Pen Name Vs Real Name

[Mr Orange]

If you don't mind me asking - why? The two platforms would sell each other, surely.

my thinking is that if i self publish something it is likely to be less polished and "finished" than something that has been through the agent/publisher system. so therefore it might not be something i want forever tied to my name. also, due to excessive natural self-doubt, no matter what people tell me, i would not be convinced of the quality of something self-published, which would be another reason to not tie my name to it.

of course, nothing i have is ready to be published, self- or otherwise, so at the moment it's not something i have to worry too much about

 

[Jo Zebedee]

my thinking is that if i self publish something it is likely to be less polished and "finished" than something that has been through the agent/publisher system. so therefore it might not be something i want forever tied to my name. also, due to excessive natural self-doubt, no matter what people tell me, i would not be convinced of the quality of something self-published, which would be another reason to not tie my name to it.

of course, nothing i have is ready to be published, self- or otherwise, so at the moment it's not something i have to worry too much about

I think this is a real trap with self-publishing - that we see it as lesser in quality. If you're not proud of it, don't publish. And if you do publish, whatever way, make it the best you can. But I feel your pain - belief is hard.

 

[Mr Orange]

I think this is a real trap with self-publishing - that we see it as lesser in quality. If you're not proud of it, don't publish. And if you do publish, whatever way, make it the best you can. But I feel your pain - belief is hard.

don't get me wrong, i am proud of my work and i do believe that it's a good story. i would have stopped writing it well before i got to the end if i thought otherwise. but even having said that, without some kind of validation stronger than the few people that have read it saying it's good, i still have those doubts. plus, i can't afford to get it professionally edited so it's bound to have some errors in it.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

I put my real name (more of it than I actually use) on the short story that's going in the anthology, but I figure if I were to start getting some of my other things published, I would need a pen name or two. I have things going in so many genres, and some of them might not get along well with others.

 

[Brian G Turner]

If I ever want to get something published in my country, in my native language, I am required to take up a pen-name.

Nobody here is willing to read adult SciFi or Fantasy when there is a Dutch name attached to it.

I'm not even joking, publisher almost demand that you are to change the name on the cover to something that sounds English or at least foreign.

That means you get to choose a Superhero name, while maintaining a secret identity.

 

[Cat's Cradle]

That means you get to choose a Superhero name, while maintaining a secret identity.

l
Hah, that's really funny, Brian!

Dusty, hey! Which anthology will you be published in? Is it one of Gary's? I would love to get it!

 

[TheDustyZebra]

It's in the Malevolence one. I should probably get around to writing something for the others one of these days, and try to get into them as well.

 

[Dave]

Zebedee ...it does mean the bottom shelf of the bookshelves, although I think that matters less now with so much online stuff than it used to.

I actually think that is something one should consider. Some recent research showed that people with names at the top of the ballot paper (in alphabetical order) get more votes.
BBC News - Small Data: How alphabetical ballots skew democracy

Also, this is personal experience, but I'm sure at school people near the top of the register got chosen more. I'm not sure how that works for job applications, but it must be an influence. Anyway, I digress widely, and in a good bookshop the SFF novels will span several bookshelves, so X, Y & Z will not necessarily be all on he bottom shelf. Also Timothy Zahn and Roger Zelazny don't seem to have a problem.

 

[End of Time]

That means you get to choose a Superhero name, while maintaining a secret identity.

The Happy Rainbow Princess by DarkBlood RavenStryke
Louise in the Magical World of Unicorns by Deathmaw Burnlocke
The Genie and the Forever Princess by Hellmagyk Psychoflame

I'll go full 90s

 

[Glitch]

I will be using a pen name as mine is rather common. Rather than make one up, I've chosen my grandfathers as we share a first name.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

If your name is too common, one way to deal with that would be to give yourself a more memorable middle name.

For instance, if your name were John Smith, changing it to something like John Tennison Smith, or John Hanbury Smith, would set you apart from all the other John Smiths. It would look distinctive on your books, but in everyday interactions with agents, editors, fans you would still be yourself, John Smith.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

I'm happy enough to be Anya when I'm writing she is just like another character.

 

[psychotick]

Hi Mr Orange,

Can I just add to what's been said. I'm glad you're proud of what you write and I support your wish to publish, but you should never publish before your work is ready - trade or indie. And if you want to use aseperate name for indie work because you think it's not up to snuff then by definition you're saying your work is not ready.

You can get by without a professional editor - use beta readers (multiple) and friends family with good English skills for editing (again multiple), and of course critique groups. This is a hell of a lot of work, but it will achieve most of the quality control you need. There are also techniques that can improve your own error catching - like reading your own work out loud line by line.

Cheers Greg.

 

[George Ian]

I was lucky - my pretentious grandparents insisted I should have 3 Christian names - George Ian Stuart - that makes an ok pen name, don't you think?

 

[michaelhall2007]

Sometimes a Pen name is necessary. My name is Michael R. Hall however there is already a published author named Michael R. Hall so I can't really use my own name.
The same happened to Sir Winston Churchill back in June 1899. He was actually an author at that time. He wrote an amusing letter to another author with the same name (see link at bottom).
Here is some of their communications:-

Mr. Winston Churchill is extremely grateful to Mr. Winston Churchill for bringing forward a subject which has given Mr. Winston Churchill much anxiety. Mr. Winston Churchill appreciates the courtesy of Mr. Winston Churchill in adopting the name of ‘Winston Spencer Churchill’ in his books, articles, etc. Mr. Winston Churchill makes haste to add that, had he possessed any other names, he would certainly have adopted one of them. The writings of Mr. Winston Spencer Churchill (henceforth so called) have been brought to Mr. Winston Churchill’s notice since the publication of his first story in the ‘Century.’ It did not seem then to Mr. Winston Churchill that the works of Mr. Winston Spencer Churchill would conflict in any way with his own attempts at fiction.

Letter From Winston Spencer Churchill to Winston Churchill | The Whistle Factory