Branding and Pen Name

[Denise Tanaka]

I've published a handful of short stories but no novels yet. Pursuing options of both trad and SP, but at this fork in the road, I'm considering a change to my author "brand."

I started off with a 3 name brand: Denise Robarge Tanaka that's using my maiden name and my married name. The idea was that if (and it's a really big IF) anyone who ever knew me -- from my childhood, my high school, my cousins who live far away -- and might not know my married name, they could still find me. The other idea was modeled on female iconic writers of the past: Marion Zimmer Bradley, for example. Finally, as "Tanaka" is so damned common a Japanese name, the maiden name gives it a unique twist. I can't tell you how many Denise Tanakas pop up in a Google search, or a Twitter name search, etc.

But more and more, I'm find it cumbersome to have 3 names. It will take up more space on a book cover. Alphabetically I am filed under R or T? It's harder for readers to remember a long name. Shorter and shorter seems to be the trend now, JK Rowling.

If I shorten it to Denise Tanaka, do I put an initial in the middle? Do I use "R" for my maiden name, or "B" for my given middle name? Do I drop the Denise altogether and go with D. Tanaka? DR Tanaka? Oh god, no, that looks like Doctor Tanaka. DB Tanaka, like DB Cooper the infamous thief-fugitive?

Ugh.

 

[Brian G Turner]

My my marketing perspective, it's all about the unique identity you can have online. That means being able to claim as many of the following as possible:

1. Domain name for your name (preferably a .com)
2. Facebook page of your name
3. Twitter username of your name

So I'd research your different options by this.

I was about to suggest trying DR Tanaka, but that might look too close to the short form for "Dr".

I also wouldn't personally worry about whether your distant relatives can find your book - unless they are your target market and actively searching to see if you've been published under your maiden name then IMO it shouldn't be a consideration.

 

[hopewrites]

Has anyone ever published [Given Initial Initial]?

For example, Hope M.B.

I don't particularly care for ether my maiden or divorced surnames, (I do like my given name though! No, it's not Hope.) and wouldn't mind using an initial rather than making up a new one.

This might also help with your branding, writing under Denise R.T. should be unique enough right?

 

[aThenian]

I've always had a problem with three name authors, working out which name they are shelved by - e.g. Diana Wynne Jones, a favourite of mine: do I look under the Wynne or the Jones? (It's Jones, but it's taken me a while to work that out.) Maybe less important in a more digital age, but still. I like Denise R Tanaka myself. Only problem is if you think your main readership is male.

 

[Ragandar]

If you put full stops in between the letters, the docter-abbreviation isn't quite as noticeable: D.R. Tanaka. It looks pretty cool like that, in my opinion anyway.

Also, though I had not thought of it myself, the readership issue raised by aThenian is a good point as well.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

If you're going to initials, after publishing as Denise Robarge Tanaka, I would go with D.R. Tanaka -- with the punctuation, as pointed out by Ragandar. It keeps the connection to your previous publications. Unless you don't want that, in which case I'd go with DB Tanaka, with or without the punctuation, and chuckle to yourself about hijackers.