Using a Pen Name?

eldragon · Oct 15, 2006

Does it really matter?

Nobody knows me anyway.

Should I be BAMBI or BRIDGET or Kitten?

Or should I just use my own name and forget about it?

Angelinity · Oct 15, 2006

I use a pen name for my erotica (so far the only genre I managed to get published :Shrug:

)

mulling over several pen name options for the other stuff (if and when it gets published).

if you're only planning to write erotica, it shouldn't matter whether you use your own or a pen name, i guess -- your choice, depending on what you feel comfortable with

Stacia Kane · Oct 15, 2006

I hate my real name, so I love pen names. I plan to create another one for my non-erotic writing, too.

eldragon · Oct 15, 2006

I don't hate my name, which isn't really my name - but my husband's name :note to young girls,"keep your maiden name!!!"

But it's a 5 syllable name that is hard to say and impossible to spell.

Silver King · Oct 15, 2006

I'd go with El Dragoness. It denotes strength and fire and passion. Just the sound of it turns me on, but then again, I'm easy.

eldragon · Oct 15, 2006

El Dragoness? How about El Dungeoness?

Silver King · Oct 15, 2006

eldragon said:
How about El Dungeoness?

Ha! That's even better, especially if you take readers to the darkest recess of your craft...

Stacia Kane · Oct 16, 2006

eldragon said:
I don't hate my name, which isn't really my name - but my husband's name :note to young girls,"keep your maiden name!!!"

My maiden name was just as unattractive as my married name. And since my maiden name is actually my father's name, I've never understood why it's supposed to be empowering to keep it. But that's just me, I guess.

veinglory · Oct 29, 2006

Pen names allow you to choose a memorable and distinctive name that will google well, and separate erotic writing from you other careers where people with "issues" with sex writing can cause you trouble.

kristin724 · Oct 29, 2006

I'm using a pen name for my erotica. I agree with Vein that my prim lifestyle doesn't go well with my naughty writing, and hey it's been fun creating another personality to front a book. It's like a story within a story, and she's even got fans! Dang, sometimes I think she has more fans that me.

I intend to take my husbands name when we get married, but he understands I am keeping my maiden name for my writing. To each his own I suppose.

Sean D. Schaffer · Nov 20, 2006

DecemberQuinn said:
I hate my real name, so I love pen names. I plan to create another one for my non-erotic writing, too.

That sounds like me. I do not enjoy my real first name, and that was one of the reasons I went with the username I'm using now. I think the pen name 'Ian D. Mecantie' will work well for my fantasy writings.

However, I will also be creating a different pen-name for my erotica works, if only so readers will not be confused when they see my pen name, thinking they're buying fantasy when in fact they're buying something else.

Kelly Raine · Nov 27, 2006

I write under Kelly Raine because of the erotica I write, but I also dance under the name of Raine. Serves a dual purpose.

KimJo · Nov 27, 2006

I also write young adult fiction, so I'll be using a pen name for my erotica so the two don't get mixed up. I also use a pen name for my YA, though; I use my real last name (my married name, which I happen to like better than my maiden name), but for a first name I use a nickname I was given back in junior high. A lot of people still know me by that name, though, so it isn't much of a pseudonym. LOL.

MargueriteMing · Nov 27, 2006

Considering the genre, I recommend a pen name. If you ever become well known, you don't want kooks figuring out where you live. Doesn't hurt to be optimistic about success, or to think ahead a little.

You can either end up with people who really object to you, or fall in love with the "you" they think they know. Either one could become troublesome.

Sean D. Schaffer · Nov 27, 2006

I mentioned in my previous post that I had planned upon a pen-name that was separate from my Fantasy writing pen-name.

I think I have come up with one. I'll have to google it first, but the name 'S.D. Wyverrenn' seems to just work for me.

Who knows? I might start posting at the different erotica forums and even here under that name. It flows better than my present username, and is easier (for me, anyway) to pronounce without stumbling.

Also, I think that what MargueriteMing said makes a very good point where Erotica writers are concerned. Her point makes me think of the guy who murdered John Lennon. Stuff like that is a good reason not to use one's real name in writing, and especially so within the Erotica genre.

Using a Pen Name?

eldragon

in a van down by the river

Angelinity

absent

Stacia Kane

Girl Detective

eldragon

in a van down by the river

Silver King

Megalops Erectus

eldragon

in a van down by the river

Silver King

Megalops Erectus

Stacia Kane

Girl Detective

veinglory

volitare nequeo

kristin724

Sean D. Schaffer

Kelly Raine

KimJo

Outside the box, with the werewolves

MargueriteMing

Sean D. Schaffer