To Pseudonym or Not to Pseudonym

miragefiction

Registered
Joined
Feb 23, 2009
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Website
raecarver.flavors.me
Do most of you write under your real name or do you use a pseudonym / pen name? I'm assuming pseudonym for most erotica writers, but I wanted to ask to make sure. My day-job environment is pretty open-minded (lots of burlesque and theater folk), but my family is pretty conservative. I'm leaning towards using a pen name myself, but I was wondering how you would operate within social media in regards to real identity vs. assumed? I don't have a ton of followers on Facebook or Twitter, but it would be nice to use them as a jumping off point instead of creating new accounts for my new name with a totally blank slate. I'll admit I also don't think I would have the energy to keep up multiple accounts... Anyway, any advice you can give on this topic would be much appreciated!
 

Beachgirl

Not easily managed
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 5, 2012
Messages
3,848
Reaction score
232
Location
On a beach, of course.
I absolutely use a pen name. My day job is too high-profile in my community to mix my career with my writing name.

I have a blog, email and Twitter account in my pen name. I'm awful about keeping them updated, so I'm probably the last person you'd look to for advice on how to do it right.
 

Maryn

Sees All
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
55,438
Reaction score
25,457
Location
Snow Cave
I use a pseudonym, although the way things are I could probably have used my real name. It's just easier not to wonder if the bank teller, my kids' friends' parents, the distant cousins, or the uberChristian guy who mows our lawn knows what I write, you know?

Maryn, whose name is not Maryn
 

Laurasaurus

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2012
Messages
410
Reaction score
36
Location
England
I decided to go with my real name.

I write erotic romance rather than erotica. So it's not UTTER filth. ;) I don't have a sensitive job, and I don't really mind if people I know read it.

I don't know, I might decide I've made a mistake at some point, but I just really wanted to see my name on the cover of a book.

I've noticed some of the writers who do use them seem to list all their different names (along with their real name) on their website and are totally open about them. So obviously not everyone does it as a way to pretend to be someone else, or to keep their writing a secret from certain people.
 
Last edited:

TheRebus

Registered
Joined
May 7, 2015
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Definitely a pseudonym here. For a couple of reasons:

A lot of the stuff I write is female first person, and for a female audience. I always thought that if I could write things without everyone who reads it going 'Well, this is a guy' then I'd know I was getting somewhere with my ability!

Also, I'm also in the process of writing a thriller, which I WOULD want to put my real name on.

(Quite what I'll do if anyone happens to read both and then twigs it's me, I'm not sure! Flat faced denial, probably...)
 

elindsen

Zombie lovin'
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 2, 2010
Messages
6,219
Reaction score
379
Location
somewhere between hell and back
Website
www.augustkert.blogspot.com
My real name is hard to pronounce and even harder to spell. I doubt readers would bother. I also live in a very conservative community. Not that I mind, but my mother is very well known in her church and I don't want anything to come back on her (my town is an everyone-in-your-business town).
 

ZachJPayne

Beware: #amQuerying
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 15, 2013
Messages
1,265
Reaction score
163
Age
33
Location
Warren, PA
Website
zachjpayne.com
I use my real name.

Actually, I was very conscious about how I used my name: Zach J. Payne. Short, simple, and to the point. Not Zachary Payne, not Z. Joseph Payne, not Z.J. Payne (which I actually did use for a while).

It's actually much more low-key than my occasional pseudonym -- Tobias Morgenstern*.


* - I'll write erotica under my own name. Political stuff -- that's what the Pseudo's for.
 
Last edited:

Pisco Sour

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 7, 2013
Messages
902
Reaction score
87
Location
Mad woman in the attic
I use pen names for my two romance genres and oh, am I glad I made that choice. When my debut came out and went viral, I rec'd lots of hate mail BUT it was directed at my pen name. That eventually allowed me that distance between the 'real' me and the haters. An extra layer that provides a modicum of privacy. But initially I opted for pen names bc even when I say my first name people repeat it back incorrectly and never spell it right. I've had issues with passports being wrong, airline tickets... and all sorts of hassle and I didn't want readers to find it difficult to remember/buy my books. As for erotica, definitely a pen name! I don't care what my small community thinks about me. My hubs and I are self-employed so neither of us have to be careful about workplace prejudice, but I have one daughter in primary and one in her first year at secondary school. The impact on them of having an erotica writing mum on the tongues of our small community and therefore at school, is why I have a pen name for my erotica books.
 

Pony.

Aspiring supervillain
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 28, 2015
Messages
3,563
Reaction score
194
A Nom De Plume can also be used in cases where you share a name with another published writer or if you write several genres. If you're known as a writer of suspense/thrillers by one name how disappointed would your readers be to pick up that new book and its a romance novel?
 

LJD

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 12, 2010
Messages
4,226
Reaction score
525
I use a pen name. My family and close friends know what it is, but I don't link it to my real name online. I didn't worry about keeping up multiple accounts because it's not like I do much social media under my real name and I like having my writing identity separate.

Also, my real name is extremely generic and shared by a ton of other people (which has caused multiple problems in the past), and it would be hard to find me on Google.
 

dangerousbill

Retired Illuminatus
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 22, 2010
Messages
4,810
Reaction score
413
Location
The sovereign state of Baja Arizona

StoryofWoe

Sick and pale with grief.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 4, 2014
Messages
1,045
Reaction score
89
Location
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene.
I combined my real name with a fake name that's much easier to spell and pronounce. I don't have a problem with people knowing I write erotica and erotic romance, but I wanted something with a nicer ring to it. I'm not a huge fan of social media, but I can work it when necessary. I probably spend way more time and energy on my author accounts than I do on my personal ones.
 

Satori1977

Listening to the Voices In My Head
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 23, 2008
Messages
5,975
Reaction score
662
Location
I can see the Rocky Mountains
I'm not published, but for erotic romance, I would use a pen name. Mostly because I have a family, little kids, and I would never want what I do to come back and punish them for it. A lot of parents can be really weird about stuff like that. Also, I write in several genres, and would rather use my real name (or variations of) for those.
 

schericunningham

Registered
Joined
Apr 4, 2015
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Website
schericunningham.tumblr.com
I also use a pseudonym for the reasons many others have already stated. I am a teacher - nobody needs to see their child's teacher as the author of their favorite erotic short story! :)

I have a separate email for the pseudonym, a twitter account, and a tumblr. It's not hard to keep up. I tweet a couple times a day, and only post on tumblr infrequently.
 

Hunter S Johnson

It's writing. How hard can this be?
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 29, 2014
Messages
66
Reaction score
4
Dangerousbill's article above is an excellent primer, and kudos for the HowManyOfMe.com site mentioned in his article. My MC has a somewhat common first name, a less common last name, but the combination of the two yields only two people in the U.S. with that name... might need to do a massive "final and replace all", thanks to his insight.
 

daisybun

Registered
Joined
Nov 2, 2010
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
I always use my other name when writing erotica. I also write in the children's market so you can see I would have quite the conflict!
 

BarII

Banned
Joined
Jun 5, 2015
Messages
396
Reaction score
31
This is something I hadn't thought about until now. I write mainly nonfiction. I'm not really published yet and now I'm thinking I should use a pen name. But how practical is that when selling nonfiction articles to magazines? I wonder if they're set up to do that or if they'll just look at my letterhead to find who to credit. And maybe proving what I wrote to others, like an employer, would be too hard. Attaching a pay check to a resume would be weird.
 

anastasiareeves

That weird chick everyone ignores.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 10, 2015
Messages
481
Reaction score
30
Location
Los Angeles
Website
www.anastasiareeves.com
I use a pen name, although I do very little to hide that it's really me - my pen name's social media accounts have my picture on them. I made the choice to use a nom de plume when I was writing for a teen publication (under my real name). It felt better at the time, having them not associated with each other. I didn't start using my real face until long after I had departed the company of the teen publication though.

Very terrible about updating social media but I do have accounts for her in case I ever remember to say something pertinent there.
 

Penguins_are_rad

Registered
Joined
Dec 3, 2013
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Location
That Place Between Sleep and Awake
I use both personally because I have different goals for my writing. My erotica and my romances are under my pen name mainly because I don't want those to be affiliated with my other writing. Which includes comedy, fantasy, YA, and children's. The styles have nothing to do with each other and I would feel absolutely horrible if a young teen was trying to search my name and a list of raunchy bodice rippers came up.
 

AdamArotti

Registered
Joined
Oct 12, 2015
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Like many of the above posters, I also use a pseudonym because my reputation would not otherwise survive in my conservative community. There are many authors that use pseudonyms for other reasons - sometimes just to distinguish between different genres or platforms. Alas, in erotica, I suspect that many, as myself, simply use it to hide behind, which creates many drawbacks in terms of publicity and marketing. Is there anybody hiding behind a pseudonym who has found a way around these challenges?
 

Maryn

Sees All
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
55,438
Reaction score
25,457
Location
Snow Cave
I haven't done it myself, but I understand plenty of authors attend conventions, readings, signings, etc. as if their pen name were their name. "Hi, I'm Mark Twain. There's supposed to be a signing table set up for me. Can you point me in the right direction?" I figure so long as they're not trying to trick and defraud, there's absolutely no harm in living as your writerly persona when you're doing promotion.

Maryn, whose name is not Maryn
 

GracieMalling

Registered
Joined
Apr 12, 2016
Messages
20
Reaction score
2
Do most of you write under your real name or do you use a pseudonym / pen name? I'm assuming pseudonym for most erotica writers, but I wanted to ask to make sure. My day-job environment is pretty open-minded (lots of burlesque and theater folk), but my family is pretty conservative. I'm leaning towards using a pen name myself, but I was wondering how you would operate within social media in regards to real identity vs. assumed? I don't have a ton of followers on Facebook or Twitter, but it would be nice to use them as a jumping off point instead of creating new accounts for my new name with a totally blank slate. I'll admit I also don't think I would have the energy to keep up multiple accounts... Anyway, any advice you can give on this topic would be much appreciated!

If I used my real name, I would be effectively 'outing' myself as a kinky person, which I'm not comfortable doing (at least not right now) so pen name it is.
 

Maryn

Sees All
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
55,438
Reaction score
25,457
Location
Snow Cave
I used to worry about what parents, in-laws, and other relatives would think. Then I worried about what the parents of our children's friends would think. Then I worried about what my acquaintances and sort-of friends would think. And life's too short for that much worrying, you know? So I just chose a pen name and use that.
 

MissyMay

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 6, 2016
Messages
76
Reaction score
3
Location
Everywhere at once.
I definitely plan to write under a pseudonym, although I haven't decided on what it will be, yet. It's kind of exciting to create your own name, albeit a bit worrisome. I wonder if there are any rules/tips about it.