Why use a pen name?

[DennisB]

Okay, why would you use a pen name?
(A writer I knew once used to pay the bills by writing smut, so I can understand that. But why in more-or-less mainstream writing?)

[shaldna]

Why not.

Some people just don't want to use their real name.

I know a writer who's a lawyer by day, a well respected one at that, and she's pretty well known in industry circles.

She also writes quite racy chic lit, and she doesn't want those two worlds to collide, so she uses a pen name.

Sometimes it can be a change in genre, maybe you go from childrens books to thrillers and a change in name is a good idea.

Maybe you have the same name as another writer. Or maybe you have the same name as someone notorious. I knew a non-fic writer called Maxine Carr. A couple of years ago she started using a pen name because she didn't want to be associated with a child killer. She later changed her own surname when she got married.

Some names have connotations that overshadow everything else.

Maybe you have the same name as a parent who's also a writer.

Maybe you just don't think your name suits the genre. In my brothers class at school there was a girl called Pretty Butterfly (swear to god). And while a name like that would be fine for some genres, can you imaging picking up a gorey horror with that name on the cover?

[The Lonely One]

Everything shaldna said. Except that I would rather like to read a horror book by Pretty Butterfly.

[DeleyanLee]

Sometimes your name is just hard to spell or has negative connotations. For instance, one writer I know has the real name of Haack--not good on a book cover. A published friend of mine I've known for 20 years has a name that most of her friends (including me) still can't spell right after 20 years. If your friends can't do it, what makes you think a bookstore clerk or a book buyer will get it right?

And, sometimes, you just plain hate your own name and want something different.

[JamieFord]

I think there's an aspirational perception that a pen name is somehow sexy or mysterious, or just plain fun to think of. Fiction is a creative field, why not get creative and have a pen name?

The reality is, you really only need one if your name is already taken by another author, or if your name is somehow distracting. "I think my name is boring" is generally not a good reason. There are arguments of names being too long, too ethnic, too whatever, and most of those are specious arguments.

I say, go with who you are.

[Chris P]

My real name is very common, and there are at least two others actively writing under than name, in addition to a semi-famous university professor.

[Sunnyside]

I have the same name as a dead member of the Rolling Stones. I'm okay with it. Even as a Beatles fan.

[maestrowork]

I have the same name as a dead member of the Rolling Stones. I'm okay with it. Even as a Beatles fan.

Paul McCartney is dead?

[Jamesaritchie]

There are many reasons for using a pen name. One is privacy. That's my main reason.

The primary reason, however, is that some writers are very prolific, and may write in two or three genres. Even if a prolific writer sticks to one genre, a single publisher may not be able to handle the output, but will not allow the writer to publish similar books with another publisher under the same name.

And if you do write in more than one genre, pen names allow readers to know what they're getting from the name alone.

While new writers, and even some pro writers, may take a year to write a book, or two or three years, it's a different story when you can write a book in four months, or one month, or, if you have to, in two weeks or less. I know one writer who has, twice, written 90,000 word novels in a week.

I've been in tight spots, and I've written 12,000 words a day for days on end. Can't do that for long, but some writers can do that, and more, endlessly.

When you turn into a well-established, bestselling pro, you may be able to drop the pen names, as Dean Koontz did, but early on, pseudonyms are often an absolute requirement for a very prolific writer, especially if he's taking on every job he can get, writing for everyone he can. That's why Koontz used eleven pseudonyms early on.

Pseudonyms are also useful for prolic short story writers. Or used to be, when there were more fiction magazines. One entire issue of a well-known SF magazine was filled with stories by the same writer, each with a different pseudonym. The funny thing was all the letters from the readers saying how much they like one writer, and hated another.

I don't spend seventy hours per week at the keyboard as Dean Koontz often does, but I do use a different pseudonym for each genre I write, and I've had two short stories in the same issue of a magazine, each with a different pseudonym.

Many wrietrs also use pseudonyms because their day job demands they do. This is more common than you'd think. It's pretty much mandatory in many fields.

Pseudonyms are also necessary when writing a book that will sell better with a name of the opposite gender on the cover. I once wrote a cetegory romance novel that had to have a pseudonym on the cover. I'm currently writing a western romance that also demands a pseudonym.

[DeleyanLee]

I have the same name as a dead member of the Rolling Stones. I'm okay with it. Even as a Beatles fan.

Paul McCartney is dead?

Paul McCartney was a Stone? :Wha:

[ClaudiaGray]

The fundamental reason I did it: It's fun.

[DennisB]

I was in radio for years. When I was a DJ, I went by Jeff Blaze for awhile (and if you saw me, you'd say that was perhaps the most misappropriate name ever). But most of us adopted a sexy or cool-sounding nom de plume--like Wolfman Jack, The Real Don Steele, Robert W. Morgan, or Jim Dandy.

Music acts never (or very rarely) changed names when they crossed over from one genre to another (though Clapton did call himself Derek in the beginning, and who knows what Prince is these days). I would have thought it would be the same for writers.

[DisobedientWriter]

I did it because my husband works with law enforcement/security and he made me paranoid. Even with a fake name someone can find you if they want to, so it took me a long time to decide. I didn't think it was worth the hassle. As a result, I did waaaaaay too much research on it. Below are all the reasons for choosing a pen name that I found along the way:



Anonymity/security.
To neutralize or change gender for gender-sensitive genres like romance or business (yes, readers still discriminate).
To break into new genres after establishing yourself in another.
Your name is too popular. Think SEO – “search engine optimization.” If your name is Mike Lee or Stephanie Meyer no one will find you.
Your name is difficult to pronounce or spell.
You want a fresh start after your early work flops. I ran into mixed opinions on this one as it can mislead prospective publishers, which is never recommended.

[Wordwrestler]

Another author has my same name, with the same unusual spelling. She owns myname dot com. She writes erotica. I write for kids.

[mtrenteseau]

To neutralize or change gender for gender-sensitive genres like romance or business (yes, readers still discriminate).

Sometimes a woman writing a "man's" genre will use their initials, like P.D. James or J.K. Rowling.

(No one thought boys would want to read a fantasy series by someone named Joanne.)

Personally, I've got a very unusual last name that's very hard to pronounce and spell. If a publisher suggested a pseudonym, I can't say I'd be completely opposed.

[Jamesaritchie]

Music acts never (or very rarely) changed names when they crossed over from one genre to another (though Clapton did call himself Derek in the beginning, and who knows what Prince is these days). I would have thought it would be the same for writers.

Sometimes it is the same. Dan Simmons writes SF and mystery under the same name, but for the most part, readers like to know what they're getting by name alone. Or the writer isn't allowed to use his name for a different publisher. Or he's simply too prolific.

[Rarri]

I'm not sure if this counts, but i intend to use my maiden name, rather than married name. Simple reason being that i would loathe any success being associated with my husband's family (being that married name - as well as maiden name! - are both quite uncommon).

[Lydia Sharp]

I've been using the same pen name for so long now, that I sometimes think of it as my real name. I certainly respond to it like it is. My husband has called me Lydia, more than once, and neither one of us were phased by it.

I think some writers make the false assumption that a pen name equals a fake persona. It doesn't. You still have to be you. I don't care that people know I use a pen name, and I don't care if you know my real name, either. Call me whatever you want, my writing is the same.

[Alexis Nash]

I'm using a pen name 'cause I'm planning to be a forensic anthropologist, and I'm not sure if too many other scientists would take me seriously if they knew I also wrote action/adventure, horror, fantasy, and political fiction. Also, my last name is long and, well, kind of odd, so I figured I'd use a name that's more mainstream.

[Viktor Night]

I know someone who shares her name with an 80's adult film star and another who's related to (and named after) someone who was a big shot in industry and politics a few generations back. If either of those people wrote under their own name, they'd never see the light of day in a Google search.

[10trackers]

Add me to the list of people with names that are impossible to spell/pronounce. Not only my last name, but first name too. Thanks, parents! :D

[shaldna]

Add me to the list of people with names that are impossible to spell/pronounce. Not only my last name, but first name too. Thanks, parents! :D


my sister in law has a hebrew name and I still can't spell it.

one year when I was writing the christmas cards with my mum she asked how to spell it, and I said 'just put Mavis' and my mammy laughed and did. and it sort of stuck, so in writing she is always mavis.

[jodiodi]

I like having my privacy. My personal life is totally separate from my 'public' persona. So if I flop flatter than a pancake, I won't bring shame on my family and our name.

[Lyra]

I had to use a pen name at one point because of a contractral obligation with a magazine I was writing for at the time. For that type of material, they wanted it to seem as if I *only* wrote for them.

[Manuel Royal]

There's already a novelist with the same name as me, down to the middle initial. Also, I like the idea of being able to someday have a fan base while still leading an unnoticed, unaccosted private life under my own name.

[EFCollins]

There's already a novelist with the same name as me, down to the middle initial. Also, I like the idea of being able to someday have a fan base while still leading an unnoticed, unaccosted private life under my own name.

This, except I openly acknowledge my real name. I doubt I shall ever be of the caliber to get a true stalker (there was one guy, but that was before I was Effie Collins and before I'd ever published anything too), and even so... there are 276 Ellen Collins' on Facebook alone. I seriously doubt anyone could find the right one if they ever wanted to. Even if they did, I live in the remotest area ever and even people who live nearby have trouble finding it. :D

And if all else fails, I have several guns. And knives. And one sword, but that is emergencies only. (And no, I'm not joking. You can't live in the woods and not have a gun.)

[Manuel Royal]

And if all else fails, I have several guns. And knives. And one sword, but that is emergencies only.Hm. I've got several swords, and one gun. (Though that's really my girlfriend's.)

I take a certain pride in my pen name gradually showing up in more places. Unlike my real name, Manuel Royal is something I chose.