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Post by isabeau on Dec 20, 2009 15:13:56 GMT -5
I'm just curious... does anyone here write under a pseudonym? If so, why? If not, why not?
And now that I've posted, I realize this may have been asked already. If so, I apologize.
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Post by beckyminor on Dec 20, 2009 17:33:56 GMT -5
I would be interested to hear people's discussion of pseudonyms too. I've always had the question in the back of my mind, if for no deeper reason than the fact that my real name doesn't have a memorable ring to it. If you're name is your brand, the sound of it does have some value, I assume.
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Post by jfranklin on Dec 20, 2009 18:21:02 GMT -5
For me, I will write under Jay Franklin because my real last name is always mispronounced. If gets a little annoying when you think you heard your butchered last name at a resteraunt while on a waiting list, but are not completely sure. Should I go or not. Do I check?
I am also one of those who do not have a need to be recognized by the masses. I supervise 70+ people deal with ten times as many teens daily and believe me it is over rated. Anonyminity has many advantages. Besides, I just love to write.
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Post by journeyman on Dec 20, 2009 18:43:18 GMT -5
I use one version of my name a a byline for computer magazines, which I what I've always answered to ever since my soprano mother called me to supper from play with the neighborhood kids.
I use my initials and my last name for fiction, because my name is so common there are a couple of folks already writing fiction with my nickname and surname.
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Post by j2starshine on Dec 20, 2009 18:52:56 GMT -5
I would love to use a pseudonym, but I am afraid the one that I had chosen seems a little... corny.
I was told that if you publish under a pseudonym with a certain house, then decide to go somewhere else you can't take that name with you as was in the case with Sandra Brown, not that I am familiar with that case. I guess I am just regurgitating the information. If anybody else out there as heard other wise, I would like to know.
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Post by Jeff Gerke on Dec 20, 2009 19:27:54 GMT -5
You definitely own your psydonym. You take it with you from house to house. Now, if a publishing house had invented the name and had you write under it, then maybe the rules are different, but no one owns your name--real or assumed--but you.
I write under the pen name Jefferson Scott. I've never had any problems with it.
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Post by j2starshine on Dec 20, 2009 19:52:40 GMT -5
Cool, thanks Jeff for your reply.
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Post by Kristen on Dec 20, 2009 21:05:09 GMT -5
Jay, I know what you mean about the pronunciation thing. It doesn't help that my husband's family started pronouncing their (German) last name differently during the Great War. I met a fellow from Germany at a chamber meeting and he read my name tag and pronounced my name perfectly -- in German. Only we don't pronounce it that way. Oh well. I find those sorts of things amusing.
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Post by J Jack on Dec 20, 2009 22:50:13 GMT -5
Last names thing, my last name is Jack. Easy enough right? Apparently not. I guess it's confusing for some, or they have to say my full name EVERY SINGLE TIME they talk to me, cause it's soooooo amusing. Grrr lol Lord give me patience
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Post by j2starshine on Dec 20, 2009 23:37:58 GMT -5
Yeah, talk about butchering last names. Before I was married I could at least figure it out that they were paging me, but now that i am married to an African, I am lost. My husband thinks that since our last name is interesting that maybe people would remember it better, despite the fact of not being able to pronounce it.
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Post by newburydave on Dec 21, 2009 0:11:18 GMT -5
Yes, I use a couple of "nomes de plume" which my wife tells me means "name of the pen" not "number of Plums". (I don't speak French either). I will refrain from jokes about what brand pen I use. . .
I don't really know why other than a desire for anoymity. . . animosity. . . (grrrr I hate spelling). I don't want anyone to know who I am; fewer death threats and such you know. I sometimes write on controversial topics; not at all PC but no Fatwas on my life yet (I guess the Mullahs don't read the Sf boards).
The dave part of Newburydave is real. My last name is a Germaized Britonic name and English speakers usually cannot pronounce it correctly despite the fact that it's totally phonetic. (actually I think that's the problem)
I created my second Pen Name so I could have two active accounts on one very high volume publishers site to split the volume of emails to two different email addresses. I also wanted to experiment with a different type of religious mystical quasi-fantasy style that didn't fit with my previous several years of work as a space opera jockey.
I don't know what I'll do if I ever get published. I suppose Dave Newbury would work. I know that if I use my real name it will get misfiled in the booklists and stores. On top of that spell-checkers all auto-correct my last name into something else. It's a pain when it comes through like that on official documents, checks and in the last case US savings bonds.
Or maybe I can use the partners last names from my Daughters CPA firm. How does Dragone Benwar sound. . . ?
Yeah, I was serious once; but my wife yelled at me. She thought I was being absurd.
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Post by almarquardt on Dec 21, 2009 9:40:13 GMT -5
Dave Whatever, you're funny.
As for me, even though the "d" in my last name throws people, I think it looks good in print. I do, however, prefer to use my first initials instead of my whole name. It's a marketing thing, because I want to attract male readers as well as female. Most male readers will shy initially from female authors.
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Post by thewordcrafter on Dec 21, 2009 12:24:05 GMT -5
I started writing under a pen name. I used my great-grandfather's name because he was an oral story-teller and we were really close. Plus, the anonymity thing. But then after praying about it, I realized two things. 1) having the pen name became a source of secret pride. It became a "game" to not get caught. And 2) by using the pen name, I was taking away from the ministry that God had given me. My writing IS my ministry, but how can I speak about it and answer those spiritual questions that come from my writing if I'm trying to hide behind a different name? The anonymity limited God. I don't care about being recognized... but when someone talks about my book, I want to have the opportunity to witness to them instead of smiling and saying some lie like, "I don't know what you're talking about."
This is simply my personal journey and conviction about using a pen name. I don't mean in any way to demean those that do, so please don't take it that way.
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Post by LadyMaie on Dec 21, 2009 14:35:43 GMT -5
I'm not published yet, but when God gets me there, I plan on using a pseudonym--for several reasons. A couple have already been mentioned. I'm a teenaged girl. My father favors the idea as a sort of protection. Also, I plan on using one that might appeal better to both genders (like almarquardt). I write adventurous fantasy, and my protagonist is male. A really girly name won't help in getting the guys' attention. J. K. Rowling has done really well, and I bet her gender-neutral pen-name has helped widen the appeal, even if it's a subconscious thing in the reader's head.
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Post by Resha Caner on Dec 21, 2009 15:22:44 GMT -5
My pseudonym was in deference to my wife, who wanted some anonymity. The Internet made her very nervous when I first started surfing - all those people you don't know.
It also gives some distinction between my fiction and non-fiction writing. I use Resha Caner for my fiction work and my real name for my non-fiction work.
Over time it's become a personality of its own and does seem to add a unique flavor to the way my writing is perceived. I answer to "Caner" almost as naturally as my birth name, and it throws this little switch in my head ... oh, now I'm the SF writer guy. Does that mean I've developed a split personality?
The funny part is when it comes time to get paid for fiction work. Many people are OK with Paypal, so they pay me without ever knowing my real name. But I had one case where someone insisted on writing a check and mailing it to me. They wrote out the check to my pen name, and that caused problems. I had to take a copy of the story and all my correspondence with the publisher to the bank, wait while all the bankers huddled and whispered and pointed, before they finally agreed to cash the check and give me my money.
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