Building Author's Webpage - Pen Name or not to Pen Name

There are a whole bunch of threads on it someplace -- try the google search at the bottom of the page. It comes down to preference.

This all sounds like putting the cart way before the horse though. I'd suggest working on the book you want to send out, not worrying about a webpage.

I've gone back and forth on this. You'll need to decide why you think a pen name is good, and then ask yourself if that is a legitimate reason. Like, if my reason for a pen name is, "What if everyone hates my book?" well, it makes sense I'd want to not have my name associated with a disaster, on the other hand, that's a lame reason (IMO) as a reason, to use a pen name.

I decided though that I'd check with those in my family who have read my book, and ask what they think. No idea if their answer will impact my decision, but if everyone in my family sort of seemed to think I should use one, and they didn't want their last name associated with what I've written, then I might use a pen name because I'm on the fence and they have a preference. Or vice versa--they might want the real name and the association with their name.

I dunno.

Oh--as far as the webpage--one reason I got mine up and running despite not yet having a published novel was to get the blog rolling--so that when the book is published there will be 'older' blog posts for curious surfers to read. There are ways to tweak dates on blog posts, but that's not really my style. Getting the page up and occasionally blogging, is. And it got me working on some novellas I want to post there for free.

I've also used it during pitch wars and similar events. I use one website to track activity on my querying. It is sort of head's up as to when to expect a decision on my queries.

K Robert Donovan said:

A key component to establishing a brand is acquiring and using a personal domain. But I don't want to acquire it until I determine the name to use.

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Pen name or not, you don't need to have a webpage or establish a brand before you sell your first novel. In fact, you ought to wait until you can consult with your agent and/or your first publisher.

It's kind of tough to know whether or not you will use a pen name, and what it should be, before you have a publisher, or at least an agent. They're often the ones who will inform you whether or not your name sounds "good" for the genre in which you are writing, or whether it might be too similar to another writer who is already out there, or too common, or too hard to spell, or...

It would be an issue (if Trade publishing) to pick a name and start promoting a novel that isn't published (or even agented) yet, only to discover later on your agent or publisher really thinks a publishing and promoting the novel under a different name would be better.

Seriously, some of the writers I enjoy who use pen names say their publishers suggested them for various reasons. Sometimes it's as simple as changing the spelling of your name or using initials, or deciding whether to include a middle initial or not. Other times it's more elaborate. Gertrude Prudemont may not be the best name for a romance writer, for instance.

If you're going to self publish your work, you may have to do some research on your own to see if there are writers out there with names too close to yours, and do some thinking about whether or not your name is ideal for your genre, or whether or not you want to protect your privacy or anonymity.

Either way domain names are cheap, you can always just snag it and decide whether to make a website later

eqb said:

Pen name or not, you don't need to have a webpage or establish a brand before you sell your first novel. In fact, you ought to wait until you can consult with your agent and/or your first publisher.

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If you're not self-publishing, I'd agree with this. In fact I'd probably agree with it even if you are self-publishing, if the book isn't already done - because Procrastination is the Devil's something-or-other and needs to be guarded against with spiked walls of iron...

ETA: ...and pits of fire.

I think starting a website is fine. The fact that I've been in web development for the past twenty years may have some influence on that opinion.

Like Patty, I have a website with a decent following for my blogs, but the site isn't directly about me or my writing and I think my readers appreciate that.

As far as pen names go, I don't think it matters much these days. I can't see a reason for it, unless your real name is that of a well-known author.

K Robert Donovan said:

Thanks. I didn't know of that feature and found several threads after using the google search.

Note, the webpage is already built and I'm going forward with it. Right now its under review but I'll make it public in a month of so. It's pretty low cost to do it. I've decided to stay with the pen name. Thanks for everyone's comments and input.

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You see, it would take me several months, a lot of tears and a bottle of scotch (I've never drunk scotch) before I could build a webpage... Did you decide about the pen-name?

They are much easier to build than they were even five years ago.

(a few years ago, for work, I built a reasonable--not great, but reasonable--one in 18 hours. It wasn't polished, but... eighteen hours. That was Weebly. Pick a template, drag and drop. Word press is a little less intuitive to me, but has other advantages.)

Pen names are handy because they insulate you from trolls.
With a pen name you have your personal accounts, and your pen-name accounts.


Also, you can use a pen name to partition off different types of work. Write something XXX? Stash that under your pen name: Hugh G Member.
Write some childrens books, put those under another name.

I use a pen name to set the reader's expectations.
When they see Ralph Rotten, they don't expect literature.
They expect something funny or irreverent, or maybe even crude.
I get very few reviews from readers who are upset about the content of my books.
They had fair warning, after all.

Ralph Rotten said:

Hugh G Member

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Goodness me!

mccardey said:

Goodness me!

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Granny looks very pleased, just sayin'.

/derail . . . seconding Ralph Rotten, not from experience but from personal preference (about pen names, to be clear, before the thread goes down a dark path!). Might be a good choice if you're an introvert.

Kat M said:

Granny looks very pleased

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That's her going-out face. She's actually thinking Tsk - young people today.

One nice feature of a pen name is it gives a bit of psychological distance. You can use your platform to build and project the author persona you want, whether it's the person you'd like to be or hate to be but will sell more books, or whatever. It can be as fictional as your characters, and it's entirely under your own control and separate from your real life self. For someone like me, who's embarrassed at their own existence, this can be very appealing. On the other hand there's always the fear of getting doxxed.

"Indianroads" is a pen name (obviously). I used it for quite a few years while I was writing blogs/short stories for my website. Without realizing it, that activity was a ramp-up to writing my first, and subsequent novels, which are published under my real name.

Maybe I should have kept Indianroads for my novels... (Indy Rhodes?) I dunno. That site focused on riding Indian motorcycles, and when I started writing books, the subject matter changed, so the moniker doesn't really apply anymore.

I question the value of websites / blogs in general; as a reader, I've never looked at one. Instead, the product description is what determines whether I'll buy and read the book. Writing more novels seems like a better use of my time.

Today, I'm considering dropping my website and focus my marketing efforts on Amazon and BookBub advertising. I'll write a post about that later today, asking for input on that decision.

I also use my pen name, which is Pia Sophia, although it is actually my first name. I just don't use my last name, for a number of reasons:
- I don't want my husband or future children to ever be in a position where they have to defend themselves for their last name. Our last name is very rare (the only ones in our country that go by that last name is us, and my husband's parents and brother). I write dark stories that can really be seen as controversial. So to protect them I decided not to use my last name publicly.
- I don't want my patients Google me and find these dark stories I've written. Same reason as the first, really, but this one's more to protect myself in way.
- I like the anonymity. I am not a famous writer whatsoever, but I do advertise my work online and therefore am easy to find. I would not feel comfortable to have all this private information online.