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Post by Kessie on Feb 28, 2012 11:11:41 GMT -5
Today on the Kill Zone they had an article about why pen names are useful. killzoneauthors.blogspot.com/2012/02/brand-marketing-can-you-live-with.htmlNot only is it a brand if you're writing outside your genre, but when it comes to ebooks, a pen name and a Limited Liability Corporation help protect you from identify theft. It also provides an extra layer of security for your family. This is something I've never thought about before, but it makes sense. Since everybody here is dabbling in ebooks, what do you think? Do you think a pen name is a good idea or not?
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Post by yoda47 on Feb 28, 2012 12:18:32 GMT -5
I kinda like the Bic Clic Stick; Fisher AG-7; and the Zebra F-701.... Oh, THAT kinda pen name!
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Post by j2starshine on Feb 28, 2012 17:48:52 GMT -5
You are too funny Yoda! I have thought a lot about that...and have heard both pros and cons... One thing you have to make sure it doesn't sound cheesy. I've always wanted to write under a pen name and the one that I had picked was probably cheesy. The other thing, I think it would feel weird handing out a business card with your pen name on it or when you do book signings... I don't know... I just recently read an article about an mid-list author who couldn't make a sale because of her sales record, changed to a pen name and her book got picked up. I will see if I can find it again and link it here. And I think this was sort of talked about in the forums a couple of years ago...but I don't remember. gotta go make supper. catch yall later!
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Post by firestorm78583 on Feb 28, 2012 23:36:07 GMT -5
I guess the extension to this question would be: Is your username an acceptable pen name. I know that a lot of folks in today's world are only known by their forum username/ handle/ nickname. I realize that pen names can have a flair that usernames can't pull off, so it may be a moot question.
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Post by Kessie on Feb 29, 2012 0:46:42 GMT -5
This is my real name, and the only other name I've ever written under has been NetRaptor. I don't want NetRaptor on a book. Same reason I wouldn't pick up a book written by AWSUME WR1TER9338.
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Post by firestorm78583 on Feb 29, 2012 10:54:24 GMT -5
Good point.
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Post by Bainespal on Feb 29, 2012 18:19:42 GMT -5
And I think this was sort of talked about in the forums a couple of years ago...but I don't remember. gotta go make supper. catch yall later! If I'm not mistaken, this thread from 2009-10 is the one you're thinking of. You guys addressed the issue pretty well; Mr. Gerke even contributed to the discussion. I linked the words above, but since you can never see links here: wherethemapends.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=spacebar&action=display&thread=1302&page=1That may sound strange and unlikely, right now, but I bet having a real book published under a screen name sounds a lot less unlikely now than it did ten years ago. With the current trends in digital self-publishing, and with things like texting and social networking becoming more used in professional life, I won't be too surprised if I live to see screennames-as-pennames become common.
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Post by yoda47 on Feb 29, 2012 18:40:51 GMT -5
My user name isn't acceptable for a pen name... trademark infringement and all that.. but it's what I've used for well over a decade now...
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Post by j2starshine on Feb 29, 2012 22:39:11 GMT -5
thanks Bainespal for looking that up! I still haven't found the article about the author who changed to a pen name... I think I found it through Nathan Bransford blog.
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cdeb
Junior Member
Posts: 83
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Post by cdeb on Mar 1, 2012 1:46:39 GMT -5
I am actually using a pen name in my fiction for 3 reasons in order of importance. 1. I promised my wife when we got married and she lost her surname that if I ever wrote again I would use her maiden name. She absolutely doesn't hold me to this now, but a promise is a promise. It also has a certain resonance as it is very close to the name of her grandfather who was a pioneering medical missionary. 2. It separates my current professional life from my life as an aspiring writer. And at the moment I feel emotionally disassociated from it, which I hope continues...it helps stop me been proud if I am successful at any time in the future 3.There is a famous fantasy author with almost the same name, so it would be very confusing. Maybe people would buy my stories by mistake, but I really don't want to be associated with this other author's dark occult work. I was very ambitious to write when I was young, I wanted to see my name in lights and was desperate for attention and recognition. Now that God has dealt with this in me, and I've even had my 5 minutes of fame in my work life (TV news), its feels nice to be more anonymous..
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Post by torainfor on Mar 2, 2012 19:25:13 GMT -5
I use a pen name for a couple of reasons. I'm not wild about my own name. There are too many famous "Elizabeth's" in sci fi. And there's the privacy issue. It isn't that much of deal except with the very few people who know me by my pen name and not my real one. I have to remember who I am!
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Post by Kessie on Mar 3, 2012 11:07:01 GMT -5
Torainfor: So what's your penname? :-)
I'd need to come up with one. XD
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Post by torainfor on Mar 4, 2012 22:26:27 GMT -5
Kersley Fitzgerald. Part of my maiden name + my mom's maiden name. Plus, as far as I can tell, no one on teh interwebs has the first name "Kersley."
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Post by tris on Mar 6, 2012 8:44:49 GMT -5
torainfor, Kersley also sounds like a great name for a Regency romance heroine or the heroine in a steampunk novel. Too bad you have first claim!
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Post by morganlbusse on Mar 6, 2012 17:07:07 GMT -5
I had considered a pen name for a time. But I already know too many people and too many know me (being the wife of a pastor does that). I think it would be harder to build an audience from the bottom. As Morgan, I already have a head start. That's why I decided to drop my username here and go with my real name, so people know who I am.
I think if someone really wants to find you, in this day and age with all the technology, I don't think it would be very hard. However, there are good reasons to have a pen name: similar name to someone famous, unpronounceable name, or a common name (like John Smith).
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