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Post by newburydave on Dec 21, 2009 19:30:36 GMT -5
You know I was just wondering about the financial transaction thing myself.
Can you legally register an Alias or Pen Name so you can use it on legal documents and checks or do you have to use your full legal name?
Those of you who use pen names and are active authors, do the publishers give you a the contracts under your pen name or your real name?
I guess you could incorporate under that name or set up as a dba sole proprietership. Those options would make the Pen Name a legal person.
Does anyone have insight in this. Jeff when you write as Jefferson Scott how do you handle the legalities?
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Post by newburydave on Dec 21, 2009 20:01:46 GMT -5
Hey while I'm thinking of it, I like that idea of two different pen names for different genres. I had a brain flash, well inspiration is probably a better word, for a flash fiction story that was an "Early Medieval/Modern Hevily Religioius, Mystical Time Bridge with Practical Mission Immortality/Insigt into the Spiritual World". Okay I can see that impressed and enlightened nobody. Well that's not important anyway. When I put it up on Baen's Bar Universe Slush I created my second pen name "Dewi Sant" (Welsh Gaelic for Saint David, the parton saint of Wales). One person thought I was presumptuous for using that name as a pen name, unless it was my real name. Well my name is David, and according to the Biblical definition I am a Saint, as are all other Spirit Filled disciples of Christ. I rather like it as a pen name for my forays into heavily mystical, overtly religious fantasy. Actually I hesitate to call it fantasy. I am of Welsh extraction and the spiritual world seems very real and close to me, always has. That type of thing is really more like my personal vision of how the world we live in really functions. Okay now you know I'm crazy. (No I don't talk to spirits other than The Holy Spirit; . . . and sometimes I yell scripture at at the Devil and his henchmen to make them get out of my face. You know spiritual warfare and all that.) But the point of this whole second ramble is what do you fellow Anomaliens think of this as a pen name? Do you think it is acceptable or do you agree with that other guy that I'm being presumptuous?
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Post by torainfor on Dec 21, 2009 20:02:06 GMT -5
I have a pseudonym that I'd like to use, but a well-established Christian writer told me I may not be able to. Apparently, some Christian publishers don't want their writers to hide. I assume it's for both marketing and accountability reasons--you're probably more likely to act proper if "everyone" knows who you are.
My pseudonym is part of my dad's last name and my mom's maiden name.
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Post by Resha Caner on Dec 21, 2009 22:50:33 GMT -5
Can you legally register an Alias or Pen Name so you can use it on legal documents and checks or do you have to use your full legal name? My pseudonym is registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. As such, it would be pretty easy to trace me if I were sued for libel or if I needed to prove authorship. Here is the link to the page on pseudonyms at the copyright office: www.copyright.gov/fls/fl101.htmlIf you're interested in all the legal twists and turns, you can talk to a lawyer or read articles like this one on Canadian Law related to pen names ( papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=999675 ). But it basically comes down to the fact that you can use a pen name if the publisher allows it. In essence, the pen name must be traceable to a legal entity. So, if a publisher accepts your pen name, they either are taking on legal responsibility for the work, or they can trace you to your legal name and your contract stipulates what legal responsibilities you hold.
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Post by Grace Bridges on Dec 22, 2009 1:26:16 GMT -5
Grace is for real, but Bridges is a pen name. If I had used my real name, there'd be too many of me for a Web search to be any good. Now, if you Google me, you're absolutely certain to find me - most of the first 5 pages of results are me and only me, which is really useful for someone trying to build up a profile on the interwebs.
And as I do most everything under this name now, it is more real to me than that-other-name. Weird, huh. And if I got married the pen name wouldn't be affected. Never confuse your readers!
I also think my family is secretly very happy I'm doing these things under a name that can't be associated with them! They are very keen on privacy.
Dave, I think Dewi Sant is a lovely pen name. How does one pronounce it - like it looks?
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Post by Jeff Gerke on Dec 22, 2009 8:55:33 GMT -5
My pen name is on the cover and title pages and such, but on the copyright page (plus the publishing contracts and (largely hypothetical) royalty checks) my real name is listed.
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Post by isabeau on Dec 31, 2009 17:40:58 GMT -5
OT here, and maybe this isn't a problem in this forum, but since it's public, dragonlots, you may want to edit your post. You've listed your real name and your mother's maiden name (and grandmother's maiden name), which are usually security questions for sensitive information.
Just a thought.
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Post by dragonlots on Dec 31, 2009 17:52:23 GMT -5
I do have a pen name I’m using online with my fanfiction but am transferring it over for my SF work. It’s Dragonlots aka Dana Bell. So you get both the PN and my real name. Dragonlots was an accidental creation. But that’s okay, I picked it because I like dragons and lots is the first initials of three of my four cats, Little One, Tabitha and Sammy. The first two have passed away, so this is a good way to honor them.
However, because branding exists with publishers, I also have a number of others.
D.B. Marcine – if I ever decide to be literary.
And several other plays on my name plus those on maternal grandmother’s side.
My thanks to isabeau for suggesting I edit this posting. I completely forgot about security questions. But then, I don’t often use my mother’s maiden name either.
I do know that our family had been married into by the Adams back in the colonial days. Yep, the very same who signed the declaration of independence and was one of our first presidents. His cousin married into the family, as did another several years later. We’re betting some of our ancestors tossed tea into Boston Bay, but can’t prove it.
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Post by myrthman on Jan 2, 2010 1:39:22 GMT -5
My pen name (not "myrthman," btw) is an acronym or acrostic (whichever one is right) for one of my favorite verses of Scripture. It works nicely and will enable me to witness to people if ever they ask me what it means. I may play around with some other verses to see what I can find.
I have a book that I'm reading right now by a well-known television minister and an accomplished author. It's the minister's first foray into fiction. Anyway, this thread and the book sparked the following question: could an author write as Nom d'Plume and Real Name? Maybe lend a little credit to the title? Would that be legal? Ethical? Needed?
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Post by Jeff Gerke on Jan 2, 2010 8:57:53 GMT -5
I don't consider a pen name a method of hiding. I suppose someone could use it that way, but it was never my primary intent--though the idea of not being able to have people look up my address and show up on my front porch (or bomb my mailbox) did appeal to me.
I personally am at a point in my career that I would feel comfortable challenging a Christian publisher who suggested that anyone who uses a pen name is hiding or deceiving. I mean, Christian pubilshers are usually the worst about letting celebrity Christian authors put thier names on books they never wrote a word of (but we won't go there...).
Jeff
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Post by journeyman on Jan 2, 2010 10:51:53 GMT -5
So, Christian publishing houses use ghostwriters for celebs? I can see where some folks would view that as an integrity issue.
I've done work for hire before though usually with a byline. Do Christian publishers use in-house staff for ghost-writing or do they look for free-lancers?
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Post by Jeff Gerke on Jan 2, 2010 11:22:40 GMT -5
Do Christian publishers use in-house staff for ghost-writing or do they look for free-lancers? Yes. Now, not all Christian celebrities use ghostwriters and not all Christian publishers use ghostwriters. Nor am I saying that a Christian who ghostwrites a book--whether because s/he is on staff and is asked to or as a freelancer--is doing anything wrong. I've done it and will probably do it again. It pays the bills, you know? I think the "sin" here, if there is one, pertains to the celebrity and the publishing company. If the celebrity demands that no other name but his or hers be on there--or simply knowingly allows it to be so--then I believe that can be an act of deception and/or pride. Publishers who demand that a book not bear the real writer's name--ostensibly to maximize sales--also bear culpability, imo. Consumers don't care. If a book is written by Mickey Mouse with Goofy, especially if Goofy's name is smaller and set off with "with" (as opposed to "and"), I really think they don't care. Now, if it's Goofy and Mickey Mouse, then maybe not as many people buy the book because they want one that feels more like Mickey than Goofy. But if the celebrity's name comes first and is larger than the other writer's name, I don't think it diminishes sales at all. And if readers really knew how poorly the celebrity writes, they'd be overjoyed to see someone else's name there as helper because the helper is probably a better writer and this is probably therefore a decent book. Where I get ticked is when I hear an "author"--who didn't write a word of it and yet did not share cover credit with the real writer--gets on the radio and says, "This is the most important book I've ever written." Yes, I've heard that. And yes, by a Christian celebrity you have heard of. He was jabbering away about his book but it was my buddy in the next office who had written every word. Grr. I forever lost respect for that person. Here's an example of a good ghostwriting/celebrity story. I was approached to ghostwrite a story for a Christian publisher for/with a Christian celebrity. I told them I would not do it unless my name were on the cover to some degree because I would be researching and writing the book alone. The publisher said no. I said goodbye. They said, "Well, let's ask the author." LOL. Turns out, the author was more than happy to give cover credit to the person who actually wrote the book (blessings be upon this person), and my name ended up on the cover. The book ended up selling 95,000 copies, so I don't think my name on the cover messed anything up. Jeff
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Post by journeyman on Jan 2, 2010 13:18:28 GMT -5
Thanks! I enjoyed your integrity stories. The story about the celebrity who took complete credit for the book in the radio interview is troubling. Deception is the hallmark of the Enemy who has been "a liar and a murderer from the beginning." Folks who refer to themselves as Christian and label unethical behavior as "doing business" need to realize that they are not doing the LORD's business. But I'm p2tc (preaching to the choir).
I've seen several ways for a celebrity to acknowledge a ghostwriter, by using words like "and joe jobber, as told by joe jobber, or with joe jobber." The celebrity's name is usually 24 points bigger than the ghostwriter and that's wonderful because the celebrity's name will sell the book.
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Post by waldenwriter on Jan 6, 2010 0:43:29 GMT -5
For awhile, I considered writing under the pseudonym Rosamond Bennett. I thought that name sounded cool. Now I'm not so sure. The only things I've written under aliases are my stuff for the Christian anime/manga e-zine Anime Angels and my articles for The Pallet Tribune. In both cases, I used my username for the groups involved. I've considered using different names for different genres, since I likely will be writing both sci-fi and fantasy. Aren't there established writers who do that? Someone mentioned J.K. Rowling. Actually, she intended to write under her full name (Joanne Rowling) but her publishers thought boys wouldn't read a book written by a woman. So they decided to go with initials for her instead. But she didn't actually have a middle name. So she took her grandmother's name - Kathleen - as her middle name, and hence J.K. Rowling.
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