What to call myself...

MsJudy · Mar 8, 2009

I've just had a realization.

One of my distant cousins married a woman with my same name. She's had a distinguished career in business, breaking glass ceilings and mentoring other women in her field. She also serves on charitable boards and foundations.

So...anyone Googling my name will have a terrible time finding anything about me and my writing. We even live near enough to each other for people to get us quite mixed up.

Which means if I ever get a book published, I will need to use a pen-name.

It never occurred to me before.

It's a little bit freaky, being able to just call myself anything I want...become some other person...sign some other name to books I've poured my heart into...

scottVee · Mar 8, 2009

That's odd. I never wondered what it would be like if my name were already taken. Even with just my last name (Virtes) Googling turns up 99% me.

It's not true that there's automatically a conflict here. If you write mystery, any search with your name and mystery will turn up hits for you, not for the other person. I do tons of searches, and have no real problem sorting out results where one person is a botanist and the other is a financial guru. If you know the other person, you can even help each other out with links on your web pages ... hers would say "Looking for the mystery writer? Go HERE." Yours would say: "Looking for the philanthropist ... go here." You could even put a little note about your relationship. It can be a cross-marketing opportunity.

If only one of each name can exist online, then all the Joneses and Smiths are doomed. In reality, we each rise to some position within our given fields.

Clair Dickson · Mar 8, 2009

There are other Clair Dickson's out there. Several of them that have google hits. They kind of get lost because I have to many links back to my work, but I'm okay with that. ;-)

I never would have considered using a pen name just because there are others with my name. (And some are even spelled 'Clair' without an E, like mine! Which is a much less common variation of the name!)

People will figure out if they have the "right" whoever. No one's going to "confuse" the writer with the whatever... thirty seconds on a website will tell you if you've got the right place.

But it's up to you. If you think it's a problem, then use a pen name. If not, then write on!

SheilaJG · Mar 9, 2009

I don't think you "need" to use a pen name. Look at Jeff Smith - cookbook author, graphic novelist, my brother-in-law, but all different Jeff Smith's.

And are your names exactly the same - same middle name/initial? If she goes by Judy, maybe you could be Judith. If you are married, you could add your maiden name as a middle name or initial.

Or, you could go the Madonna, Avi route and use just one name.

Ah, so many options . . .

scarletpeaches · Mar 9, 2009

What's really freaky is when you have someone with the same name living in the same city and when you go for job interviews or suchlike, your papers get mixed up with hers...

Angela_785 · Mar 9, 2009

Do you have a second name? You could go by that. Or, you could keep your name, but use the initials on your books for your first & second name. (Unless your name is something like I.P. Freely. Then you might want to go the pen name route.)

MsJudy · Mar 9, 2009

Clair Dickson said:
There are other Clair Dickson's out there. Several of them that have google hits. They kind of get lost because I have to many links back to my work, but I'm okay with that. ;-)

I never would have considered using a pen name just because there are others with my name. (And some are even spelled 'Clair' without an E, like mine! Which is a much less common variation of the name!)

People will figure out if they have the "right" whoever. No one's going to "confuse" the writer with the whatever... thirty seconds on a website will tell you if you've got the right place. /QUOTE]

Well, yes and no. I write for kids. Young kids--third and fourth graders. They're not going to do sophisticated web searches. They're going to type in the name, click on the first hit they get, and either find what they need or get confused.

I'm thinking about this because of the SCBWI conference I attended last week. There was a lot of conversation about building your online presence--website, blogs, Facebook, whatever--even establishing it before you get a book published. And the point was to use your name--that's your brand. It doesn't work as well to build your brand around the title of a book, because then it doesn't transfer to all the other books that come after that first one.

So having someone else with a well-established web presence using my name exactly--it's not ideal. It will make much more sense to at least tweak it so mine is different enough that there's no confusion.

I just can't decide who I want to be!

SheilaJG · Mar 10, 2009

JudScotKev said:
Clair Dickson said:

I just can't decide who I want to be!

Click to expand...

Me too! Only my problem has nothing to do with my name

Clair Dickson · Mar 10, 2009

I see your point, but I wonder, do many third and fourth graders search for their authors, anyway? I don't think my second grade nephew does any web searching, even though he was on the computer by the time he was 2. Maybe my experience is off, but do young kids surf the web, or just go the websites that they're given (mattel.com is on the box, webkinz address is on the animals' tags, etc.) If that's the case, you can put your address on your books, and that should help with the confusion, I would think.

Just thinking. I could be completely off.

MsJudy · Mar 10, 2009

Clair Dickson said:
I see your point, but I wonder, do many third and fourth graders search for their authors, anyway? I don't think my second grade nephew does any web searching, even though he was on the computer by the time he was 2. Maybe my experience is off, but do young kids surf the web, or just go the websites that they're given (mattel.com is on the box, webkinz address is on the animals' tags, etc.) If that's the case, you can put your address on your books, and that should help with the confusion, I would think.

Just thinking. I could be completely off.

Depends on the kid, I suppose. I know that some teachers assign kids to send a letter/email to a living author. And some authors have activities on their websites, so kids come back again and again to play the games, which creates a way to advertise when you have a new book coming out.

Websites are also good for advertising author's visits, so having one that's easy to find can be important.

Sweetleaf · Mar 11, 2009

My maiden name is Reid, and I was always getting mixed up with another girl in the same suburb with the same name and a similar birthdate (I used get her library notifications etc). Now I'm married we're the only people with this surname in a city of 1.5 million people.

You could just use your initials if you didn't want something completely different. Or your stripper name, what was that deal? First name as the name of your first pet and last name the first street you lived on. Something silly like that. Mine's Chainsaw Racecourse.

MsJudy · Mar 11, 2009

overtired said:
You could just use your initials if you didn't want something completely different. Or your stripper name, what was that deal? First name as the name of your first pet and last name the first street you lived on. Something silly like that. Mine's Chainsaw Racecourse.

Now that's kind of fun...I could be Beulah Vassar!

The possibilities are what intrigues me, I guess...The chance to reinvent oneself. To create a new persona, like Lemony Snickett.

Jacqueline Woodson was the keynote speaker at the Asilomar conference. The person who introduced her called her "Jackie," and she pointed out that when she's an author, she's Jacqueline. Jackie is for family and friends, and it sounds strange to be called that by people she's only just met.

Names always fascinate me. At my school, there's this whole class system based on name. All the other teachers go by their last names--some even insist that the parent volunteers never use their "secret" first name in front of the kids. But all the support personnel who don't have credentials go by their first names...even if they're 60+ years old.

Now, I started as a classroom aide, then got my credential. So the kids already knew me as Ms. Judy. Seemed silly to change, and I don't much like my last name anyway. So I am the only teacher on campus who goes by my first name. That makes me a flaming radical...

sissybaby · Mar 12, 2009

Wow, I kind of like the pet and street idea. I could be Skippy Troost. Just doesn't sound right, does it?

But my maiden name is Broadway, and my brother writes under that name. And his initials are identical to mine, so that doesn't work for me either. And when you hit a name like Broadway, there's no end to what comes up. It's impossible.

I wish I had the imagination to come up with something like Limony Snickett. That always makes me smile. Which I think is ironic since his books are so scary!

Keep us posted, Judy, on what you decide.

wyntermoon · Mar 12, 2009

LOL, this is turning into a whole 'nother thread:

Talullah Loch Lomand here!

Sweetleaf · Mar 12, 2009

wyntermoon said:
LOL, this is turning into a whole 'nother thread:

Talullah Loch Lomand here!

Oh, you're lucky, that name's fabulous! :Clap:

MsJudy · Mar 12, 2009

sissybaby, I love Skippy Troost. Maybe not for the author, but definitely for a character. Skippy Troost carries a backpack that's too big for him, and he always has scabs on his knees but he can never leave the bandaids alone, and he's really really good at building things with tinfoil and batteries.

Tallulah Loch Lomand owns feather boas in four different shades of scarlet.

This is fun!

wyntermoon · Mar 12, 2009

I am a fan o'alliteration

What to call myself...

MsJudy

scottVee

Clair Dickson

A dark core to every cloud

SheilaJG

scarletpeaches

Angela_785

MsJudy

SheilaJG

Clair Dickson

A dark core to every cloud

MsJudy

Sweetleaf

Momentary lapse of reason

MsJudy

sissybaby

wyntermoon

Sweetleaf

Momentary lapse of reason

MsJudy

wyntermoon