#pen names

[argyleheir]

There’s something romantic about writing under a pseudonym. I’ll daydream about what my name might be, were I to ever traditionally publish. Perhaps also one of the appeals of fanfic 🪶

#pseudonyms #pen names #nom de plume #argyle speaks #ao3 #fanfic #writing

[tamarahtalkstv]

If I Make A Doujinshi Should I Use My Real Name Or A Pen Name?

#Mangaka #Manga #Doujinshi #Doujin #Doujins #Book #Books #Name #Names #Real Name #Real Names #Pen Name #Pen Names

[bam-stroker]

Pen Names

Alright crypt cuties, I think I'm gonna have to bite the bullet on this one and have 2 pen names. Because the robot fuckery has me in a chokehold and the writing for that stuff is so super different then my fantasy stuff. I'm gonna just keep everything under this one blog to promo but when I start publishing you'll see another pen name floating around that's mine. It'll probably be something along the lines of Zap Bang

Maybe if things go well I might make a side blog for that pen as well, but I'm treating this as home base tbh. I'll probably end up making a newsletter too that folks can join so it's easier for folks to get news about stuff. Maybe multiple newsletters so one could be for the sci fi and the other for fantasy stuff so folks can engage with the stories they want *shrug*

#spooky rambles #pen names #i also have been thinking of a cute little persona for the sci fi one #of a little TV head person #and they have like a 70s retro vibe #because i find myself leaning towards retro futurism stuff for the robots

[briarcrawford]

Should You Use a Pen Name?🤔

Before diving into the reasons why to consider a pen name, I want to point out that there is absolutely nothing wrong with using your own real name as a writer. Many people dream of seeing their own name printed on the cover of their books, or do not want to bother with having to explain to people in their life why the name on the cover is different from their own. What ever reason you have for wanting to use your real name, you are completely allowed to.

However, if you are curious, here are some common reasons that people decide to use a pen name.

For Privacy

If you have a professional cooperate day job, it might not work for your benefit if people google your name, and the first thing that comes up is a series of silly children’s books. Or perhaps you are a teacher, and you just know that if your students knew what steamy romances you write, you would never hear the end of it in class.

Using a pen name gives you the freedom to follow your writing passions, without having to worry about implications to your daily life.

To Switch Genres

Many writers use pen names to switch genres. For example, Agatha Christie has romance novels under the name “Mary Westmacott,” and Anne Rice (real name Howard Allen Frances O’Brien) has three different pen names for different genres. If you typically write one genre, and suddenly write a new one, someone who recognizes your name at a book shop might pick it up(assuming it to be their usual genre), and be disappointed. This can lead to bad reviews, simply because it ended up in the hands of the wrong genre market.

There are marketing reasons for this, as well. One author I heard on a podcast (6 Figure Authors) talking about using a pen name said that she did it so that her fans could jump over to the new genre she was trying. She feared that well-meaning fans of her fantasy works would leave reviews for her new romance books. You might be wondering why that would be a problem, but the answer is the dreaded Amazon algorithm.

Let’s say you typically read fantasy, and you and a few hundred other fantasy fans review that romance book. Well, the algorithm notices that, and now, instead of the books showing up as recommendations for the intended genre readers, it shows up for fantasy readers. Essentially, that author was worried about losing out on building a new genre fan base (and sales) because of well-meaning fans.

One final reason related to this is for moral reasons. If you typically write children’s fiction, and suddenly write erotica, you will want to use a pen name to protect yourself from the parental outrage that will happen if some of those children fans of yours pick up your newest book.

To Fit the Genre

Dr. Seuss(real name Theodor Seuss Geisel), used a pen name because he wanted to use a name similar to “Mother Goose.” It simply fits the children’s books genre better, and it is also a common reason to switch.

For example, something along the lines of “Elizabeth Potter” just seems to fit with a romance series more than something like “Elysium Crow.” Both are valid, but readers can sometimes judge a lot about a book just because of your name. Is that wrong? Maybe, but I would wager most the time readers who do that do it on a subconscious level, without really knowing why the name made them skip to a different book.

Another reason you may have to switch for a genre is that you have a name that is already famous by someone else, and so now people associate that name with that genre. For example, if your name happens to also be Stephen King and you want to publish cozy and romantic mysteries, it might be in your best interest to take on a pen name.

Making Your Name Easier To Remember

If you have a rather typical name, that can also mean forgettable. Instead, if your name is more unique(Lemony Snicket) it sticks in peoples minds.

For Safety

Sometimes, the choice of using a pen name is made with their own safety in mind. Using a name different than your own can create an extra wall between yourself and people who might want to find you.

It could be that you do not want well-meaning fans knocking at your door every day (assuming you are talented enough to get that popular), but it could also be that you are afraid of stalkers and other creepy types.

Another reason is that some people write fiction that their family or other people in their life might not approve of. For example, imagine telling your “traditional values” ultra-religious family members that you write LGBT+ erotica’s. Yikes.

Because Gender Stereotypes (Sadly) Still Exist

When Mary Shelley(author of Frankenstein) did not use a pen name, she faced things like less pay and cut advances, so it is no wonder that most women authors of those times took on pen names. As an example of this, the sisters Currer(Charlotte, author of Jane Eyre), Emily (Ellis, author of Wuthering Heights), and Acton (Anne, more known for poetry), all picked male names until they had already secured publishers.

Things have drastically improved since then, but not completely. If I tell people I am a writer, it is often assumed I am writing romance. Occasionally, I am even asked if I am trying to be the next Stephanie Meyer. Although romance books are not my personal taste, there is nothing wrong with either romance or Meyer. The real problem is that it proves that gendered stereotypes still exist even today. It is worth noting that I do live in a small farming town with often old-fashioned standards, but a quick look online will show that my problems are not alone. So, if that is the reaction from people looking at my face, what about a name on the spine of a book that is typically considered for women?

Well, some people point out that men are still more likely to get published, and according to studies, men are more likely to not read a book if they know it is written by a woman.

Alternatively, women are more open to reading books by men, but not in the romance genre. Because of that, male romance writers typically pick names that are traditionally associated with women.

Things are changing, and quickly, so hopefully when the kids of today are adults, this will not be a reason to consider a pen name. At the moment, however, it is still a reason many authors consider not using their own name.

To Build A Persona

There is something to be said about building a persona; it creates the feeling that you are as interesting as the characters you create, while also allowing you to show sides of yourself that you might typically hide.

One famous example of this is Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler), author of A Series of Unfortunate Events. Not only did he use a name that stands out, but he also crafted a complex backstory for this narrator that made people as interested in this “Lemony Snicket” as they were for the main characters in his books.

This might sound quite odd for people, but if you are a naturally shy or reserved person, taking on a persona can help make marketing less daunting.

Freedom

Let’s say you do actually want to publish books under your real name someday, but do not want your “practice” works tarnishing that name as you learn. Well, using a pen name gives you the freedom to write without fear.

Alternatively, some authors (example: O. Henry) have a frowned upon past that people do not want associated with their new career. Similarly, George Orwell(Eric Blair) wrote under a pen name so he could talk about a life of poverty without fear of embarrassing his family.

A pen name can give people a chance at starting over.

For Branding

If you can dive souly into a single genre, then you can make that genre your whole brand. For example, if you write fantasy, you can review fantasy media, share dragon artwork, and even take author pictures with swords. Overtime, people may associate your pen name with that specific genre so much so that you come to mind almost immediately with that genre.

A modern example of this (though to my knowledge, it is not a pen name) is Daniel Greene, who has a Youtube channel dedicated to reporting fantasy news, and now has books in the genre himself. Even before he published, he had cemented himself as being the face of a whole genre to his fans, simply from reporting genre specific news.

On the other side, let’s say Daniel Green suddenly decides he wants to write books on how to grow sunflowers….well, his brand is built around his genre, so it would be easier for him to pick a pen name, and build on that instead. That way, he can post about gardening tips and new gardening science break throughs, and build a brand specific to that.

Other Reasons

For example, Stephen King took up a pen name because his publishers did not want him publishing more than one book a year under his real name.

Others (like Bell Hooks) use a name to honor their ancestors.

#pen names #writing #writer #write #author #writing advice #writingtip #WritingBasics

[namesetc]

Okay this is... a bit to the side of what you usually do, but do you have maybe names that could be used as aliases/pen names/nicknames? I guess just random nouns that you think are cool as names or something like that.

i could make so many lists for pen names/aliases id be happy to do one for you!

---

Acid

Beanie

Brook

Clank

Curve

Clarity

Chaos

Chassis

Click

Crime

Chalice

Flick

Freckle

Fawn

Hype

Hemp

Herring

Iridescence

Junker

Kiwi

Liberty

Marsh

Netbook

Ocean

Purity

Range

Survivor

Snowman

Stretch

Temper

Treasury

Titanium

Verse

Warden

#admin koi #aliases #noun names #pen names #noun pen names #noun aliases #read dni #read my dni #name blog #name ideas #name lists #name suggestions #name request #name inspiration #name #names #names list #name list

[cheshirelibrary]

The bookternet has been abuzz with speculation on who could have penned the spicy romance novel Corinne that came out in July, and it got me thinking about how to become a literary sleuth.

The speculation began with this Reddit post that points to Stephenie Meyer, of Twilight fame, writing as Rebecca Morrow. The author bio for Corinne simply says “Rebecca Morrow is a pseudonym for a New York Times bestselling author.”

The clues the poster—and other readers—present sound convincing enough: The book is about a woman leaving a fundamentalist church, and Meyer is affiliated with the LDS church; Corinne is also the name of a city in Utah that was founded as anti-Mormon. Stephenie Meyer and Rebecca Morrow are both 3-syllable first, 2-syllable last names. Add in the content coincidences, like usage of the word “imprint” and general stylistic choices or plot points, and it’s even more convincing.

But you can’t call a mystery complete based on hunches alone. So I went digging...

...

Click through to read the full article.

#cheshire library #pseudonym #pen names #stephanie meyer #rebecca morrow

[vavandeveresfan]

Wonderful news! (& slightly sucky news)

Wonderful news:  Today I received an email from the editor of the magazine that bought one of my short stories, telling me they want to publish it in their 2023 July/August issue, and asking me to “Please confirm that you accept placement at your earliest convenience so we can hold your story’s spot in our issue layout.”

I replied:

Sucky news:  I publish under a pen name, and in order to retain my anonymity I can’t tell any of you what that pseudonym is.

I can’t even say which magazine it is.

The extra suckage is my story’s going to be illustrated, and I’d love to share the pictures!

But I can’t.  This is the downside of publicly being somebody else. (Ladybug, Cat Noir, Hawk Moth, I can identify.)

#writer #writers on tumblr #writing community #miraculous ladybug #short story #publication #pseudonyms #secret identity #pen names #but my close friends will know at least

[positively--speculative]

If I ever become a successful writer, I'm going to forever use a pen name, because I never want to be famous...ever.

#Fame #Parasocial relationships #Writing #Pen names

[carnocus]

hmm I think I finally chose a pen name for myself. Arsen Wormwood (Арсен Полинь). very ukrainian of me 😎. but worried Americans would pronounce it horribly wrong and also that some ppl might confuse it for "arson" which is a.... very different thing.

#hopefully it doesn't sound tooo pretentious #updates #my posts #writeblr #writing #pen names

[jinxedwood]

Was trying to think of a decent pen name for my original fiction and I wanted something that had a connection to my fandom name, because it's a huge part of my writing experience.

I thought something like JD Wood(s) would be a good one?

(Shower thoughts, everyone, gotta love them)

#writing #pen names

[gildedbearediting]

World Poetry Day

Another day, another thing to celebrate. March 21 is World Poetry Day, and with that in mind, I’d like to take a look at poets and poetry. While I could talk at length about William Shakespeare or William Butler Yates, I’d rather search through other voices. Voices like Matsuo Bashō, Edwin Arlington Robinson, Elizabeth Bishop, Sara Teasdale, and Gabriela Mistral. Matuso Bashō was one of the…

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#American Poet #Basho #Bashō #Blog #Books #Buddhism #Canadian #Chile Poet #Dennis Lee #Edwin Arlington Robinson #Elizabeth Bishop #Fiction #Free Form #Gabriela Mistral #Haibun #Haiku #Haikus #Japanese Poet #Literary #Literary Blog #Literary Day #Literary Days #Literature #Matsuo #Matsuo Bashō #Matsuo Kinsaki #Pen Names #Poems #Poetry #Poetry Day

[mmokbooks]

Starting a new PEN Name

I am separating my published SciFi novels and upcoming fantasy books into a different pen name. If you are looking for my SciFi work, the website is still mkosmun.com, but if you have subscribed to this blog, unfortunately when I split the site I didn’t take into account that I couldn’t transfer subscribers and they will stay with the parent site (this one). Silly me, I know. Sorry about that.…

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#new site #pen names

[namesetc]

hello!

could we get some aliases for an alter please? ix is a monster, likes the colours yellow and red, and likes gentler themes. (+i can tell you ix source in a dm if that would help any!)

thank you! :}

sure! if ix associates with the source that is, i dont wanna make ix uncomfy ^^

heres a few i came up with though

soft aliases based on yellow:

bee / bumblebee sunflower saffron

soft aliases based on red:

rosso maroon currant hibiscus

aliases from friendly mythological creatures: (this one was a bit hard no thanks to google)

chiron daemon satyr caladrius

#players speaks #aliases #read dni #name blog #name ideas #name lists #name suggestions #read my dni #name request #name inspiration #baby names #gender neutral names #alias list #list of aliases #pen name #pen names

[thepedanticbohemian]

No pen name for me

I use my real fucking name. No shame here. No regrets.

Why?

Because all you haters, abusers, molesters, rapists, abusive husbands, et al in y past. Y'all going to see me and my success coming a mile away. Nowhere to hide. And yeah, that murderer/rapist in my books was modeled on you. Live with that.

#writers on tumblr #writers #writerscommunity #writing #writing community #writer things #novel writing #writerslife #writers and readers #pen names #author problems #author #authors #authors on tumblr #writer #fiction #amwriting #publishing #novelist

[charlizekkelly]

GOODMORNING MISS CHARLIEEE!!!! Ayyeee!!

How do you figure out if you wanna publish under your real name, or a fake/pen-name? Like...you obviously get credit and all, it's you, but how do you figure that out?

I imagine it's more of a safety concern, or like a,"I don't really want anyone knowing it's me right now" maybe??

(I myself am asking since your a writer, and I know your nkt trans, but I am, and I am struggling to figure out if I wanna use my new name, old one, or just one of the two middle names I have for easy sake.)

hiya! thank you for the ask <3

honestly, I’m not sure how you figure that out. i personally am happy to have my own name because i don’t care what people think of my writing. i like being able to have the shock value where people go: “how’d you write that?” or “there’s no way you wrote that!”

I also pride myself on seeing how much i can “offend” or “shock” people from the darkest in my books. think how rock bands reference the devil and they get called “satanic worshippers”. that’s me, twisting beliefs and societal norms.

on that note—my blog and socials are a safe place for trans and the lgbtq+ community. I don’t know what it’s like to live your lives but…

it’s all about choice and your comfort. you can always write a series later under a different name or your chosen one whenever you’re comfortable.

I hope this helped <3

#charlizekkelly’s chaos #charlizekkelly asks #charlizekkelly #self publishing #pen names

[revdrnoircent]

Writing Steamy Romance: To Use A Pen Name Or Not?

For #authors ; have you struggled with whether you should use a pen name or not? Read on! #penname #author #writer #writers

Lots of romance authors ask themselves this question, especially steamy and dark romance authors. I can guess that clean romance writers probably feel more comfortable using their real names. I also believe spicy book creators often use pen names. If you’re a new author or thinking of becoming one, maybe you’re asking yourself what you should do. It honestly depends on a few factors, and I’m…

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#author #authors #books #pen name #pen names #release #writer #writers