Should I "Re-Brand" with a Psuedonym after poor-selling books?

I'm not an agent or publisher (agented and published, if that matters) and my understanding from talking to industry professionals is yes, you'd be better off using a new pen name. Your sales may be fine for small presses, but are likely to look worrying to an agent or editor dealing with large houses. If a book needs to sell 5,000 to make a profit and you have two books selling under 500 each, it'll be difficult for an editor to persuade the marketing team to acquire your manuscript.

I would be honest with agents if you get The Call, though. I'm not sure this is the most logical advice but more moral advice - I wouldn't feel right going into *that* relationship with a deception-by-omission. I sold a novella to a small press while I was agented and I told my agent, who was nothing but supportive. I'm not sure how she would have felt seeing one of her clients advertising a book she knew nothing about.

I'd also say it's a good idea to have separate pen names for different genres, though no need to keep it a secret that you are the same person. I love both horror and comedy so if I enjoyed your horror book I would be happy to buy your comedy book, but I would know which genre I was getting when I looked at your different names. Readers who only want horror can ignore your pen name and not make disappointing purchases by mistake. If you mix the genres, go with the pen name that most represents it; is the book more horror or more comedy?

Earthling said:

I would be honest with agents if you get The Call, though. I'm not sure this is the most logical advice but more moral advice - I wouldn't feel right going into *that* relationship with a deception-by-omission. I sold a novella to a small press while I was agented and I told my agent, who was nothing but supportive. I'm not sure how she would have felt seeing one of her clients advertising a book she knew nothing about.

Click to expand...

IANAL, but as far as I know you can't keep your real name a secret when you're signing contracts. You'd have to be honest eventually, both with an agent and a publisher.

lizmonster said:

IANAL, but as far as I know you can't keep your real name a secret when you're signing contracts. You'd have to be honest eventually, both with an agent and a publisher.

Click to expand...

Oh yes, all my contracts have included my real name as well as my pseudonym. I assumed Patt was already using one pseudonym, but I see on a re-read that may not be the case.

Earthing drives a good point and I have to agree.

I've agonized over this too because I didn't really specialize in a genre. This late in the game, I've decided to use a pen name for my YA series. My small press sales from just about all my publishers have been small to mediocre at best. The older the book, the higher in the millions your rank can get. You might start off as an Amazon best-seller and stay there for weeks but if you slide and slow down in sales it will show. I've always wondered what the big house publishers thought of my track record when they gave it a glance. So yes, I'm going pen name with a certain genre, and to start a new little writer off, even though that writer will be easily identified as me. Notwithstanding, I'm going to do everything in my power to disguise my identity. It can be done, at least for awhile. I really do need a fresh start.

Patt, if you are making this decision and it's relatively the early stage in your writing career, then you have the jump on it and I think it might be a good idea. There certainly is a definitive difference between comedy and horror. Don't make the mistake I made.

ETA: I've heard time and time again that big house editors will not look unfavorably upon small press publications which have low sales. They understand it is the norm. It's the current book that counts. That might be true. But the marketing department is NOT seeing it that, IMHO. Marketing has to evaluate every aspect of the writer's platform, and that does include previous publications and sales. That's why large purchases go to board meetings. Everything matters, especially if there is a sizable advance and marketing campaign involved.

The best of luck and I hope you really get solid fan bases for whatever you write and publish.

pattmayne said:

My real name is Matt Payne, and I publish under that name. I use "pattmayne" online because it's never taken, while MattPayne is usually taken!

So this is kind of fun. I'll have to start brainstorming pen names.

Click to expand...

Oops, sorry for calling you Patt! I actually called you Patty at first before I re-read, so it could have been worse...

Choosing your own name is kind of fun, isn't it?