pen names

Just thought of this sorry! I know I can use my real name and no one has to know what I'm writing, but I want to update my novel info, and talk about what I'm writing in the forums.

I actually created a brand new login this year using a pen name. I also want to keep " real life me" separate from "writer me." It is still possible to go back and do this if you think someone might be searching based on the login you already created. If you leave your login the way it is then people can search on your real name so you don't want to associate a pen name with this account or the two will remain linked.

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Slow Food Murders: When gardening goes bad
http://anovelread.blogspot.com/
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Yes I will be using a pen name. I find it gives me more freedom, and I don't have to worry about reprocusions from my day job. :P

I wish I could come up with a good pen name. I read how people combine their mother's maiden name and their last name. If I did that, the result would be pronounced "Emo." Ha ha.

I decided to just use my first and middle name, it sounds good enough together.

My username on here is just a song title from my favourite band.

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I plan on using a pen name if I ever become a professional writer. I translated my middle and last names to Russian to make it. Nothing against my real name, but it's like calling me Jane Doe, my name is so boring. Marija Daniilova stands out more in a sea of people, I think.

If I do actually ever publish a book I'm definitely using a pen name. My name is a bit too plain and I also want a name that could be either a girl or a boy. I still don't know what I would choose as my name though. I have the first name worked out (because I like coming up with names even if the book never gets published) but not the last name.

Ha! I saw this and immediately thought of my username (pen_name)! :)

I originally thought of using something other than my actual name so that if someone who happened to know me read anything of mine and thought it was stupid they would never know the difference. lol I couldn't come up with any name that sounded like something I could use, so I just decided to use pen_name as, well, my pen name! :P

This year, however, I really wish I would have stuck with my real name. I'm not as self-conscious about my writing as I used to be...but for now this works. I have a link to my blog that gives my real info, anyway, so it's not like anyone who wanted to find my true identity if they really wanted to couldn't, lol.

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I have both an Internet name and a pen name. They are connected to each other, but not to my real name, and that's on purpose. My RL friends interested in my writing know my pen name, which works. My main goal is to not let someone find my real name by knowing my pen name. I don't mind the other way around.

That said, I have been considering doing different pen names for different things I write. I've sold online articles and write weird short stories, and I'm fond of black humor and irony.

But, uh, I also write a silly children's story recently, which I heretofore would've thought I'd never be able to do. (When I'm happy, my writing's morbid. When I'm upset, my writing's ludicrous. Figure that out.)

So I have at least one other pen name in mind. I may just hold onto it in case my first one tanks, though.

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It is things like this that can really make cataloging your books a challenge when they hit the libraries! :-)

The CATALOGER side of me would just request that you all consider your pen name(s) carefully, and seek for consistency. If you want one pen name for your children's books and another for other books you write, that is fine, but if you are consistent within those types of writings, it will make it much easier to put your works under one heading for each pen name. The reason you will want this is because when your name becomes recognized, library patrons and book store customers will be able to find the other books you wrote much more easily, increasing the demand for them.

Our goal, as catalogers, is to figure out a consistent heading for you. Your goal, as writers, is to sell your books. So we both benefit from consistency.

In my case, my father's father immigrated from one of the Baltic countries at the end of WWII, basically fleeing for his life after Russia took his property from him. When he got to America, they changed his last name to what I have discovered to be a German name, which is what I now have. I thought if I were to change my real name to a pen name, it might be nice to go to my grandfather's original last name and figure out some first name to put with it. Maybe some of you who are seeking a pen name can find some interesting history like that in your family to help you choose a name.

Have fun being creative!

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NOVEL TITLE: Not What it Seems
GENRE: Mystery, Suspense
MY FIRST NOVEL

I've never quite been able to decide on this issue, actually. Obviously, on the internet, I don't give out my real name. I generally use the name "Aletheia" instead. But if I were to get published IRL, I'm not sure if I would try to come up with a pen name or not. As far as anonymity goes, I would want people to know I wrote the books. The only problem is that my parents had waaay too much fun naming me. Instead of being normal and giving me a nice, boring, unpoetical name, they decided to give me an alliterative one. Oh yes. My initials are R.R.R. So using my initials and last name is out of the question. Using my first and middle name is obviously out of the question. What do you think? Would an author with an alliterative name strike you as weird?

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The world is not beautiful; therefore, it is.

NaNo '09: Silver and Gold
Goal: 75k

I think it depends on the name. If you wanted to be like Dr. Seuss, R R Rose (Ex) might be fine. If you want your work to be taken seriously, than I'd think of something else.

Haha that is a good point, thank you. I'm definitely no Dr. Seuss, though. XP But anyway, it's something I don't think I'll have to worry about any time soon.

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The world is not beautiful; therefore, it is.

NaNo '09: Silver and Gold
Goal: 75k

Pennames! Pennames *rock*.

I'mma gonna be Crossover Genius when I grow up! -adorably cute lisp-

Honestly, if I were to see a book written by CrossoverGenius I'd read it, even if I wasn't Crossover Genius.

So watch for me...

I'm registered under my penname. I'm also under my penname on FictionPress and FanFiction. Only, I think that I have a space in between the two names there. That's my preferred notation, but some sites just don't allow spaces. Which bothers me...

And then I can have an alter ego. Which I think is awesome...

And then you can have a cameo appearance! It would be so "no dur" obvious if you were under your real name...

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I'm registered under the pen name I have chosen
Sid Reed :D
My real name is Sedona, and my best friend nicknamed me "Sid" one day.
So I thought I'd throw that in with my middle name (Reed) because my last name is just dreadful.
I also thought it would be nice to take the S.E. Hinton approach, and make people think I'm a boy :P

A year or so ago, my best friend, who is also a writer, and I came up with pen names together. They are dramatic, fun, pretty things, but I don't know if I'll ever use mine.

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"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." -Jimi Hendrix

If I ever come so far with my writing so that we are talking publishing deal, then yeah, I want to use a pen name.

For me the reason for doing this is because of my day job (like someone else also mentioned above). My name is relatively "unique" and I would prefer to keep my identiy private.

I haven't figured one out yet though, which is a source of frustration to me. Why is it so easy to make up names for characters but not for myself? I find that SOOOO annoying!

My username is my pen name. It is a contraction of an unused fiction character I created: Muranyl Kizrai.

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http://murazrai.xanga.com and http://cyber-murazrai.xanga.com
Chaos Fighters...the fantasy of scientific magic.

NaNoWriMo 2009: Chaos Fighters II-Cyberion Strike
Read the novel (starting November 1) at:
http://murazrai-for-nanowrimo.xanga.com

What you propose is impossible. Sorry, but your copyright goes under your real name and all pen names and false names must be registered in some fashion, so someone will find out unless you are a ghostwriter. In which case you'll be paid large amounts for your copyright, but get no credit and someone else's real name will go on the copyright notice and they get the rights to sue.

J.K. Rowling said she'd go with a pen name, but people would figure it out in seconds. In the digital age people will find out...

Why? Because if you libel then you can be held accountable. It's one of those law things to protect others.

Pen names are usually used as a marketing ploy rather than by the wishes of the author. For example, when it was frowned upon that women couldn't write, pen names were used to protect the sales of the book. Otherwise the publisher will say no.

I've played with the idea of a pen name because my name is so far down in the alphabet, I'm wondering if I could get recognition from where I'd be shelved. This would be a valid reason in the eyes of the publisher to get shelved. Most pen names though, these days, are the result of the publishers, not the authors. And if it is the author, you have to have a good argument for using a pen name instead of your real name.

Anything on the cover of the book is the realm of the publisher. Anything past the title page is the realm of the author...

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Novelists are a conscienceless lot.--Diana Gabaldon (An Echo in the Bone)

Here's a post by a literary agent that might be useful reading: http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/2009/11/pseudonyms.html

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What comes after NaNo? National Novel Publishing Year! http://www.nanopubye.org