When is a pen name too "out there"?

Figure out what you'd like to use and then run it by your agent/editor when that time comes. They'll have input on the topic and will have a better idea what's "too out there", since the name on the cover is part of marketing too.

If readers like your work, no name is "too out there" for them to remember.

They will always have an opinion. I have several friends whose editors suggested they adopt a pen name, then worked with them to come up with a good one the author could live with.

Pick one, use it, and if there's a problem/question, editors and agents aren't shy about bringing it to your attention.

Never, says Lavender Ironside.

Ask Phoenix Dirk Dark (christened Dirk Steele)...

FWIW, I like Virelai. I tend to like or dislike names according to how they look written (typed, whatever) rather than worrying about how to pronounce them. This one looks pretty.

When you sound like you should be a Bond Villain/Bond Girl?

It's waaaaaaaaaay too much.

I don't know how to pronounce it, and that's kind of a turnoff for me. It wouldn't necessarily make me not buy the book, but it would make it harder for me to search for it on Amazon and if I wanted to recommend it to friends, I'd have to settle for, "I have no idea how to pronounce the author's name."

Might be a minor thing for most people, but I tend to think something spellable and easily to remember is good.

If the pen name was silly, I might roll my eyes. But it wouldn't stop me from buying the book.

Your pen name should be easily recalled and relatively pronounceable. As Kaitie mentions above, imagine a potential reader asking a bookstore clerk about "this cool book I heard about...the author's name is Victoria...Virginia...something with a V." Makes it that much harder to get your book into that reader's hands.

That is a practical consideration, but I'm not sure it's really that important. Remember when Hollywood used to make all their stars/starlets/wannabes change their names to something very easily pronounceable that fit on a marquee nicely? The change away from that doesn't seem to have hurt Jake Gylen...Gillen...Gilan...Gyllenhaal all that much.

On second thought, I see your point.

I started using a pen surname because my previous legal last name, pre-divorce, was very difficult for people to spell and pronounce correctly. (post-divorce it will still be an annoying name for other people to manage, so I'm sticking with the pen name.) I think relative ease of spelling (finding on a shelf) and remembering (asking a store clerk for help/googling for hints) are important factors in an author's name, whether she's considering whether to use a pen name or whether to keep her legal name on her work.

I think pronounceability of first names tends to be less important than surnames. Alphabetizing is done by surname, so that's going to be the most important factor for a potential buyer searching for your book.

I am note sure that it matters if a name it 'out there' (obviously), but it might be good if it is easy to spell from memory

DigitalGhost said:

Hi everyone, got another question. I'm planning to use a pen name, and my favorite pen name possibility is rather unusual - the first name Virelai, probably paired with a more mundane one-syllable last name. Virelai is a French name, meaning a certain type of musical stanza, so I didn't make it up, but I'm wondering if it seems too out-there to make a good pen name. (You know. Sort of like Crimson Tempestt or something.) Is there a good litmus test to tell if a pen name is too weird or too unbelievable? Thanks!!

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I didn't read any other comments, so mine is coming in a vacuum:


Check out the part in bold, and ask yourself the following:

1. is anyone likely to have any idea who or what this is?

2. If they do, are they likely to assume it pretentious rather than deep, clever, or intriguing (I did)

3. Is this going to do you ANY favors when you're hoping a reader will be able to type the name into amazon and look you up, but they have to spell it from memory?



in case you didn't guess, my impression would be it was done for effect by someone either pretentious or worse, convinced they needed to pretend they were to be a "serious author". From the business side people are going to be less likely to remember that and correctly enter it in a search bar that out than "Tom Davis". Other than "really liking it", which can be a perfectly valid reason so long as you're content with whatever risks it carries, I see no plus to this one.

DigitalGhost said:

Virelai is a French name, meaning a certain type of musical stanza, so I didn't make it up, but I'm wondering if it seems too out-there to make a good pen name.

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It's not that is seems 'to out there' because I have a kid in primary school, and all those kids have weird names.

There are several things - firstly, what are you trying to convey with you pen name?

2. I have no idea how to pronounce it, and so I would feel like an idiot asking for it in a book shop.

(You know. Sort of like Crimson Tempestt or something.) Is there a good litmus test to tell if a pen name is too weird or too unbelievable? Thanks!!

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Personally, I feel that if it's unpronouncable by my mum, or if it sounds like a porn name, then it's not a good choice.

I like it personally, but as a former bookseller, that's going to cause a wee bit of problem when people walk up to the customer service desk looking for your book. I'd definitely have a last name that's easier to wrap your head around.

As another former bookseller, I will second the above. Book chains tend to have proprietary programs that get pretty old before they're updated. Having a misspelling or close spelling correction feature is unlikely--the name or title has to be spelled right to find it.

On the other hand, people coming to the desk asking for books often forget the author's name no matter how simple it is.

ETA: They also forget the title. But they can often tell one the color and sometimes the size of the book, and every once in a while who the author is related to . We actually found a book for a lady once from, "I don't know the author, and I don't know the title. But I do know the author's husband was some kind of war correspondent who got killed in Vietnam."

If it makes me roll my eyes faster than Lemony Snicket, then you have a problem. Also consider that one of the first things I associated with Virelai is Virulent / Virus. I could see Virelai being the name given to a population infected with a zombie-virus.

FWIW, if you want a pen name, then start a blog using that name. That way when agents Google you, and they will, it will show up as an established part of your writing. The name I use is unusual, as it's a nickname, but it's what my blog is registered to, and its how I'm known online. Changing it for something more mundane would be counterproductive.

I would say choose your pen name and don't worry about it.

If your main audience is going to be French, I suppose it would be perfect. I don't think I would be able to remember it. And that's what your goal should be, make it memorable.

Thanks. The only reason I included the detail of the Virelai's meaning was to make it clear that it's an actual name and not something I just made up. I don't care if people know what it means, and I'm not using it just to be "deep," I just like how it looks on the page and how it sounds. (It's pronounced veer-uh-lye. )

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I have to agree with the others about it being difficult to remember. Because it is. Until I saw you put the pronunciation, I wasn't really able to process it in a way I could remember. As a reader I wouldn't be able to remember that (even if you did have a simple last name.)

Not to say people can't learn. Before Teherah Mafi got her book deal, her name (it's her real name) really threw me off, and it took me a while to learn it. But I have just from perusing her blog. And I can bet a lot of people will be confused about her name for a while, but enough of them will learn that it won't be a big deal.

My suggestion for you is to keep the name but find an alternate spelling that's a little more popular or digestible. Change it to Veeraly, Veraly, Veeralie, etc. If your book is going to be published outside of French-speaking areas then it would be better to find something people can remember.

Hope that helps,
-Mandy

Alice Sheldon (aka James Tiptree, Jr., her main pen name) won the Nebula for her story The Screwfly Solution, which was first published in Analog under the pseudonym Raccoona Sheldon.

Raccoona.

Shelley

I agree with those who have said to keep it simpler, memorable, and pronounceable.

Though I have played the word virelai as a Scrabble bingo a couple of times at my club and in tournaments, I didn't know what it meant until your post.

Beth

I thought Virelai was fine. It's normal to look authors up by last name, anyway. Of course, if you chose Smith as a last name, then people *have* to be able to spell Virelai, or at least reliably remember it begins with Vir. There are pages and pages of Smiths in any English-language book look-up system. Best to avoid Smith.

So it's doable, but possibly not optimal.

NOTE: I've always planned to base any nom de plume on where I'd end up on the bookstore shelf. In most sections a last name starting with B will get you at eye level. A last name close to Rowling will get you into a popular spot, as will a last name close to Patterson. In fact, Jane Patterson would probably be ideal for a thriller/mystery writer. Possibly actionable, but hey...

By the way, thriller writers, I'm not planning on using Jane Patterson, so it's up for grabs .