I've often wondered why people would want to write with a different name. I guess this is the place to ask...
What's the purpose of a Pseudonym?
- Thread starter nancy sv
- Start date
- Status
There's lots of threads around here about this (the search function comes in handy), but the short answer is:
Hard-to-pronounce real name
Writes in two or more genres
Anonymity
and the kicker: Just 'cause.
Hard-to-pronounce real name
Writes in two or more genres
Anonymity
and the kicker: Just 'cause.
pseudonym
1. Because you write in more than one genre, and don't want to confuse readers.
2. Because a publisher "owns" the name you're using.
3. Because you don't like the sound of your real name.
4. Because you share a name with an already famous writer.
5. Because you'd rather not have co-workers, etc., know you're publishing novels.
6. Because you've sold novels that tanked, and you want to start over.
7. Insert personal reason here:
1. Because you write in more than one genre, and don't want to confuse readers.
2. Because a publisher "owns" the name you're using.
3. Because you don't like the sound of your real name.
4. Because you share a name with an already famous writer.
5. Because you'd rather not have co-workers, etc., know you're publishing novels.
6. Because you've sold novels that tanked, and you want to start over.
7. Insert personal reason here:
- Joined
- Feb 15, 2007
- Messages
- 449
- Reaction score
- 81
- Location
- I was born under a wanderin' star...
- Website
- www.myspace.com
Its a porn star thing...
Plausible deniability!
I like my anonymity. Given the right circumstances I could deny that I am the 'celebrity star writer' they (the fans) are trying to hound.
Also, I like the 'Mark Twain' thing, so I've devised a named that is me only it's not.
Also, having recently heard about the Dean Koontz thing, I like the idea of having several best sellers on the list at the same time - with different author names.
All part of the service of 'amuse-a-reader'
Plausible deniability!
I like my anonymity. Given the right circumstances I could deny that I am the 'celebrity star writer' they (the fans) are trying to hound.
Also, I like the 'Mark Twain' thing, so I've devised a named that is me only it's not.
Also, having recently heard about the Dean Koontz thing, I like the idea of having several best sellers on the list at the same time - with different author names.
All part of the service of 'amuse-a-reader'
Last edited:
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2006
- Messages
- 4,048
- Reaction score
- 1,781
King wrote under the name Richard Bachman (and hired a face for the name) because he wanted to see if his stories would be received as well. They weren't.
When the public found out that the Bachman books were Stephen King books they sold ten times what they had before.
I don't write under my name because I hate my name, I'm hiding, and I like using a name that when googled it doesn't bring up anyone but me! AH HAHAHAHAH...erm, sorry. I get carried away with myself at times.
When the public found out that the Bachman books were Stephen King books they sold ten times what they had before.
I don't write under my name because I hate my name, I'm hiding, and I like using a name that when googled it doesn't bring up anyone but me! AH HAHAHAHAH...erm, sorry. I get carried away with myself at times.
Well, there was much more to the King story. The stories he wrote under the Bachman name were not the same type of stories he wrote under his own name, and this was the real reason for the pseudonym, not some desire to see if he could sell as well under a different name.
The writing was just as good under the Bachman name, but the stories just were not.
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2005
- Messages
- 43,746
- Reaction score
- 8,654
- Location
- Los Angeles
- Website
- www.amazon.com
- Joined
- Nov 3, 2006
- Messages
- 372
- Reaction score
- 26
- Location
- The pacific NW
- Website
- ingemarwrites.wordpress.com
Marketing sometimes has something to do with it. I've heard of authors choosing a pseudonym because of shelving reasons, or because there are too many writers out there with (for example) the last name "Smith." (Or what-have-you) In that instance, a unique or less common last name could give an author with a run-of-the-mill last name a better position.
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2006
- Messages
- 4,048
- Reaction score
- 1,781
Not to turn this into yet another KING thread, but there were several reasons for King to use the Bachman name. Not the least of was because publishers of the times insisted that writers shouldn't release more than one book a year. King convinced his publishers to release his early work (3 of the Bachmans were written before Carrie) under the pseudonym so he could publish twice a year. I wholly disagree that they were some sort of experiment in style. King is so diverse there is nothing he could write that wouldn't be accepted as KING. However I'll accept that he felt the first Bachmans weren't up to the standards he had by then designed for himself and was willing to mislead the public to get those works out. After Bachman was a someone, he used it not to publish a new style but to write under a new persona. Hey, this is King we are talking about.
But as not to drag this too far from it's topic, those are another four reasons to write under a pseudonym. Test the market, test a style, over publish, and to crawl into another person while you write...sort of acting while you write.
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2005
- Messages
- 811
- Reaction score
- 192
Not to turn this into yet another KING thread, but there were several reasons for King to use the Bachman name. Not the least of was because publishers of the times insisted that writers shouldn't release more than one book a year. King convinced his publishers to release his early work (3 of the Bachmans were written before Carrie) under the pseudonym so he could publish twice a year. I wholly disagree that they were some sort of experiment in style. King is so diverse there is nothing he could write that wouldn't be accepted as KING. However I'll accept that he felt the first Bachmans weren't up to the standards he had by then designed for himself and was willing to mislead the public to get those works out. After Bachman was a someone, he used it not to publish a new style but to write under a new persona. Hey, this is King we are talking about.
But as not to drag this too far from it's topic, those are another four reasons to write under a pseudonym. Test the market, test a style, over publish, and to crawl into another person while you write...sort of acting while you write.
Contributing to the hijack--I disagree they weren't experiments in style. The Bachman books are very different from what most people think of as King's work. For one thing, they tend to be darker. The biggest difference is that King usually has some sort of hopeful/happy ending. The Bachman books do not.
As for the OP's question, I have two pseudonyms. Mainly because I want to keep my published life very separate from the rest of my life.
I write fiction under Bartholomew von Klick.
I writen non-fiction under Bartholomew Klick.
No particular reason why.
A pseudonym might function to keep Homeland Security off your ass just long enough to get across the border.
caw
caw
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2006
- Messages
- 9,709
- Reaction score
- 2,054
- Age
- 48
- Location
- uk
- Website
- www.lukewalkerwriter.com
I'm using them for privacy's sake. I'm one of those people who won't sign a release saying the hospital can acknowledge my presence on its census for visitors. I have so many pseudonyms, my e-mail account list looks like the yahoo member directory.
Missed one veryimportant one. Where publishing under your real name might have a negative impact on getting your writing published and/or getting people to read your book. Female authors long faced this problem and avoided this by having works published under names that sounded either genderless (think the Bronte sisters) or sounded male (after all, the true first name of Silas Marner was not George. This might not be necessary for modern female authors, but you can bet an individual with a name like, oh, "Ali el Omani" might seriously consider something along the lines of "John J. Smith" as a pen-name.
If I wrote or posted here under the name of Russel Crowe I would never get any work done. That's why I chose JJ Cooper.
JJ
JJ
- Status