Pen Name Bio

MagaliFuentes said:

I always use my real name and I would feel weird writing a biography for a pen name because I think I would be describing the life of someone who doesn't exist. That's how I feel, it just doesn't feel right. No matter what happens in my writing career or if I fail or anything, I will never use a pen name because this is who I am and I would feel like I am giving life to an alter ego like in Stephen King's movie 'The Dark Half' which is the reason I became afraid of using a pen name in the first place. I don't know. That's just me. Someone who's used a pen name or uses the pen name can answer this question for you much better.

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Wow, that was completely the opposite of helpful.

I generally use my real bio, with any identifying details glossed over. For example, if you generally include credentials, you can still use the magazine names. I guarantee you no one is going to go through back issues to find out who has been published in each of these magazines. If you normally say "with her husband, Sam" leave the name out, etc. My bio would read something like "Kathleen is a freelance writer living in California with her husband, son, and furry children. She has written for numerous other magazines, trade publications, and web sites. You can contact her at [email address for pen name]."

Oops, it looks like I deleted my post way too late. This is beyond embarrassing.

I make one up. But I sometimes write humorous, obviously false bios when using my real name. James A. Ritchie lives on a mountaintop in the Andes with thirty-seven cats and a pet dragon named Bob.

Jamesaritchie said:

I make one up. But I sometimes write humorous, obviously false bios when using my real name. James A. Ritchie lives on a mountaintop in the Andes with thirty-seven cats and a pet dragon named Bob.

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I don't need to make up pets... people already think my cockroach is an imaginary pet to add colour to my bio. That has the bonus of the surprise/horror when they realise I'm not joking.

Originally Posted by MagaliFuentes
I always use my real name and I would feel weird writing a biography for a pen name because I think I would be describing the life of someone who doesn't exist. That's how I feel, it just doesn't feel right. No matter what happens in my writing career or if I fail or anything, I will never use a pen name because this is who I am and I would feel like I am giving life to an alter ego like in Stephen King's movie 'The Dark Half' which is the reason I became afraid of using a pen name in the first place. I don't know. That's just me. Someone who's used a pen name or uses the pen name can answer this question for you much better.

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There are alot of reasons people use pen names, and it never has anything to do with wanting to be a different person, or hiding behind an alter ego. If you write in two genres then you may well choose a pen name. and in some instances a publisher may well insist on it - for instance, if you write a sucessful childrens series and then change to errotica, your publisher will not want to use the same name to prevent the embarassment and possible legal action that might result in a child reading your errotica.

Also, if someone is well known for something else then they may choose a pen name to protect that identity. For instance, I know of one writer who is a well respected lawyer, handling very high profile financial cases. in her free time she writes chic lit. she uses a pen name because she does not want what she writes for fun to be confused with her professional work, or for that to overshadow what she sees as her 'real' job.

In my experience when writing a bio for a pen name you have two options - use the real info, or make it up.

for instance:

Bob Bobb grew up in Scotland and spent eleven years as a box packer for Cotton Wool limited. He is married to Elsie and lives in Fortwilliam with their daughter and two Jack Russell terriers.

vs

Bob Bobb was the illegitimate son of Zeus and a stripper called Darlene. He grew up all over the US, on the run, charged with a crime he didn't commit. At college he mastered in Latin, Rocket Science, Brain surgery and interpretive dance and he graduated first in his class. He was the first man to set foot on Mars and he is currently working on teaching sign language to giant sqid.

Jamesaritchie said:

I make one up. But I sometimes write humorous, obviously false bios when using my real name. James A. Ritchie lives on a mountaintop in the Andes with thirty-seven cats and a pet dragon named Bob.

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see, if you were the crazy lady who lives next door to me then that could well be accurate.

Jamesaritchie said:

I make one up. But I sometimes write humorous, obviously false bios when using my real name. James A. Ritchie lives on a mountaintop in the Andes with thirty-seven cats and a pet dragon named Bob.

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I do this, pen name or real name. I don't think anybody cares if I have a husband, cat, or architecturally significant home.

My bio contains real facts about my life, though obviously not all of them, and is more humorous than serious. I mean, this is just a scrap of info meant to give the reader an idea who you are, not IRS documents; precision is not necessary or even advisable.

Your pen name is what goes on the cover, under or above the book title....

Your bio is a biography of YOU, the real writer. It doesn't matter what name you use.

Now, if you clearly are making one up for fun/humor, etc. that's fine. But don't do it just to create a fake persona or fool your agent into believing you're someone you aren't.

I love this thread - I've been struggling with a lot of pen name decisions myself lately and all this feedback helps.

shaldna said:

There are alot of reasons people use pen names, and it never has anything to do with wanting to be a different person, or hiding behind an alter ego. If you write in two genres then you may well choose a pen name. and in some instances a publisher may well insist on it - for instance, if you write a sucessful childrens series and then change to errotica, your publisher will not want to use the same name to prevent the embarassment and possible legal action that might result in a child reading your errotica.

Also, if someone is well known for something else then they may choose a pen name to protect that identity. For instance, I know of one writer who is a well respected lawyer, handling very high profile financial cases. in her free time she writes chic lit. she uses a pen name because she does not want what she writes for fun to be confused with her professional work, or for that to overshadow what she sees as her 'real' job.

In my experience when writing a bio for a pen name you have two options - use the real info, or make it up.

for instance:

Bob Bobb grew up in Scotland and spent eleven years as a box packer for Cotton Wool limited. He is married to Elsie and lives in Fortwilliam with their daughter and two Jack Russell terriers.

vs

Bob Bobb was the illegitimate son of Zeus and a stripper called Darlene. He grew up all over the US, on the run, charged with a crime he didn't commit. At college he mastered in Latin, Rocket Science, Brain surgery and interpretive dance and he graduated first in his class. He was the first man to set foot on Mars and he is currently working on teaching sign language to giant sqid.

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Hello.


I'm not saying that people who use pen names do it to create alter egos. I'm saying that I am afraid it would happen to me. Your explanation is very good and it gave me a lot of insight, though. Thank you for your advice, but I will continue to use my real name because I would never alternate from one genre to another in a way that it would be harmful to my publisher or to me. I've always been fascinated with the supernatural, superhuman beings and so forth...

lvcabbie said:

Maybe a wierd question but: if you write something under a pseudonym or pen name, what do you do when providing a bio?.

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I don't think it's a weird question -- if you've chosen to use a pen name for whatever reason and your publisher asks you for a bio because (for example) all that publisher's authors include bios in their novels, then you make something up, and stick to it thereafter. Whether the bio contains slightly twisted or masked elements of your own background, is up to you. Maybe you'd want to talk this over with your publisher or agent.

Related current thread: Why use a pen name?

-Derek

maestrowork said:

Your pen name is what goes on the cover, under or above the book title....

Your bio is a biography of YOU, the real writer. It doesn't matter what name you use.

Now, if you clearly are making one up for fun/humor, etc. that's fine. But don't do it just to create a fake persona or fool your agent into believing you're someone you aren't.

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You never want to fool your agent about your real name, but there's nothing else about you an agent needs to know. And if you set up a pseudnym as a legal business name, your agent doesn't need to know your real name. As long as she can report all tax matters accurately to the I.R.S., you're fine. All she actually needs is a real tax ID number that the I.R.S. knows.

But no legitimate agent will ever rat out a writer, and neither will most publishers.

And there's nothing at all wrong with fooling everyone else, including a publisher, if you wish. I've known a fair number of writers who do just this. If you're using a pseudonym for privacy, or to protect a job, then you need a fake bio to go with the name.

Readers assume that when a writer has always used the same name, has a photo and a bio to go along with that name, then it's all true. This is not necessarily so. Some writers have gone decades without being outed, and at least a couple seemed to have died, and no one knows who they really were, even now.

When I do have to write a serious bio for a pseudnym, each is completely different. It wouldn't make much sense to use a pseudonym for privacy, and then have the bio for each read the same. Each book is also registered with the copyright office under the pseudonym.

Why even do a fake bio? For privacy? Might as well just not provide one at all. I dislike dishonesty unless it's for satire purposes (like the "son of Zeus" one).

Besides, I believe the OP is asking what happens when you have to provide a bio to a prospective agent -- that's one of the things they ask. I would NOT suggest you make one up for a pen name to send to a potential agent. It serves absolutely no purpose to tell an agent "I'm Julie Goldberg and I've been a nun for the past 30 years."

I once used the bio - ...washes cars for a living.. This followed my pen name name. Poets! Can't live with them and you can't kill them with onomatopoeia.

I agree with The Ray. You should be honest...unless of course you're going for a comedic slant. I love reading little comedic bios in some journals, etc...but if you are doing a writing bio---don't lie. You can include certain credits with a pen name and omit them from your real name bio...but to make credits up would be wrong.

bios for potential agents are supposed to list your credits and experiences anyway. Who cares if you live with three nuns and six dogs and wash cars for a living (well, okay, maybe I do... but not if it's not real).

Jamesaritchie said:

When I do have to write a serious bio for a pseudnym, each is completely different. It wouldn't make much sense to use a pseudonym for privacy, and then have the bio for each read the same. Each book is also registered with the copyright office under the pseudonym.

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Every time I write a bio, it is slightly different, but I seriously doubt I am the only magazine writer in California with a husband and a kid, and I also seriously doubt that people are comparing bios trying to nail the pen names to the real people. Besides, the truth is easier to remember.

keeping a separate bio list would be easy enough. I keep separate bio lists for my actual name. I have one list for me, the poet---one for me, the freelancer---one for me, the fiction writer---one for me, the playwright, etc. You could do the same thing for you, the pen-name writer and you, the real-name writer. And never include the same credits on each bio.

WildScribe said:

Every time I write a bio, it is slightly different, but I seriously doubt I am the only magazine writer in California with a husband and a kid, and I also seriously doubt that people are comparing bios trying to nail the pen names to the real people. Besides, the truth is easier to remember.

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the mentioning of family has never been something I personally would consider. it drives me crazy when every single person on wheel of fortune says, "i have a beautiful wife", "i have a handsome husband", etc, etc, etc. just once i want to hear them say, "my big fat husband is at home greasing his rifle and makin' a mess of my kitchen table, Pat".

to each his own, but i try to keep it all writing related.

I NEVER mention my personal life in my bio. First of all, it's none of your business. Second, I'm not that interesting. Do you really want to know I'm just like everyone else? Now, having a fat wife at home greasing my rifle and popping out six babies at a time could be interesting... but that's not my life.

maestrowork said:

I NEVER mention my personal life in my bio. First of all, it's none of your business. Second, I'm not that interesting. Do you really want to know I'm just like everyone else? Now, having a fat wife at home greasing my rifle and popping out six babies at a time could be interesting... but that's not my life.

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qft. that's why i keep it all relating to the task at hand. even the type of writing in a lot of cases.

It's like a job interview... we talk about our backgrounds and job-related experiences, skills, etc. I never had to talk about my family or personal life when I interviewed for a job. In fact, it's ILLEGAL in the US to ask about people's personal life. I don't see why a bio would be any different.

If you want them to know all about you, link them to your Facebook account.