even if it isn't "erotic romance" per se), and use my nickname and real last name for my young adult stuff.

My reasons for using a pseudonym for my romances is threefold: first, with an eye toward print publications of the romances, I want to keep that genre separate from my young adult stuff; second, my ex-husband obsessively Googles and background checks me and I don't want him to find out what I write (the man once threatened to take my children because I'm vegetarian; he's a bit of a nutter), though he's the only one I hide it from and some of his family knows I write it; and third, when I put on my pen name's "cap", it's like slipping into a character, and that for me makes the writing flow more easily.

[YAwriter72]

I use a psuedonym, but it's not much a way to hide, it's really just a separation.


This. I write erotica under a pen name and YA under my real name.

[Brindle Chase]

I use two pseudonyms... one for my third person, non-vampire erotica/erotic romance... one for my first person vampire books and then my real name for childrens books... at least that's the plan so far... just started the path towards getting published, so for now, it doesn't mean squat... *lol*... but when I do get published... that's what I planned to do... who knows if my publisher will have different ideas/suggestions... ???

But for my erotica/erotic romance... I use one also because my employer would likely fire someone if it became associated to my real name and in turn, my material was associated with someone who worked for them. I don't expect I will be able to quit my day job as I begin a writing career and until I do... its pseudonyms for me! =o)

[Synonym]

Same for me Brindle. Pen name all the way for anything that might have a whiff of sex in it.

I think it's a very good idea, especially if you write children or YA books, to have different names. My God, think of the mess that could be. Mommy, look...

[AuburnAssassin]

Another ditto to Brindle's comment though I don't write kid's stuff or erotica (yet). I have a very good day job that I don't plan on quitting unless I were to become a multiple best-selling author (not likely before I retire) but I also don't want people I work with to be whispering about me or more importantly questioning my commitment should I ever be published. I'm a pretty private person in general so I went ahead and registered a domain the other day under one pen name I considered. That was a ton of fun, I must say, almost like being a spy.

[Synonym]

Since it pertains to the thread, would you mind educating me (computer ignoramus of the first order) how to register a domain?

[AuburnAssassin]

I used GoDaddy.com but I also read the thread linked below because I too was a dullard on the topic (still am). I don't have a website, yet, just wanted to earmark the name in case I ever wanted a website. Who knows if I'll ever use the name I reserved.

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=139841&highlight=register+domain

[Synonym]

Thanks. Half of what they're talking about sounds like gibberish to me right now, but I'll keep studying it until I understand. Maybe just a blog with word press (?) would take care of me for now, but I wondered about the domain name.

[AuburnAssassin]

That's what I did, Synonym, just got a WordPress blog for now but still "bought" the name for a year (renewable annually). It was about $7 so I figured, what the hey. The thread was a little over my head but I gleaned enough to do what I did. Whether t'was wise or foolish remains to be seen.

[Synonym]

There are a lot of things that we do, hoping they're wise and secretly suspecting we've just been P. T. Barnum-ed ;)

[DrZoidberg]

I think pseudonyms are like brand names, or band names. I write in different styles and have had it suggested to me by two publishers to use pseudonyms. I don't have strong opinions on it. As far as I'm concerned it's a marketing thing, and publishers are oh, so much better at it than me.

[pink lily]

I may or may not write erotica and either way, I would never use my real name. I don't think there's anything wrong with protecting your privacy.

[Ruth2]

I'm seriously considering a pseudonym because I like the idea of separating my public and private life. If I have to go out in the field with a couple of good ol' boys, I don't want to have to worry if they'd read my work...

Now to figure out a good pseudonym....

Thanks y'all!

[pink lily]

Well, I call dibs on Muffy McPussyton.

[MargueriteMing]

Dibs on Honey Biscuit.

[Ruth2]

LOL! I thought about Kittie Bowman since it's a confabulation of my grandmother's name but maybe not.....

[DrZoidberg]

Ben Dover?

[Wayne K]

I call Seymour Cox.

[nkkingston]

I always quite liked E C Hooker, which was the rather unfortunate name of a girl I went to school with! She kept Hooker, but changed her first name.

I use a pseudonym for erotica because some of the other genres I right in probably wouldn't appreciate a reader accidentally stumbling across it. However, I do have the two pennames pretty prominently linked on my website, which I'm now wondering if it's a good idea. I don't really want my family to know I write erotica, but I can't link them to anything else without it linking back to the website! Equally, though my workplace is pretty liberal, we do work with families and the general public (and I take school bookings) so they may not appreciate it too much! However, there's enough genre bleed (woman's lit -> romance -> erotica -> erotic horror -> horror -> fantasy) in what I write that I want people to be able to associate the two names and find other things I've written; equally, I want to be able to claim my own publishing credits when submitting, since at this point I don't have enough in any one genre to just offer the most relevant. So, um, any thoughts?

[Ruth2]

Hmmm, no thoughts that would be helpful but I'll send you some good wishes. Maybe you can have pseudonyms that are variants of the names you write under now? I've thought of doing that but most folks who know me would figure out who was behind the name... of course I could look 'em in the eye and just deny it..