Moving on from Pseudonym/Re-inventing Writing Career

I am posting this to ask about what I should do about my work published under my pseudonym, along with my blog, Goodreads account and everything else, as I seek to move forward with my writing career under my real name.

Here's a background:

I self-published a book, a vampire one, in September 2012. I used a pen name (real first name, not my real last name) and did the whole social media and blog. My book did so-so, with sales and reviews. I intended to write a trilogy out of my vampire idea.

But my first experience in being a published author changed everything for me. I learned a lot about what it means to be a writer, exactly how to write a story, and what I really want to do as writer. In the spring of 2014, I put aside my sequel and left writing for several months to grow as a person and as a writer.

Eventually, I would work on my sequel on and off, starting again in the winter of 2015 until earlier this year. Part of the reason why I've been having such a hard time completing the sequel is that a) life happens. I ran into a lot of crap over the past few years. b) I've been really tough on myself with this book because I think I could've done so much better with my first book, and I wanted to make sure everything made sense. I had a lot of self-doubt with this WIP. I think the reason why I set out to write the sequel was to redeem myself as an author, if I could.

Anyway, by the time I was 3/4 done with the sequel, I decided to stop because self-publishing is soooo expensive and I had no way of funding the whole process on my own. Plus, I've been off the radar for so long, and I was afraid of my book selling poorly, thus being a waste of money. Such is the reality of self-publishing. Luckily, I've discovered Wattpad and now uploading each chapter at a time there.

But these days, I want to really move forward on my writing career. I'm calling this Writing Career 2.0. When I started in 2012, I thought I knew what I was doing, but boy, I did not! I now have ideas for novels, plays, screenplays. I recently wrote a one-act play that my writing group gave good points on, and now I'm submitting it to play festivals. I am submitting my poems to magazines, and I am slowly working on a script. All of this is going to be done under my birth name.

So, what should I do with all my work under my pen name? As in, my blog - which has posts that I am proud of because I was open and honest? Should I delete it?

.....

Also, should I add my self-published work to my resume and my portfolio? I really want to move on from it.

OK, I'm leaving a big point out in this post: in November 2012, I wasn't handling the bad reviews to my vampire book very well, and I started a thread here on AW, complaining and whining about how I wasn't a good writer. I then lashed out and said some lousy, rude comments about my audience. Someone saw what I posted, copy and pasted what I wrote, and posted it on my book's page on Goodreads. I got what I deserved for being an immature writer who was not ready to be writer at all yet.

Anyway, I guess that is why I want to leave my pseudonym and my work under that pseudonym behind for good, and why I don't want to finish my vampire books (I know, some might say vampires are passe, but that's a different topic). Sounds lame, I know, but I feel bad for what I did and I guess it will follow me around throughout my writing career. Even if I "left-behind" my pseudonym.

I suddenly don't know why I started this thread. I guess to get things off my chest, since I've been pondering all of this for weeks now. And I am not the writer I was back in 2012, so I do want to start off fresh. Like, really fresh.

I don't know, I guess I am looking for some guidance and support as I seek to launch Writing 2.0. I want to start "promoting" myself as a writer on my personal social media. I want to start blogging again, but I wonder if I should import my pen name blog to a new one?

Any ideas, or advice? Or support or wise words that I need to hear?

Anyway, thanks for reading.

aspirit said:

I have no wisdom to share about your situation but feel for you. Starting over is hard whether or not you use a different name.

Would any of your readers on Wattpad brainstorm with you? Those who do might make a good start for a street team.

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What is a street team? I don't have many readers on Wattpad, so I don't think it would help much.

Thanks StoryofWoe, and frimble3.

Yeah, I'd like to move on from not only vampire stories but my pen name. I really want to see my real name on my work this time around. Although, I do have a couple of paranormal/urban fantasy story ideas, most of my ideas (be it books, plays or scripts) are contemporary, "real-life" issues. But I don't know if I actually will write those paranormal stories, so I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

I forgot to mention earlier that the reason why I am pondering all of this is because I am looking to submit my one-act play to a festival that is requiring my resume. I'm wondering if I should include my vampire book under my pen name as proof that I have storytelling experience. I'm just afraid of them researching me and finding that rude post, and disqualifying me.

But yeah, it happened 6 years ago, so move on.

BTW, frimble3, you're right, I was going through a lot of personal stress at the time, thus why I couldn't handle the negative reviews.

CathleenT said:

Lots of people use different pen names for different genres. David Gaughran, the author of the successful Let's Get Digital, stated that if he could do it all over again, he'd have a different name on his fiction and non-fiction work (he also writes historical fiction). If you're not writing vampire stories anymore, I wouldn't continue with the old name.

Besides, it sounds like that's the choice you'd really like to make.

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Yes, I am ready to move on from my old name.