Once in a while I’ll hear somebody ask this question. Many writers prefer publishing under their real names, taking full credit and full responsibility for what they spent so much time creating. And that makes a lot of sense!
But there are many good reasons to use a pen name, and here are a few of them. If you’re deciding whether or not to use a nom de plume, it may be food for thought.
- Someone pretty famous already has your name.
This is my story. I always intended to publish under my real name. But right before I signed my first book contract, I thought, “You know, I should Google my name just to see what comes up.”
It turns out that I share my legal name with a porn star who was very popular a while back. Since I was publishing a steamy romance, I felt like people might think she was me.
It’s funny, because I take the longest time coming up with names for my characters, but I settled on “Bryn Donovan” after about one minute of consideration.
One of my favorite songs, “Bryn” by Vampire Weekend, inspired it. So now it’s my theme song! I even use it as a ringtone sometimes – it’s perfect for that.
- You want to own Google and Amazon searches.
This can be related to #1. However, just having a common name can keep you from coming up to the top of a Google search, and from being the only author on Amazon with that name.
- Your gender is a marketing liability.
If you’re a woman who’s writing a bunch of thrillers with a male lead, a la Ludlum’s Jason Bourne books, it’s going to be harder to get guys to read them if you publish under an obviously female name.
Conversely, if you’re a man who’s writing genre romance intended for a predominantly female audience, your male name is going to be terrible for sales.
- Your name isn’t that marketable, period.
Some names are difficult to spell or pronounce. Others aren’t a tonal match with the kind of writing the author does. If you have a very old-fashioned name, for example, you might want something sleeker for your hard scifi novel.
- You just don’t like your real name.
Lots of people feel this way about their names! Publishing (or blogging, for that matter) can be an opportunity to pick out your dream name.
- You write more than one genre.
Many writers use one pen name per genre so that they don’t dilute their brand. It makes sense: the people who love your horror novels may have no interest in your sweet young adult novels, and vice versa.
- You have professional or personal reasons for distancing yourself from your work.
A kindergarten teacher or a minister, for example, is unlikely to want parents or parishioners to know that she’s writing and publishing erotica in her spare time.
A lawyer who writes novels about law offices in his spare time might want to keep that secret so that people will still trust him.
A private person might just want to avoid having people talk to him about his work.
Many people are under the false impression that using a pen name makes taxes complicated. It doesn’t at all, at least in the United States.
You don’t have to form an S Corp or an LLC to use a pen name. Royalties get paid to your real name, and you claim them like any other income. Your pen name doesn’t even figure into it.
Whether you choose to use a nom de plume or not is your personal choice, and nobody else has a right to judge.
Do you use a pen name? Or if you’re publishing in the future, do you intend to? If so, how did you come up with your name? I’d love to hear all about it in the comments. Happy writing!
I use a pen name because I have children’s books published under my real name with my daughter. I plan on writing steamy romance so some separation was thought necessary. I also work with kids in my day job so I definitely needed separation.
Ironically someone else has recently used my real name to publish steamy stuff. Goodreads had happily put it with my children’s books. I requested they remove it. I always have to ask them to add my stuff to my name. Funny how that works.
Oh my goodness… that is really funny (and annoying, I would think!) that someone else was writing steamy stuff with your real name on it! I hope Goodreads moved it!
Dear Bryn,
I want you to know I love your pen name you picked it has a very beautiful sound to it. I actually picked mine with one thought in mind, my children’s privacy. they go to a private religious school and I have lived a very different life then they and i do now. I put a lot of past into my writing. I picked it simply, by the sound of the my first name initials, ‘R.C Became Arcey and then my real last name. I will tell you I did have an incident with a publisher over it. Initially before I signed any contract she had put my first choiced pen name R.C last name which were really my initials and then my last name. I decided on Arcey later and she refused to change it saying my legal name and R.C were good enough on the contract. Both myself, and my father an established author thought that was fishy after all Arcey would be on the book, but not on the contract. I didn’t sign the contract of course. Happy friday!
Rebecca, thanks so much!
Yeah, with the kids, I can definitely see why you would want a pseudonym! That’s pretty weird about the contract… it’s not like it would be hard to change? I think that was smart of you not to sign!
Have a great weekend!
Anne Hagan is a pen name and I’ve done all of my publishing to date – genre fiction with LGBT themes under it. Everyone I know, knows that I write. It’s just a way for me to keep the personal and the professional separate. I have my normal Facebook profile, for example, that links to my author page but, other than that one link, I don’t promote my books on my personal profile. That’s not what it’s for.
The flip side is, it makes it hard to participate in things like Facebook groups for readers/writers in your genre because a person/profile can but a page can’t. If you use a pen name, you either need a separate profile for your pen name (not technically allowed) or you participate in those things using your real name. I do the latter and make no bones in the groups about the pen name I write with.
I always figured Anne Hagan was your real name. It suits you! I know what you mean about the FB groups… it’s kind of annoying. I always participate with my real name, like you.
I use a pen name because I have a portfolio of marketing content, articles, newspaper columns, and such under my given name. Plus I never really liked my name (still don’t). I use my confirmation name, but I had to shorten it, because if you do a google search using “Catherine Tayler”, #1 on the list is a porn star. I didn’t think that’d be too good for my author brand. 🙂
It’s funny, because in the Young Writers Group I moderate afterschool, we just talked about pen names and why someone might want to use one, and choosing the right one. The kids had a good time coming up with pen names of their own. My favorite was Toot Toot McLumbersnazzle. 🙂
TOOT TOOT MCLUMBERSNAZZLE … hahaha Lynn that is the best!
At least I’m not the only one who shares her real name with a porn star. 🙂
I’ve wondered that myself. Thanks for clearing it up for me – very interesting and makes a lot of sense.
Aw thanks Laurie, and thanks for reading!
I self-published a novel under my real name, and am working on another.
I also write monster erotica as Crea DelRand, which is a mashup of bits of all my names.
At first I was pretty open about writing erotica, didn’t care who knew or what they thought about it, but I thought a different name would be practical because branding genre blah blah blah.
Later it occurred to me that, being a Girl Scout leader and a massage therapist in a conservative community, it might be a good idea not to be so totally flagrant. Also, what if my kids did a google search? Or their friends? Not ready to explain that.
How did I not know about the monster erotica?!?! That’s fantastic!
But yeah, I can see how it wouldn’t mix with Girl Scout leading or massage therapy!
I’m a teacher, so I use a pen name.
I also use a male pen name because I’m writing a vampire hunter story, and if you’re a woman and write vampire fiction people will roll their eyes and mumble about sparkles. My vampires are monsters and I don’t want that.
And I’ve been considering erotica and I will pick a completely separate female pen name for that.
I like the idea of vamps being real monsters again. 🙂
I think that’s a very smart choice for the erotica. I assume almost all erotica is intended for and being read by women… though maybe there are exceptions and I don’t know about it!
I use one for #7 listed above. For myself, because of my job, but also because of my husband’s.
Oh yeah… I never thought about how it could impact his job, I can definitely see that!
So glad I saw this post. I was contemplating this exact same thing earlier today!
I’m in the middle of writing my first novel, which at the moment is posted under the mane ‘Rachel E. Wollaston’ (my real name). I like using my real name, but I worry that it may be a bit of a mouthful. I need a second opinion on whether or not I should change it . . .
Not sure about the whole name, but I like the name Rachel. 😉
I don’t see any reason not to use your name, if you want to, Rachel!
My first thought was your first name is mainstream enough to feel approachable and your full name is unique enough to be memorable. I like your inclusion of the middle initial. When I put your full name into Google today, your links were at the top; when I tried just your last name, the result was a city in Massachusetts. My sister and I use our given names for some work and different pen names to fit genre and fandom. I messaged your site link to a youth librarian I know.
I’m growing a persona for #3. I’d like to test the waters to see if editors have a gender bias. I’ve read posts by a few women authors who say their submissions under a male pen name fare many times better than those submitted using their real name.
Kathy, I’ve done this with poetry! Here’s something I wrote about the experience.
http://thehairpin.com/2014/07/my-nom-de-peen-the-surprising-effects-of-a-male-pseudonym/
In short, I think it’s well worth trying.
Best of luck on your work!
Read it. Enjoyed it. Will try it. 🙂
🙂
I use two pen names, the main reason for privacy, but also b/c I write different genres and I didn’t want my readers expecting a paranormal when I was publishing a western romance. I will soon be taking a third pen name when I release my first historical…I take my pen names by using my granddaughter’s names…They love that I do that.
Oh my gosh Tabitha — I think using your granddaughters’ names is so cool. 🙂
Great post, Bryn. When to use pen names was one of the questions at the Midwest Fiction Writers (Romance Writers of America Chapter 24) event I went to last night, a screening of the documentary “Love Between the Covers.” Your #6, “You write more than one genre,” was mentioned several times. The writers’ panel discussion after the movie included how a pen name can build your readership for your style, story, or series.
Here’s the trailer for the documentary: http://www.lovebetweenthecovers.com/trailer/
And the FB link for last night’s event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1527934700833409/
If I can ever get “Batter Days” finished and published I will probably publish it under the name Julia Carter. The name does not have some sort of deep meaning or anything. I just like the way it looks in script, and it rolls easily off the tongue. So people might actually be able to remember it.
I love your nom de plume! Bryn is one of my favorite names … I’ve actually considered naming what I my kids that (when I, you know, have kids). And Donavon is the first name of a character in a series I read … and he was an awesome character. 🙂
I originally wasn’t going to use a pen name, but I thought I’d better because I’m a minor and my mom didn’t want me plastering my name all over the internet. My pen name (Kellyn Roth) comes from a combination of my first and middle name and my grandmother’s maiden name. I think it works for the genres I hope to write in (historical fiction and fantasy, with some steampunk thrown in). At least, I hope so. 🙂
I think Kellyn Roth is a great pen name: unique, memorable, not hard to spell.
Thank you! 🙂
I write under a pen name because my real name is just blah and also because of the day job. It’s a combination of both my mother and grandmother’s names.
I use a pen name for two reasons, The first is that my legal last name is Czech and not easy to spell, pronounce or remember. The second reason is that it begins with a letter toward the end of the alphabet which results in bookstore placement at the end of the aisle, shelf, or whatever. Readers may never make it that far when looking for something to read. My pen name is easy to remember, it is easy to pronounce and it begins with the second letter in the alphabet. So my reasons for using a pen name are entirely for marketing purposes.
Hey Bryn how are you?
I really like this post, I will be definitely be using a pen name.
Kamora Ava Yuna.
The first reason for it is a huge wink to my mama and second I love the dramatic-mysterious ring to it. Since I’m writing an epic fantasy, I think it goes very well together.
Looking forward for the next WIP!
Love Scarlett.
Hey Scarlett! 🙂 I love that name… it’s so lyrical. And you’re right — it’s perfect for epic fantasy. Can’t wait to see what you’re up to on the next WIP! Have a great week!
I use a pen name to protect my privacy and that of my family. I’ve been planning to use one since before I was married, because my maiden name is shared by an artist who draws nude fairies. 😛
Yeah, if people are expecting nude fairies in a story and they don’t get any, they’re going to get disappointed! 😀
Now I feel like googling “nude fairies” to see if I can guess it . . .
So I am using a pen name for two reasons. My name is weird. My parents combined two normal average names and created mine. My last name is odd but sounds cool so that can stay. Second, I tend to be an introvert. Because my name is so unique my friends and family would know instantly that I was the author. I love them just not all at the same time or in the same room.
Hi Karae! <-- Is that your real name? It's lovely, but yeah, distinctive and unusual. "I love them just not all at the same time or in the same room" -- that made me laugh!
I am writing a short story fantasy book serial. I previous thought of using my real name. How would a “fantasy name” go over in your opinion? For example, “Crystal Lake”… “Amethyst Waters.”
My audience would be New Adult, family oriented.
Thank you!
I have been looking around and reading accounts of people who publish with a pen name as I am planning to publish my latest book with a pen name. It’s a bit of a mix of the genre stuff and the privacy concerns for my kids. Mostly, though, it’s just really tough for me, as an introvert, to be the center of attention. I feel like my books are an opening to my true self and I don’t want everyone to know that part of me as me, you know? I know this is like the opposite of most authors.
I have even considered wearing a wig like Dawn Cook/Kim Harrison for the few events I plan to attend simply to distance myself further. Ha! As if that will be a problem. My first two books were not best sellers by any stretch of the imagination, and I highly doubt this one will be. 🙂 It’s a strange place to be in, that weird middle ground where you want scores of people to connect with your writing and love it, yet you don’t want scores of people to know who you are.
Hi JJ! Yes, a lot of writers like to use a pen name for that reason. There’s a certain amount of being “out there” regardless with the marketing of a book, and I’ve talked to other people who feel that same struggle. It’s a good thing to figure out, because you might write a best seller! Thanks for stopping by, and for commenting!
I’ve written a series under my real name., involving a modern day boy growing up to be a knight, Okay, no problem. The problem is all the lady knights. Book five and six are a spinoff involving a lady knight. I don’t think my real name has enough zing, (for lack of a better word,) Knowlton is certainly rare, and I am not sure about gender for a pen name. an unrelated thought on names, I really like your Name Bryn. years ago I copped the name Brin from a Terry Brooks book to name a wolf pup.
Hi, Donald! Aw, thanks for the compliment — and that’s so cool that I kind of share a name with a wolf pup. 🙂 One of my best friends named one of her characters Bryn, and that was before I ever met her! I think you have a great name. I can see the argument toward going more gender-neutral, too.
I’m writing under the name Cypress MacNamara, mainly because I have a weird name. I was wondering if that was a good name for a YA writer?