DBA - Doing Business As

First, did you change you name on your marriage certificate?

I.E. is your married name your legal name on passports etc. ?

Just have checks and legal documents all done in your legal name, and have it specified in your contracts that your pen name is your maiden name. You can likely have it put in your contract that your legal name is not to be disclosed publicly if there's some reason you want to keep it absolutely secret.

I don't think publishers care that the name you write under is your maiden name. They'll treat it in the same way they treat a pen name. When you make your book deal they'll ask you for your legal particulars so you can be paid in your legal name and then ask if you want to use that name on your book or use another name. Your maiden name will appear on the book as any pen name would appear and your contract will be made out in your legal name.

Perks said:

I guess that's what I was wondering - if I even need to bother establishing 'real world' stuff for my maiden name.

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I think it is just like any other pen name. I warn you it gets complicated though.

Perks said:

So, I write under my maiden name, but all my particulars are in my married name. Does anyone have any advice on building an easy bridge between your two legal personas?

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I sometimes write under my married name, and sometimes my maiden. all I did was to specify who the cheque be made out to, it really was quite simple to do here as everything was still the same - like my bank account and address, and in Ireland at least your marriage certificate is proof of name change - you don't have to do anythign else to change your name here, you can just start to use your married name if you want to - so on the one time I got a cheque made out in my maiden name, I was able to take my driving licence and my marriage cert to the bank to confirm my address and name change, and they processed the cheque, so it wasn't a problem at all.

Just treat it like a pseudonym. No muss, no fuss, no complications at all. I write under several pseudonyms, but all contracts, checks, etc., are in my real name.

shaldna said:

I sometimes write under my married name, and sometimes my maiden. all I did was to specify who the cheque be made out to, it really was quite simple to do here as everything was still the same - like my bank account and address, and in Ireland at least your marriage certificate is proof of name change - you don't have to do anythign else to change your name here, you can just start to use your married name if you want to - so on the one time I got a cheque made out in my maiden name, I was able to take my driving licence and my marriage cert to the bank to confirm my address and name change, and they processed the cheque, so it wasn't a problem at all.

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It was a problem for me as I closed all accounts in my maiden name a couple of years after my marriage and it is v difficult to open an account in another name because of all the rules designed to prevent money laundering. The important thing is to make sure all monies are paid to the identity with the bank account - the rest doesn't matter so much.