Three Books, Three Genres, Three Pen Names?

CaliforniaMelanie · Nov 7, 2019

Is "genres" even the plural of genre? Is it sad that I don't know that? Oh, hell, I'll just jump in with my question. I really do need to get over my fear of looking like an ignorant jackass in front of published writers.

Here's the scoop:

I have been considering self-publishing a diet book. I think it's a unique idea and take. Self-publishing - the idea of it, anyway - takes some of the heat off the idea of rejection email after rejection email. I'm in a fragile place, man, I'm in a fragile place! 'K? Cut me some slack.

I digress...

Anyway, I was skimming this forum because I literally have no idea where to start with SP. I would imagine I'll be looking at Amazon (Kindle) to start with.

But what I seem to be reading here is that the first book may be a bust, that authors should link multiple books and so on.

That's my dilemma. I have ideas for three books (two are about halfway written). They are in three entirely different genres...genre...genree...gene...yes. Right, that...so...I would be using three different pen names. It would just seem really, really strange otherwise, in my opinion. These are the books I'm writing:

1. A diet book (as I mentioned);
2. erotica - very, very dirty erotica (ooo!) and
3. a ghost story about an autistic child.

There's NO WAY on earth or in heaven that the three shall meet. They HAVE to have different pen names attached to them. So I won't really be able to SP with the goal of having multiple titles, at least until I'm at the point where I have written, say, a second fiction title/novel. (I do not intend to write a second diet book. I want this one to stand alone. But I also want it to be my first, because I'm heavily invested in it, am enjoying it, and it feels less risky to me from a "rejection" point of view.)

What do you all recommend? Should I forget about SP and try for print instead, given the above? I'd love any input! Thanks, if you've read this far.

Al X. · Nov 8, 2019

I'm having a hard time understanding the question. For Amazon KDP, you can have as many different pen names as you want under your author account. A book's author is just an attribute of the book's metadata, and the reader knows no connection between the author name and you, unless you use your own name or otherwise mention it in the text, if that is your issue.

What do you mean by "print" vs. self publishing?

KBooks · Nov 8, 2019

You can also self-publish a print version of your diet book as well, if you want and sell it through Amazon. Is what you're asking whether you should trade publish or self-publish? You seemed to not to want to go through the querying process.

As stated above, you can have multiple pen names. If you're looking to gain traction and have your "brand" catch on, this is going to require publishing multiple books under the same pen name, in the same genre or closely related genres. So like you could be pen name who writes cozy paranormal mysteries and cozy paranormal romances. But--

1. A diet book 2. erotica - very, very dirty erotica and 3. a ghost story about an autistic child.

...are different enough that a reader who picked up the first and clicked on your name expecting more of the same probably wouldn't find what they were hoping for in the second. So I would suggest if your hope is to make a go of it in self-publishing, pick something and go in that direction. OR, if you happen to be one of the lucky ones who can write really fast and produce lots of great books per year, wonderful, and perhaps you can make it work even if you write in very different genres.

Samsonet · Nov 8, 2019

The "don't self-publish unless you have multiple books at once" is specific toward fiction authors who are trying to make money from writing. I don't think I've seen it applied to non-fiction. If you don't care about the money, that's a factor too.

If your goal is just to get the book out there and move on, you might as well go with self-publishing. There's nothing to say you can't publish the non-fiction and query agents for the fiction, either.

CaliforniaMelanie · Nov 8, 2019

KBooks said:
You can also self-publish a print version of your diet book as well, if you want and sell it through Amazon. Is what you're asking whether you should trade publish or self-publish? You seemed to not to want to go through the querying process.

As stated above, you can have multiple pen names. If you're looking to gain traction and have your "brand" catch on, this is going to require publishing multiple books under the same pen name, in the same genre or closely related genres. So like you could be pen name who writes cozy paranormal mysteries and cozy paranormal romances. But--

...are different enough that a reader who picked up the first and clicked on your name expecting more of the same probably wouldn't find what they were hoping for in the second. So I would suggest if your hope is to make a go of it in self-publishing, pick something and go in that direction. OR, if you happen to be one of the lucky ones who can write really fast and produce lots of great books per year, wonderful, and perhaps you can make it work even if you write in very different genres.

Sorry. Yes, this is what I meant. I am reading that in order to gain traction I need to publish more than one book, obviously under the same author name/pen name. But I will be using a different pen name for each genre because they're so drastically different.

I think I was unclear on self-publishing/Kindle. I meant I want to do both: self-publish, and have it be Kindle rather than a printed book.

Thanks, everyone!

- - - Updated - - -

Samsonet said:
The "don't self-publish unless you have multiple books at once" is specific toward fiction authors who are trying to make money from writing. I don't think I've seen it applied to non-fiction. If you don't care about the money, that's a factor too.

If your goal is just to get the book out there and move on, you might as well go with self-publishing. There's nothing to say you can't publish the non-fiction and query agents for the fiction, either.

Well, I do hope to make money off the book. Is it impossible to do without more than one book under the same name? I guess that's the crux of my question.

CaliforniaMelanie · Nov 8, 2019

I wonder whether I should bite the bullet, risk rejection and go with sending queries once I'm good to go.

KBooks · Nov 8, 2019

Trade publishing is going to be more lucrative in most cases. There would be no harm in trying querying first, and if it doesn't work out, you could always self-pub then.

If you can get a trade publishing deal, even with just one book, with an advance, that's money right there. The chances of sustained sales or attention in self-publishing after one book aren't real high. Publishing is just hard in general. The best bet no matter what route you go is to write more books, and to develop your brand. If someone likes your first book, they'll likely want more by you.

But if I'm a lover of cozy mysteries, and I click on your profile hoping for another cozy mystery by you, and all I see is that you've written a horror novel and a diet book, well, that's not going to translate into a sale, because I want more of the same thing I just enjoyed. Make sense?

CaliforniaMelanie · Nov 8, 2019

KBooks said:
Trade publishing is going to be more lucrative in most cases. There would be no harm in trying querying first, and if it doesn't work out, you could always self-pub then.

If you can get a trade publishing deal, even with just one book, with an advance, that's money right there. The chances of sustained sales or attention in self-publishing after one book aren't real high. Publishing is just hard in general. The best bet no matter what route you go is to write more books, and to develop your brand. If someone likes your first book, they'll likely want more by you.

But if I'm a lover of cozy mysteries, and I click on your profile hoping for another cozy mystery by you, and all I see is that you've written a horror novel and a diet book, well, that's not going to translate into a sale, because I want more of the same thing I just enjoyed. Make sense?

Yes, it totally makes sense. Thank you!

CaliforniaMelanie · Nov 8, 2019

So from a publisher's perspective, if this first book made it, it would be a boost that I had been published, even if under a different name? (V. trying to self-publish and people seeing each pen name as a different "brand"?)

I mean I've been published anyway; just never a book (until now, I hope). I've been writing professionally for 20 years. It's primarily been non-fiction, and a large portion over the past 10 years has been ghostwriting, but not all. I started out in a publishing house, actually (associate editor/staff writer).

But I realize books are a whole 'nother animal (as my mother used to say).

cool pop · Nov 8, 2019

I'm an indie, used-to-be trade author. I write in several genres under ONE name. I am also a full-time writer.

My suggestion is to go with what you want to do but don't self-publish thinking it's something to fall back on. It's just as viable of a method of publishing as trade.

As for different genres, readers don't care about that anymore. Many authors write in many genres now under one name. Either the reader will read something or they won't. Some will crossover but you shouldn't expect that. Remember, you are writing for different audiences so don't expect every reader to read everything you write. The only time I would suggest using a pen name is if you write erotica and children's books. You can't write under those two genres under one name. No. But anything else, meh. As I said, unless you are trying to get all your readers to read all these different things, it won't make a difference what you write. I write about 7 genres and getting ready to begin a new one. My audience has no issue with it. As I said, some will crossover and some won't but if they like your writing then you might sway them to try a new genre.

Also, having different pen names is WAY too much work. I've tried the pen name thing. I used to write erotica a bit too and used a pen name for that because I didn't want those stories to dilute my brand. Not that I have an issue with erotica but the erotica I was writing was too far out there, etc. Anyway, it was too much trouble for me. With new pen names, you have to have multiple websites, social media profiles, a duplicate of almost everything. You'll spend more time promoting than writing. Some authors do the, "So and So writing as So and So". That never made any sense to me. If you are gonna write as JD than why tell people you are Nora? Might as well just write the Robb books as Roberts and go on. People already know it's you.

But, yeah juggling pen names can be a pain in the butt and I am too busy with my books as it is. I suspect the difficulty of juggling many genres is why many authors now write under one name. If I had a pen name for everything I wrote I'd have 7 or 8 names! I wouldn't even be able to keep them straight. It might be doable if you only write two genres, but not if you write as many as I do.

With every new name you are starting from scratch. No audience, no brand, nothing. :e2faint:

Ain't nobody got time for that.

Polenth · Nov 10, 2019

CaliforniaMelanie said:
Well, I do hope to make money off the book. Is it impossible to do without more than one book under the same name? I guess that's the crux of my question.

Most self-published authors won't make a lot of money. Those that do make a lot of money don't usually make it quickly. It's some books down the road before that happens. That's something to keep firmly in mind. It's not the path to instant and guaranteed success.

Outside of that, what works for one author might not work for another. Series can do well, but it's not the only way to do things. Your plan might work. It might not. Nobody can really be sure.

cool pop · Nov 10, 2019

Polenth said:
Most self-published authors won't make a lot of money.

This is true for all authors no matter how they are published.

Most trade authors aren't making a lot of money either. Not trying to argue, just saying. When I first went indie, I made more money in the first few months than I had in about two years with the big house. Is that saying everyone will? No. But just saying no method guarantees success.

What I love about being indie is there is no shelf-life to my books. If one flops, I can rebrand, repackage change covers, rewrite, do whatever and put it back out there and give it new life. In trade you have three or six months I believe to get something going and if the book hasn't sold a certain amount then bye-bye. You will be dropped and book will go out of print. In self-publishing books live to see another day always. In other words, a flop doesn't have to stay flop in self-publishing but in trade if the book flops it's dead most likely unless you publish it again yourself. Good luck getting another publisher to want it, etc.

It's hard making a living writing fiction but you gotta be business minded all the way around and disciplined to give yourself the best shot. Success doesn't come quick mostly but some authors get lucky and hit it out the park with their first book. You gotta treat writing like a business if you want to make the big money or hope to one day and you have to learn how to be a damn good marketer even if you aren't publishing your own books. You also have to build a brand that works.

CaliforniaMelanie · Nov 11, 2019

Thank you, everyone, for the info. It definitely helps. I think I may start with submissions instead. If that doesn't go anywhere I'll SP.

MercyMe · Nov 17, 2019

Just my nickel's worth of suggestion: I would query the ghost story/autistic child when it's finished and try to get a trade deal on that one. I would SP the diet book and then see if I could spin the original concept of the diet book into 2 or 3 other books. Journals? Recipes? Special Occasions? (And everything in print so you have another income stream.)

Erotica could be the genre to quickly build your catalogue, but I would go deep cover. In no way link your identity or your pens online and keep it a secret IRL too. Erotica can be short, takes less time to create, and requires little to no advertising to be profitable--but it's sitting there waiting to be found when you get a trade deal. So if you write it, hide it well.

ETA: Oh! In terms of pens--your real name could be used on diet series and the trade fiction book. Think about this though and if you have any wobbles, use a pen for your diet series. Definitely use a pen for your erotica if you plan to pursue a trade deal (and for a number of other reasons). Amazon's Author Central lets you have 3 author pages so you'll have a presence. (You can have as many pens as you want but only 3 author pages where you have your photo and bio, etc.)

Three Books, Three Genres, Three Pen Names?

CaliforniaMelanie

Al X.

KBooks

Samsonet

Just visiting

CaliforniaMelanie

CaliforniaMelanie

KBooks

CaliforniaMelanie

CaliforniaMelanie

cool pop

It's Cool, Miss Pop if You're Nasty

Polenth

Mushroom

cool pop

It's Cool, Miss Pop if You're Nasty

CaliforniaMelanie

MercyMe