Met with wonderful agents today (Sr. and Jr. agent). They are awesome ladies. We talked over many things, one of such...the possibility of a pseudonym for co-written work.
Long story short, joint project is currently on sub. They don't want to shop my individual project at the moment because joint project is in the same genre, hence same editors. So...
What are the pros and cons of a pseudonym for joint project?
My feeling is a) it will be more work to come up with another online presence b) no cross-promotion for joint and individual projects if they are published under different names c) since it is same genre it is direct competition, if different names d) won't editors ask to see other work regardless of pseudonym or not? (agents feel they can shop both projects more easily with a pseudonym for joint project)
Thoughts? HELP!
Mods, please move if this forum isn't appropriate. Thank you!
Hey, first off, not the worst situation in the world to have to deal with, so congrats on that!
Some thoughts on your bullet points:
A) It will be more work to come up with another online presence for promo/marketing - so you have to weigh what's the best use of your time. On the other hand, you'd only be doing half the work there, assuming your writing partner can be trusted to pull her share, and that gives you some flexibility. Also keep in mind that if you end up with two simultaneous deals, thanks to using a pen name for one, that's already a heavy workload just in terms of the actual writing, editing and revising - so based on what you know about your own work patterns and ethos, is that kind of workload manageable in the first place?
B) No cross promotion for projects under different names - not necessarily. Depends on the project, what editors/houses you land with, and your agents. From my understanding, noncompete clauses are pretty standard, but that doesn't mean all editors/houses feel the same way about competing works in the same genre. They might not be averse to you using linked pen names (ie, the books are published under different names on the shelves, but you can still link to them on your site and make clear you wrote them). Plus something else to consider....in terms of what YOU want for YOUR career, how do you rank cross promotion over multiple revenue streams? True, worst case scenario you might not be able to publicly direct readers of one book/series to your other book/series in the same genre, but you'll still have two books/series out simultaneously. Again, not the worst problem to have if it comes to that.
C) 'Direct competition' is a bit of a misnomer. What's true for publishers isn't necessarily true for you, the writer. When readers find something they like, they tend to want more of the same. Most readers have favorite genres, and they try to read (or at least look for) as much as they can find in that genre, to widen their options. When publishers talk about direct competition, they mean they don't want readers reading YOUR book, published through them, and then going to a rival publisher to find another book like it. They don't necessarily mean that reading is a zero sum game and readers are only going to read x number of sci-fi books for instance, and they don't want them to fill their quota on another publishers' books. So if the book they buy from another publisher after reading yours is ALSO yours, just under a different pen name, its hardly direct competition for you. You can't compete against yourself. Whether they end up just buying Book A, Book B, or both books, its all money in your pocket either way.
D) Editors WILL ask to see other work regardless of genre if they like your first submission. However, here it just comes down to output. Editors, unlike readers, DO have a quota. They just don't have the budget or space to publish as many books as they'd like, as quickly as they'd like. So sure, they might by your co-written book, and then be willing to buy your solo book in the same genre, but now they have to fit both books into their publishing lineup/schedule, so you're likely looking at a much longer publishing timeline than if you published both simultaneously through different publishers. So ultimately, it just comes down to your output, and what pace you write at. If you can write quality work at a pace faster than a single publisher can easily accommodate, then that's a point in favor of a pen name and another publisher.
