The Name of the Author is the Name of my Name

Unless the editor's on the line, waiting for your decision, think about it a bit.

I'd vote for your middle name and last name.

chiouxy said:

I share a name with a fairly renowned scholar, William R Ferris. He does not write fiction. Nevertheless, if I Google the name or search Amazon, he comes up frequently.

I like my name, but don't want to confuse readers. Therefore:

Is the difference in genres enough to let me remain William Ferris?
If not, could I just add my middle name (Thomas) middle or initial?
Could I go by Bill?
Or should I come up with a pen name?

Click to expand...

I'd go with adding your middle name just because I think "William Thomas Ferris" sounds like a writer's name. It reads well. Or you could go by "Bill." You could even go by "William T. Ferris."

Some ideas:

William T. Ferris
W.T. Ferris
Will Ferris

Or just "Ferris", and people will think you're a big wheel!

(Sorry, I just couldn't resist.)

hey, my middle name's thomas, too.

William Thomas Queeface?

you know the restraining order states that you can't get within three posts of me.

Ah make mah own rooz, Haskins. Ah make mah own rooz.

chiouxy said:

I share a name with a fairly renowned scholar, William R Ferris. He does not write fiction. Nevertheless, if I Google the name or search Amazon, he comes up frequently.

I like my name, but don't want to confuse readers. Therefore:

Is the difference in genres enough to let me remain William Ferris?
If not, could I just add my middle name (Thomas) middle or initial?
Could I go by Bill?
Or should I come up with a pen name?

Click to expand...

How about calling yourself Bob?

My extremely common last name combined with my first name is also the name of a well-known, outspoken gay congressman. Also, a very well-known children's singer has the same name.

Hasn't caused me a problem.

Still, I read Congressman Joe McDermott's biography, and I have to wonder what life would be like if I wasn't always thinking about girls.

"Joe earned a Master of Public Administration from the University of Washington and holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science from Gonzaga University. McDermott is a third-generation resident of West Seattle where he lives with his partner, Michael, and is currently serving as President of the Board of the West Seattle Helpline. His civic activities and memberships include the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce, Vashon Allied Arts, and the Highline Historical Society. A runner, Joe finished the 1993 Portland Marathon."

Um... I've sold a book! I've made fun of people who run marathons! I've... nevermind.

I went to see if I could register a web site with my first and last name as the domain name, and found it was already taken--by a guy who is a writer in LA with several TV scripts and a nationally-released movie screenplay to his credit. Yikes.

Pen names for me, I think.

...names...

chiouxy:

I’ll second James Ritchie’s advice. “William Thomas Ferris” both differentiates you from the other guy and sounds cool.

Turns out my own names are utterly common, and the first and last happen to be those of Ireland’s most famous SF author, which may explain my popularity there, ha ha.

Of course when I started writing I did so under my most-commonly used middle name, in its diminutive form, which now happens to be the name of a popular and successful screenwriter.

I’m hoping that that one day I will be mistaken for the latter fellow and a large envelope filled with cash will appear in my mailbox, along with a request for one of my scripts.

Cheerio--