# Publishing and Pen Names



## Sardonis (Nov 21, 2012)

I have several questions concerning pseudonyms and publishers:

-If an author wishes to go by a pseudonym, how do they go about this? Do they include this information in their cover letter or maybe discuss it after the book has been selected for publishing?

-My last name is Otterbeck. It is pretty uncommon, but does that make it easier to remember or more likely to be forgotten?

-What do you think the percentage of authors that use pseudonyms is?

-What are your thoughts on pseudonyms?

-Have I said pseudonyms enough?


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## Ethan (Nov 21, 2012)

Hi Sardonis,
My given name is David Wallace so for obvious reasons I had to adopt a pen name (Ethan Blake). This name came after a series of of trials, I was looking for a .com domain and all the other names I tried were already taken, so this was a pretty handy way to find a unused name which I could market under. I also choose names of five letters or less as this increases the size of name text on a standard book jacket. 
With regard to Publishers; your cover letter should be in your real name there is time after acceptance to decide whether or not to use another, but in the end it is totally your own decision.I hope this helps a bit.


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## jayelle_cochran (Nov 23, 2012)

I think a lot of authors use pen names.  Some people hate their name.  Some find that their name is either the same or too similar to another author.  Jayelle Cochran is a pen name for me.  My name is actually Jessica Cochran.  Unfortunately there are thousands of Jessica Cochran's out there.  I wanted something a little more unique.  So I took my first two initials (J, L) and made a name out of them.  It was fun to come up with and I hope to be able to keep it.

As for what you should put in your cover letter...that's really up to you.  Personally I think it would be more professional to put your real name in the cover letter and have your pen name on your manuscript.  That's just my opinion though.

I like your last name.  It's up to you if you want to use it.  Remember that a publisher might veto your choice and tell you to have something different (no matter what you choose your name to be).  It doesn't always happen as far as I know. But, you always hear stories.  

~Jayelle


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## movieman (Nov 23, 2012)

jayelle_cochran said:


> Personally I think it would be more professional to put your real name in the cover letter and have your pen name on your manuscript.  That's just my opinion though.



For a short story manuscript, you'd put your real name and address on the cover page and your pen name under the title. I'm not sure whether novel format is the same.

So:

Ed Bloggs,
Somewhere, 90210

My Story
                           by
                       Penn Nayme​ 
Cover letter would use your real name.


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## jayelle_cochran (Nov 24, 2012)

That's right, I forgot that on the MS you put both.


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## dale (Nov 24, 2012)

at the top of my 1st page, where my personal info goes, i always just make the 1st line....

*Real name* (to be published under the name of Dale Hollin)
address
email
word count


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## L.K.Scott (Nov 28, 2012)

Pseudonyms are debatable. Personally, I was taught that pseudonyms were greatly encouraged when choosing to go into a creative art field. They can be very helpful under many circumstances. If you happen to land in the New York Times Bestseller list or become an A-list actor, a pseudonym helps keep your private life, private. (Stalkers and crazed fans can track you down more easily when they know your real name.) Another perk is that if you write a couple of bad films/books, your pseudonym will be defamed and not your own self (which happens very frequently in Hollywood, and nearly every major actor and film director/producer/writer experiences this.) Wes Craven and Clive Barker, for example, have made dozens of terrible movies in their careers. We're talking movies that just _bombed_ in the press. But once in awhile, they make some pretty good films. That situation is inevitable. It happens to everyone in the creative field. They can't all be gems, right?

As for the cons of pseudonyms, if you _do _make it big, you'll name will most likely get more fame than you. Take for example, Stephen King. It's a household name. Everyone, in over 100 languages, know the name Stephen King. But I'm sure more people know his name than they know his face. I happen to love Douglas Clegg's horror novels. His name is a name I know well, but I wouldn't ever know him if I saw him.

When it comes to publishing and agents, you should submit your work as your real name. (Be sure to research each publishing company as their submission formats and standards vary from publisher to publisher). When your book is purchased and you're assigned an agent/manager and editor, mention you want to use a pen name. Do it before your cover art is designed. That way your agents and publishing crew get to know you by name and can work more intimately with you and your work. If you don't tell them your real name, you could run the risk of having your royalty checks printed under your pseudonym, which then you won't be able to cash or deposit. Banks cash under real names only.

If you do choose a pen name, ask yourself who is your target audience? If you are writing a fiction novel specifically targeted towards men, let's say, for example, a naval war story, then keep in mind that a man will most likely pick up your book, rather than a woman. A man will also be more inclined to read it, if the author's name on the cover, is a man's name. I know market research and target audiences can sound discriminate, but these are serious issues major publishing companies consider. Take this real-life example of _Harry Potter_'s J.K. Rowling whose real name is Joanne Rowling. Her publishers believed that because she was obviously a female author (with a name like Joanne) then only girls will buy her book and only very few boys. But with a genderless name, such as J.K., boys would feel comfortable too--which means twice as many sales.

This pen-name issue is of great debate in all creative industries. Even _Men's Health _advice column is written by a woman who writes under a man's name (and posts under a man's photo) because the publishers feel men won't take her seriously if men's advice is given by a woman. 

So a pen name is up to you, but choose wisely.


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## JimHeskett (Jan 23, 2013)

I was wondering about using a pen name if my name is similar to someone who has a quasi-known name. There is a Harvard law professor named James L. Heskett who has published non-fiction books on economics. I would like to use my own name (Jim Heskett), is that too close? Should I go by Initials + Last name? Does it even matter if I would theoretically be writing fiction books?

I've already started to try to build a brand around my name. If I were to switch to a pen name, would prefer to do so as soon as possible (reserving domain names, twitter accounts, etc.)


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## moderan (Jan 23, 2013)

You might use an initial to differentiate from the law professor. Using a pseudonym opens a lot of different cans of worms when it comes to earnings.


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## Mairead27 (Jan 27, 2013)

I use a nom de plume. Same first name, different last name. I don't despise my last name at all, but since I am a freelance journalist, I wanted to keep both my authorship and reporting separate. I'd like to use my real name someday because I want to say "this is me!" and see my name on a book cover. But it is best to keep both works separate.


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## VickiW (Jan 28, 2013)

Another reason for using pen names (see, I got away from pseudonym) is if you want to write in a new genre when your name is well known in a radically different genre. A prime example is Norah Roberts who writes historical romances, but she also writes a futuristic detective series under the name J.D. Robb. Another name she has used is Jill March.
I once decided to use a pen name because I thought my science fiction novels might get a better reception if I were thought to be male. Since I was named after my grandfather and favourite person, Victor Marshall, I chose his surname, and for the first name I chose Sam because that was the hated nickname given me by my siblings. Hated because we could imagine no greater insult than to call a girl by a boy's name. Oh the fights we had over these names!
After using it on one book, I decided it was silly and went back to my own name.


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## Kenneth J. Ester (Feb 3, 2013)

I have read in different places that on the title page, you would name the title and underneath that say ... by: Real Name w/a Pen Name.

As for using a pen name, there are several rules you should keep in mind.

If your name is the same as another, hard to remember or hard to spell, you should use one. Otherwise, it is simply your own choice. 

When choosing a new name, don't get too corny as it may keep readers from taking you serious. Keep it simple, easy to remember and easy to spell. When readers go to look you up, you don't want them having a hard time recalling your name or not being able to spell it.

I have also read that it can help to create a name that would fall between two popular writers of the same genre. Go to a book store and look at the authors names and find where two of the more popular writers are next to each other, or close to each other when alphabetically listed and create a name that would fall between them. This way when someone goes to look for there books, there is a better chance of them happening to see your book. Unless you are already famous, you want to take advantage of anything you can to get your book found by the readers.

It is also helpful to keep your first name the same. If you get published and go to book signings and such, you want to make it easy to respond to your name when someone calls it out. If your name is Frank and you make your pe'nn name Bob, it can be easy to not respond when someone calls you by Bob, because you are so used to hearing Frank.


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