# Real Name or Pen Name



## Vanya

Does a name give readers a bias opinion on how well a book is written? My name can be taken as someone who's snobbish or an older woman. I'm afraid if I use it instead of a pen name readers will expect my work to be better than it is. I'm not saying that it's bad, I just don't want expectations to be too high. I'd also prefer to use a pen name so I don't get friends telling me what I should write in my next book. Has anyone ever had issues with this or is it a fear that I should smother before it hinders me?


----------



## JCFarnham

I use a pen name simply because I don't fancy, as you said, people unwantedly bugging me for various reasons (If I want suggestions I'd ask for them am I right?), as well as because I would rather separate my writing, and private/work lives. I'm not saying I write anything particularly mature, but there are far too many factors involved in all stories that someone could easily take offense if they want. I would hate to be fired/not hired because of a view one of my CHARACTERS has.


----------



## Kelise

A lot of professionals seem to think they do. Publishing houses/agents will often have a say in what name you publish under. I guess if you were to read a high fantasy, bloody battle featuring elves, and it was written by Ella Posie Lacyferns... then you may wonder whether such a dainty sounding woman has the ability to write such a thing convincingly. A few may pick it up simply because of the odd clash, but many may not. 

Then there's also the issue that polls seem to find males are less willing to read fantasy and science fiction if it's written by a female - that's why so many female authors go by their initials and last name.

However, I don't think they would look at a name and expect a certain kind of quality from a name alone. Most still hope that if a book has been published, then enough work has been done on it to result in some kind of quality in the first place.

Personally, I'm always going to use a pen name. My real name isn't anything I want to be known by for any length of time (even when my partner and I are getting married, we're choosing a new last name for us both to go by) and as you say - I want to be able to separate myself from it so co-workers and friends don't know I'm the author unless I tell them.

And then as JC says, workplaces and a whole lot of professionals are googling names these days. I'd rather keep my Government-hating Sky Pirates well away from my Government job. They're two entirely different Governments so it doesn't reflect on my workplace at all, but I shouldn't have to explain that.

Anyhow, I ramble. Pen name, always pen name! (For me anyway.)


----------



## JCFarnham

What you see of my username.. IS a pen name. Admittedly its not far flung from my actual name and it's one I would use for stuff I don't mind being known for. I have another totally different one for... 

Well I'll be honest, I don't know whether I can justify exactly _why_ and _when_ I'd use them as I don't know. Though I'm sure when it comes to it I'll offer up both names to prospective agents or publishers to see what they think might come across best for the story.


----------



## Steerpike

starconstant said:


> Then there's also the issue that polls seem to find males are less willing to read fantasy and science fiction if it's written by a female - that's why so many female authors go by their initials and last name.



Yeah, this seems odd to me, but I know there is truth to it and I know a few people personally who don't buy books from female authors, whether science fiction, crime stories, fantasy, or what have you, because they say they don't like books written by females.


----------



## JCFarnham

Steerpike said:


> Yeah, this seems odd to me, but I know there is truth to it and I know a few people personally who don't buy books from female authors, whether science fiction, crime stories, fantasy, or what have you, because they say they don't like books written by females.



I've never quite understood how such a ridiculous notion gets into people's heads ... It's like those out there who insist that _all_ female fronted rock bands are no good, as a rule. Pure sexism.


----------



## Kelise

Strangely enough, all my favourite Australian authors are female, with one or two being male.

All my overseas favourite authors are male, with one or two being female. Not that it stops me from trying absolutely anyone's book, of course.

Personally, I'll be going with a full name (no initials) - it just won't be my own. It was going to be Kelise Emery for a while, but that name's lost the attraction since. Picking a pen name is _hard_ and then there's every chance the agent/publisher will request it changed anyhow. Sigh.


----------



## MAndreas

Howdy- I'd say it depends on what market you're writing for, and what your real name is.  Jane Smith- probably want to use a different name .  Female writing a book aimed primarily at male readers (or visa versa) I'd same use intials- or a different name.
I write under my real name, but if I switched genres I might pick a different name for the other genre.  Although that can back fire as it diffuses your whole "brand" ...which is another issue.

Pretty much it's your call .

Marie


----------



## JCFarnham

MAndreas said:


> I write under my real name, but if I switched genres I might pick a different name for the other genre.  Although that can back fire as it diffuses your whole "brand" ...which is another issue.



Interesting incite!

Iain Banks and David Farland come to mind (with Iain M. Banks and David Wolverton, respectively): Iain's science fiction pen name does nothing in the way of diffusing his brand, and David is very open about his pen names so there's little confusion.

All depends on how you handle it I'd say.


----------



## Xanados

Names don't really mean anything to me...


----------



## JCFarnham

They're the metaphorical front line of you as a brand. Whether you as a reader notice it or not, that name is what people are going to know you as and associate you with 

... and all the cultural milieu and context that comes with it.


----------



## Devor

Rather than post a new thread, I may as well ask here.

Would it be too weird if I used "Devor ((Somethingorother))" as a pen name?


----------



## JCFarnham

Is Englebert Humperdinck too weird?

I wouldn't mind Devor (insert name here), so along as it was catchy enough. You get all _kinds_ of names in Romance fiction for example. and some corkers in Fantasy for that matter.


----------



## MAndreas

JCFarnham said:


> Interesting incite!
> 
> Iain Banks and David Farland come to mind (with Iain M. Banks and David Wolverton, respectively): Iain's science fiction pen name does nothing in the way of diffusing his brand, and David is very open about his pen names so there's little confusion.
> 
> All depends on how you handle it I'd say.



True, but even though she lets people know she writes under different names, a friend of mine is having serious marketing issues because her publisher  has her under multiple names.  It can make a difference, if I know I like a specific author, I may grab their book without thinking.  But, if I don't follw them online- I may not know of the other names so I may not grab them right away.  James Rollins (awa James Clemens for example (neither are his real name either-LOL).  Kim Harrison and Dawn Cook.  In both of those cases, I didn't realize the "other" writer was them for quite a while (hasn't hurt them obviously, but they're good examples of different names-LOL). Ok...so maybe I'm slow that I didn't know about them .


Oh, and I think Devor would make a cool first name for an author .


----------



## Kelise

Most authors who write under another name have a list in the front of every book, listing which other books they've written, sorted by 'under name: ____' and so on. Would probably help if they had a line in their 'about the author' section also, such as 'you can find more of their work in any good bookstore, also published under the name: ____'

But yes, it's quite common. Mira Grant is also Seanan McGuire. Lian Hearn is also Gillian Rubinstein. Robin Hobb is also Megan Lindholm and Glenda Larke is also Glenda Noramly. The list goes on.


----------



## The Dark One

I had to grapple with this very question recently. In 2010, I had my first book published by a small publisher in Melbourne (under my own name). It did pretty well (their biggest ever selling novel - but they usually do non-fiction) and I have had heaps of fan mail and clamour for the sequel.

However, the next book I published, which came out three weeks ago, was in a completely different genre and leading up to publication I agonised over whether to use a pen name - and the issue was brand. Several thousand people have so far read my first book and, as far as I can tell, really enjoyed it and will buy the next without hesitation. But what if they don't like speculative fiction? (The new book traverses some fairly odd themes for those unfamiliar with such things.)

The publisher (different from the first - the first doesn't do spec fiction) was happy to leave it to me, although had a clear preference for me using the same name as for the first book. In the end, I decided that the marketing cachet of my real name outweighed my cross-genre concerns. Fans of the first book will recognise the authorial voice they previously enjoyed and might even find they get turned onto a genre they wouldn't have bothered with otherwise.

As for the work/politics aspects of using your real name, I am a lawyer by day and had some worries regarding this as my first book features a lot of swearing, violence and unusual sex scenes. I bit the bullet, and after the book was reviewed in the Law Society Journal was delighted to discover that my legal colleagues enjoyed this type of rough and bawdy writing. Mind you, the second book also contains these features but some very bizarre concepts as well. I truly fear that my legal colleagues will find the bizarre concepts far more disturbing than violence, swearing and unusual bonking scenes.


----------



## Rikilamaro

Thanks for posting this question, because I was wondering the same thing. I hate my real name. It has to do with a divorce and an aversion to the letter C, but that's neither here nor there. So I will be using a pen name. I'm trying to decide what it should be. Does the name need to reflect the genre?


----------



## kadenaz

I'm proud of my book and I used my real name, I'm just a 0,1% worried about the similarity between Francesco (you read it like "French-aesko") and "Francisco", like San Francisco, I'm not sure.


----------



## Kelise

Rikilamaro said:


> Does the name need to reflect the genre?



As long as it's not very odd for the genre, then it should be fine (such as Felicia Flowerdream writing a bloodthirsty dwarf battle, or something like Abercrombie's books).

It always helps, though.


----------



## Rikilamaro

starconstant said:


> As long as it's not very odd for the genre, then it should be fine (such as Felicia Flowerdream writing a bloodthirsty dwarf battle, or something like Abercrombie's books).
> 
> It always helps, though.



Well I'm all about little things to make life easier. Thanks!


----------



## Phin Scardaw

I write under an anagrammatic pen name based on my birth-name. I think there are some names that have a literary feel, and mine does not. Pseudonyms are extremely common for artists and the choice should be up to you, but choose wisely as you won't have much opportunity to change it.


----------



## The Blue Lotus

MAndreas said:


> Howdy- I'd say it depends on what market you're writing for, and what your real name is.  Jane Smith- probably want to use a different name .  Female writing a book aimed primarily at male readers (or visa versa) I'd same use intials- or a different name.
> I write under my real name, but if I switched genres I might pick a different name for the other genre.  Although that can back fire as it diffuses your whole "brand" ...which is another issue.
> 
> Pretty much it's your call .
> 
> Marie



I tend to agree with you about female writers and male readers. 

That is why I intend to use the unisex version of my real name. 
However, the same case could be made for people whom hail from far flung places along the globe. People with "ethnic" names don't seem to do as well as people with regular sounding names. (at least not at first)

Which means I will revert to my maiden which is stupid easy the world over


----------



## topazfire

If I ever get published it will hopefully be with my initials and my maiden name, which is easily pronounced rather than my married name which has 11 letters, 4 syllables and a bunch of odd consonants beside each other. I see the point about branding for sure. If I were writing romance novels I suppose I would pick a very simple, feminine name because that is just what comes to mind with the genre (but of course I write fantasy adventure, so here I am.)


----------



## Ireth

I've been gravitating toward using my initials and last name; it seems easier than trying to come up with a pen name. My writing isn't specifically aimed at either gender, but as others have said, there's a trend showing that female authors who hide their names tend to get a larger male following as well as female.


----------



## Caged Maiden

Okay to be honest, I don't particularly seek out female authors... sorry, but true.  I read historical romance, and would expect flowery old-lady names there, but if I were looking for fantasy.... I would probably not choose a book with a similar author name.  That being said, I don't believe there is any difference between a man's ability and a woman's ability to write a story.  I think that the men who do it are generally very good, though I believe truly women in general have an advantage when creating artistically.  Overall, I have loved most books I have read by both men and women, and I believe the ones I didn't like had similar shortcomings for me.  

I think that different types of books ought to have different sorts of author's names.... like they ought to have different cover art.  We could get all into gender differences here, but there is no one even line where men all fall on this side and women all fall on that side.  I feel like I straddle that line (In real life, not in my writing) as much as any one person can, actually; but, if I were publishing a book aimed at male readers, I would use a pen name (probably initials).  And if I were writing aimed at female readers, I'd use another, and for young readers, I'd probably use another.


----------



## gerald.parson

Who the hell uses a pseudonym  anymore? Besides graffiti artists. I know Lemony Snickett is Danny Handler's alter ego, but he never "hid" from that fact. I just don't personally see the point if it anymore.


----------



## JCFarnham

gerald.parson said:


> Who the hell uses a pseudonym  anymore? Besides graffiti artists. I know Lemony Snickett is Danny Handler's alter ego, but he never "hid" from that fact. I just don't personally see the point if it anymore.



Many, many, many, many authors do. You only have to look.

It is however a personal choice to use one, and if you don't see a need for it with your personal and professional lives then that's fine


----------



## Kelise

gerald.parson said:


> Who the hell uses a pseudonym  anymore? Besides graffiti artists. I know Lemony Snickett is Danny Handler's alter ego, but he never "hid" from that fact. I just don't personally see the point if it anymore.



Sometimes you don't 'have a choice', if the publisher really insists you publish under a different name. Matthew Green's real name is Matthew Dicks. My friend (not that he wants to be an author) has the last name of Horni. 

It could be that your name means your books will be shelved in a bottom corner and won't be seen as much. it could be that your name is too hard to spell correctly or remember, which limits the chance of someone finding you on google before they get bored.

Sometimes it's just not really your choice. You could tell the publisher to get stuffed, but then they - and others - may not be as eager to publish you if they think the name will greatly reduce the amount it sells.


----------



## Steerpike

JCFarnham said:


> Many, many, many, many authors do. You only have to look.
> 
> It is however a personal choice to use one, and if you don't see a need for it with your personal and professional lives then that's fine



Yeah, lots of authors still use them. A few will modify their actual name (Wen Spencer instead of Wendy Spencer, because it sounds less feminine). But a lot of them still use completely invented pseudonyms. I know an author who got a book contract last year who came up with an entirely fictitious name. The publisher was even involved in helping come up with it, if I'm not mistaken.


----------



## Shockley

I'm far more worried about the quality of the writing than I am about what name I publish under. Plenty of authors with bizarre names have gone on to be extremely successful (Tolkien, Roald Dahl, Nabakov (especially when pronounced correctly) and Daschiel Hammett spring to mind) and authors with absolutely electric names have been less than stellar.

If your work is good it will stand on its own, whatever name you publish under. If you do feel the need of a pen name, I at least hope that some thought it put into it other than 'this sounds masculine' or 'this is a better fit for my genre.' The origin story of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson using Lewis Carroll springs to mind as a 'good' reason to use a pen name.


----------



## The Din

Just curious, are there many authors out there that just use a single name? (ie: Cher, Brom.) I have a pretty unique first name that might work well. Wondering if it would come off pretentious/ridiculous?


----------



## JCFarnham

The Din said:


> Just curious, are there many authors out there that just use a single name? (ie: Cher, Brom.) I have a pretty unique first name that might work well. Wondering if it would come off pretentious/ridiculous?



Interesting idea indeed, but would it look like the name of an author or part of the title? It's important to have that distinction.


----------



## JBryden88

If I have any say I'll use my real name. My surname after all is of Lowland Scot origin, and ironically, the cultures in my fantasy are loosely based off of gaelic/celtic cultures


----------



## Benjamin Clayborne

The Din said:


> Just curious, are there many authors out there that just use a single name? (ie: Cher, Brom.) I have a pretty unique first name that might work well. Wondering if it would come off pretentious/ridiculous?



I don't think single-named authors are very common. It would probably sound pretentious or dilletante-ish no matter how interesting the name is. At least, that'd be my reaction upon seeing a fantasy novel written by someone with a single name. I'd probably avoid it just out of instinct.


----------



## Steerpike

A single name does seem unusual and people might see it as gimmicky.

As for a regular pen name, I don't think there is much reason not to use one if you prefer it. If your book is published and on the shelf somewhere, readers seeing your name aren't going to know your real name from your pen name unless they happen to know you personally. The only thing that really matters is that they will come to associate their like or dislike of your work with whatever name you are using, and in that regard both a pen name and real name will serve equally well. I can think of a few reasons why you would want to use a pen name, but not many good reasons not to use one other than your own personal dislike of doing so, which is fine. But from the standpoint of establishing yourself as an author, a pen name can work just as well as your real name, and in some cases better.


----------



## Devor

Steerpike said:


> A single name does seem unusual and people might see it as gimmicky.



Sometimes gimmicks will work even if people see through them.  I've been tempted to just use "Devor" as a pen name, but only so far as to consider it and realize it's a bad idea.  In their best light, I think obvious gimmicks come across as a little deva-ish, and thus, might be great if "deva" is part of your brand.  I don't want it to be part of mine.  Dev_or_, not Dev_a_.

Still, Mr. Din, your real first name is _not_ a gimmick, and there's nothing wrong with highlighting it.  What are your initials?  Could you try _Din K. A._ - ?


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Speaking of gimmicky, does anyone _really_ have a double R as their middle initials?

And would anyone believe me if I said my fully-middle-initialed name is John M.X.L.X. Haley? (Maybe they would, but that mess sure won't sell any books!)


----------



## The Blue Lotus

Wow Sidekick that is a mouth full. 

Could be worse however, I once knew someone with the Initials P.O.O


----------



## Ireth

Legendary Sidekick said:


> Speaking of gimmicky, does anyone _really_ have a double R as their middle initials?



J.R.R. Tolkien was actually John Ronald Reuel Tolkien... though I'm not sure if any other authors with double-R middle names are just imitators of him or what, so that may or may not count. ^^;


----------



## Ghost

I'm going to legally change my name at some point because I never liked my first name. I may change it again if I get married. I also want to keep my writing life and personal life separate, especially given the content. It just seems simpler to have a pseudonym than to worry about all that.

I narrowed it down to three pen names. The main contender sounds like an old lady's name, but it's easy to spell and pronounce. It easily fits both the horror and fantasy genres, and I could find no fiction authors who even share last name, which is a plus when it comes to branding.

I'm using an obviously female name. I don't write YA, so I don't have to worry about scaring the boys away. Adults who'd judge the content of my stories by my gender aren't my target audience. Most of my favorite female authors don't hide their gender, either.

I don't think people will judge you harshly for using a pen name, Vanya, especially if it sounds like a real name. It can take people a while to catch on that it's even a pen name.



Legendary Sidekick said:


> Speaking of gimmicky, does anyone _really_ have a double R as their middle initials?



The R.R. in George R. R. Martin is "Raymond Richard" or something like that. There's another George Martin, I think, involved in the music industry. Fantasy Martin was in the TV industry for a while, so he might've done it to separate himself from the other George Martin(s). It's not exactly a unique name. I don't know anyone besides Tolkien and Martin that have the double R.


----------



## Benjamin Clayborne

Ireth said:


> J.R.R. Tolkien was actually John Ronald Reuel Tolkien... though I'm not sure if any other authors with double-R middle names are just imitators of him or what, so that may or may not count. ^^;



George R. R. Martin is George Raymond Richard Martin. He was born in 1948, several years before _LotR_ came out, so I suppose his parents could have been big fans of _The Hobbit_... or it could just be a coincidence.

My kids have two middle names each (their middle initials are W. D. and I. L. respectively). If we'd been big fans of names starting with R, we might have gone the R. R. route for one of them.


----------



## gerald.parson

well, im gonna use Pen Name as my pen name. So


----------



## Cinder

gerald.parson said:


> well, im gonna use Pen Name as my pen name. So



As am I. My real name sucks, so why not give myself a better one?


----------



## Ghost

You might want to use an initial so people can tell the two of you apart, Cinder. How about A. Pen Name?


----------



## Ireth

Or Penn Nayme. XD


----------



## Steerpike

Norm D. Ploom.

Heck, if someone can write a book with an MC called "Hiro Protagonist" I think anything can work


----------



## Ghost

I asked my family for help. We ladies agreed on one, but my dad wants me to be Frankie Frank or to have the last name Jones. He's also very big on three names because of his theory about people remembering them more easily and something about serial killers being known by three names. (Yeah, he lost me there, too.) Apparently, I'll be very successful if I call myself Frankie Frank Jones.

On the plus side, I now know who _not_ to ask for writing advice.


----------



## Jabrosky

A pen name would only make sense if you expected to produce very popular works yet wanted to maintain your privacy.


----------



## Steerpike

Jabrosky said:


> A pen name would only make sense if you expected to produce very popular works yet wanted to maintain your privacy.



Not really. There are plenty of good reasons. Suppose, for example, you are involved in a profession where you wouldn't want the works of fiction to remain separate from your professional work. That's an easy scenario for me, because it is exactly the situation I am in. Law firms are notoriously conservative places, and in addition to fantasy and children's stories, I also write horror and dark fiction. Whether I am ever very popular or not, my pseudonym can come up in a Google Search (and in fact it does). The firm would not look too kindly on a client doing a Google Search for me (which client's do quite a lot) and having a bunch of horror stories and the like intermingled with the search results relating to the first or legal publications.

Likewise, suppose you were a teacher and you wrote something like erotica or racy romances, or, again, dark fiction. You wouldn't have to be popular for your name to pop up for any parent running a search on their kid's teacher, and there are parents who would definitely be put off by seeing such things (and I suspect there are those who would complain to the school).

Finally, and another factor in my own consideration, if you produce vastly different works you may want, for branding purposes, to establish two different personas. For example, my children's book is published under one name. My adult/dark fiction will be published under another. This is a good branding strategy, privacy aside.


----------



## MichaelSullivan

gerald.parson said:


> Who the hell uses a pseudonym  anymore? Besides graffiti artists. I know Lemony Snickett is Danny Handler's alter ego, but he never "hid" from that fact. I just don't personally see the point if it anymore.



Many traditional authors need to use pen names to avoid issues with non-compete clauses. Many contracts limit the timing of books released by the same author, so pen names are used for prolific writers who want to have seveal books released simultaneiously.

I even know of one author who was forced to change to a pen name because his books didn't sell well enough. The publisher liked his new books, but was afraid his name was toxic so they made him come up with a pen name.


----------



## R.S.Robertson

I use my first two initials and (married) last name for pretty much everything (my artwork, web design, writing) except as my "legal" signature.  My married last name is incredibly common and generally neither mispronounced or misunderstood, so altogether my "pseudonym" would probably fit just about any genre as well as being gender neutral.  I don't really use it as a disguise, I just really don't like writing out and I've never actually gone by Rebecca.  All in all R.S. Robertson sounds both more mature and serious.

For a long time I thought about using my first two initials and maiden name as it is as uncommon as my married name is common.  In fact, there is only one family in the United States with that name.  The problem is that Wight,my maiden name, despite being spelled and pronounce just like right, tight, light, fight and sight, is ALWAYS mispronounce as Wig-hit for some reason, so it's completely useless as a pen name.  Don't get me wrong, I really like my maiden name, I just hated having to constantly explain it to people.  I once had a teacher call me a flat-out liar when I told him how it was pronounce... English teachers shouldn't require such intense pronunciation lessons from a 12 year old!


----------



## Ghost

I think fantasy readers would be more likely to pronounce it correctly than other groups, though.


----------



## Havoc

I've always used a pen name, which happens to be a cleverly made acronym of my real name, plus sounds kind of cool in fantasy writing.


----------



## Lawfire

If one writes in more than one genre, it seems the use of different pen names for each would help to keep things separate.


----------



## Flemming Hansen

Once my first novel is complete, I'll go with F.K. Hansen because most people would miss-spell my first name; due to Ian Fleming (James Bond). Also, my middle name is 'KnÃ¸ss', which is not an international name, so it would be best to avoid that as well.


----------



## Lorna

I find pen names and user names bl**dy confusing. The world would be a much simpler place if everyone had one name- the name they were born with and stuck with it. That's what I do unless the computer says 'that names is in use.' Then I go with Lorny81- my nickname and my birthday. Then everybody knows who I am, including me, and nobody wastes time getting confused. 

If I ever get my novel published the last thing I will change is my name.


----------



## Mindfire

Lorna said:


> I find pen names and user names bl**dy confusing. The world would be a much simpler place if everyone had one name-



Could raise some privacy issues. Talented hackers can already steal your identity. The last thing you want to do is make it easier for them.


----------



## T.Allen.Smith

Or in the case of an incredibly common name sometimes a name with a bit o' flavor can help.


----------



## Kim

I am more and more sure I would use my real name (Kim ten Tusscher). I have used it on the Dutch versions of my books, despite the opninion in the Dutch writers-world that you should use an English name that sounds as if a man has written the book.

I think, several years ago, the Dutch public did think foreign authors write better books than Dutch writers. Many of them did also think men write better stories than women.  But I think that it has changed. More Dutch authors are being published (but often with an English pseudonym) and there are more women (over the whole world) known for their good books.

I am also wondering how many people choose the books they read on the name of the author. I select on title, cover, than I might see the name of the author, but more likely I will read whats on the back of the book.

But I was/am doubting if I should take a pseudonym for the English versions. Thats why I started a poll on facebook. I didn't have many response yet, but most people suggest using my real name. It's the writers who suggest I should use a pseudonym and the readers who vote for my real name.


----------



## SlimShady

I'd use my real name and I don't think I'd ever use a pseudonym.  Putting pseudonyms just makes it like the writer is hiding something and I've nothing to hide.  Personally, I'd find it enjoyable that readers know my real name.  My name was given to me for a reason and I plan on using it.  But, that's just my odd way of viewing things.


----------



## Chime85

Im a little torn with this. Although I have no personal, professional or political reason to choose a pen name, I cannot help but consider my name to be a little dull; Katherine Smith. Even if I initial it, it will be K.Smith (I have no middle name). As you can see, still just as dull. 

I did consider using the last initial of my parter as a middle initial, so it could be Katherine S. Smith or K.S.Smith. I did once thumble with the idea of Miss Katherine Smith, but then i considered that i would sound too much like a teacher, making people see my writing as childrens fiction (which is fine, if i was writing childrens fiction lol)

x


----------



## Weaver

I've been told over and over that readers don't care who the author is, that they only care about the story, but I keep running into situations where that is clearly not the case.

I've had readers tell me that I, as a man, cannot (meaning both _not able _and, sometimes _not allowed_) write anything with a female protagonist.  So I did an experiment wherein I deliberately led readers to believe that I was a woman... and they loved that protagonist, said she was very realistically written, and even said they wished there were more female characters in fantasy fiction like her.  I've considered writing as T. Weaver instead of Thomas Weaver for this reason, but that would be giving in to someone else's prejudices, and I don't like that.

In my profile on one writing site, I start out with "Judge the writing by the writing.  Author's age, location, species... These thing are irrelevant."  I mean it, too.

I did another experiement once, years ago, wherein I posted the same story fragment, at different times, under different pen names.  When the story was supposedly by a woman named Kellie (from Maine), the female readers liked it okay, but the male readers said it was trite and boring and the author clearly had no idea how things are supposed to work in a fantasy story.  When _the same piece of writing _was supposedly by a man named Geoffrey (from Ohio), everyone liked it.  Although when it was revealed that Geoffrey was actually from Kentucky, suddenly about half of the readers started saying that he shouldn't be writing fantasy because of where he lived - apparently persons living in Kentucky are only supposed to write about Kentucky things.  So apparently the author's name isn't the only thing readers use to judge the writing itself.  

(For the record, both Kellie and Geoffrey are characters in some of my fiction.  Makes it easy to impersonate them.  *grin*)


----------



## T.Allen.Smith

Weaver said:


> I've been told over and over that readers don't care who the author is, that they only care about the story, but I keep running into situations where that is clearly not the case.
> 
> I've had readers tell me that I, as a man, cannot (meaning both not able and, sometimes not allowed) write anything with a female protagonist.  So I did an experiment wherein I deliberately led readers to believe that I was a woman... and they loved that protagonist, said she was very realistically written, and even said they wished there were more female characters in fantasy fiction like her.  I've considered writing as T. Weaver instead of Thomas Weaver for this reason, but that would be giving in to someone else's prejudices, and I don't like that.
> 
> In my profile on one writing site, I start out with "Judge the writing by the writing.  Author's age, location, species... These thing are irrelevant."  I mean it, too.
> 
> I did another experiement once, years ago, wherein I posted the same story fragment, at different times, under different pen names.  When the story was supposedly by a woman named Kellie (from Maine), the female readers liked it okay, but the male readers said it was trite and boring and the author clearly had no idea how things are supposed to work in a fantasy story.  When the same piece of writing was supposedly by a man named Geoffrey (from Ohio), everyone liked it.  Although when it was revealed that Geoffrey was actually from Kentucky, suddenly about half of the readers started saying that he shouldn't be writing fantasy because of where he lived - apparently persons living in Kentucky are only supposed to write about Kentucky things.  So apparently the author's name isn't the only thing readers use to judge the writing itself.
> 
> (For the record, both Kellie and Geoffrey are characters in some of my fiction.  Makes it easy to impersonate them.  *grin*)



Love the experiment. There's no doubt in my mind that people's preconceived notions colors their ideas of the work.

Reminds me of a great Jack Nicholson line in "As Good as it Gets". His character, Melvin Udall (a writer) is asked by a woman how he writes women characters so accurately. His reply: "I think of a man and I take away reason and accountability."


----------



## icebladeaskante

I have had people tell me flat out that women should not write fantasy. Apparently women are more likely to turn it into a romance novel or go off on a 'boring' emotional angle rather than write about magic, sword fighting, blood and guts. Apparently women read fantasy written by women and men read fantasy written by men, because the gender affects what you want from a story and how you write it. 

Personally I would prefer to be published under a pen name as I am uncomfortable being in a spot light of any sort. But I don't think I would take the route of initials, though that because I would become J.K. Quinn, and I'd rather not people think of Rowling when they pick up my book, and because I am female, and I don't want to hide that fact just so a few other more people will read my book.


----------



## T.Allen.Smith

I've heard that there are gender preferences for authors in the genre. I've seen a few articles on the topic. For my taste though, I could care less what the gender of the author is or any other characteristic for that matter. Only the story counts. Maybe, as writer's ourselves, we are in the minority with this type of thinking.

There are plenty of great women fantasy writers. Admittedly, that number is dwarfed by the myriad of male authors in the genre.


----------



## Mindfire

icebladeaskante said:


> I have had people tell me flat out that women should not write fantasy. Apparently women are more likely to turn it into a romance novel or go off on a 'boring' emotional angle rather than write about magic, sword fighting, blood and guts. Apparently women read fantasy written by women and men read fantasy written by men, because the gender affects what you want from a story and how you write it.
> 
> Personally I would prefer to be published under a pen name as I am uncomfortable being in a spot light of any sort. But I don't think I would take the route of initials, though that because I would become J.K. Quinn, and I'd rather not people think of Rowling when they pick up my book, and because I am female, and I don't want to hide that fact just so a few other more people will read my book.



Drop the K? J. Quinn looks cool. 

Anyway, the gender issue is... tricky. Putting this in bullet form because phrasing what I want to say in a paragraph is difficult.


I think there are differences between the way males and females write.
These difference are more likely to be immediately obvious in beginner or young writers.
In general, girls tend towards emotion and drama while guys tend toward action-adventure. 
Tendencies are not limitations, however.
It's difficult to say whether these tendencies are innate or a result of social conditioning, but they do exist.

I once read this article by a creative writing professor about an exercise she did with her students. It's that old writing game where you write part of a story, then pass it on to the next person to write more, and so on. The professor (a woman I think) noticed a stark difference in style and content between the male and female students. The male students wanted to write about a daring space captain preparing to drive his starfighter into battle, while the female students wanted to write about the space captain's lonely love interest who was stuck behind at home. The two student factions kept up a literary tug-of-war, with the guys completely ignoring or outright insulting the sections written by the girls (e.g. "the space captain wasted no thoughts on the stupid girl he had left behind, but rather turned his focus to the mission at hand.") and vice versa. It got to the point where the girls were so determined to write a more "sensitive" story that they outright _killed_ the space captain in order to force the focus to stay on the lonely girl at home. (Checkmate?)

I am even now scouring the internet for that article so I can link to it.


----------



## Weaver

icebladeaskante said:


> I have had people tell me flat out that women should not write fantasy. Apparently women are more likely to turn it into a romance novel or go off on a 'boring' emotional angle rather than write about magic, sword fighting, blood and guts. Apparently women read fantasy written by women and men read fantasy written by men, because the gender affects what you want from a story and how you write it.
> 
> Personally I would prefer to be published under a pen name as I am uncomfortable being in a spot light of any sort. But I don't think I would take the route of initials, though that because I would become J.K. Quinn, and I'd rather not people think of Rowling when they pick up my book, and because I am female, and I don't want to hide that fact just so a few other more people will read my book.



On the website SheWrites (my friend Grace was signed up there briefly, which is how I heard about this), there were apparently a lot of women saying that women can write fantasy, but that they cannot write science fiction at all.  Something along the lines of 'Women don't write sci-fi because women don't read sci-fi because it's unfriendly toward women - all that math and science and stuff we can't understand.'  (Grace, whose mother is a microbiologist, and who herself has a great fondness for 'all that math and science stuff,' was VERY offended.)

As for the idea that men and women have different preferences when it comes to fiction... Maybe.  I've been told so, but my own tastes in fiction have _nothing_ to do with the gender of the author, nor even the gender of the main character, so I don't understand why it would matter to others.

Y'know what's funny?  A lot of readers will now assume that the author is female if he/she uses initials instead of a full first name, even if the author is a man.  What's even funnier, in my opinion:  There are more men writing romances than most people would ever guess, but they all have to use _female pen names _because readers of romances don't trust male authors to get it right.


----------



## The Dark One

When I was a teenager and VERY into scifi, my favourite author by far was Andre Norton. It took me years to realise Andre was a chick.

Damn excellent writer.


----------



## LisaChitty

Whether or not to use a pen name was a serious consideration for me given my surname and the potential for taunting and it to be misheard. However, I decided that I wanted to be known as me not an alter ego, so have gone with my real name.


----------



## Flemming Hansen

Chime85 said:


> Im a little torn with this. Although I have no personal, professional or political reason to choose a pen name, I cannot help but consider my name to be a little dull; Katherine Smith. Even if I initial it, it will be K.Smith (I have no middle name)...


Katherine Smith is a catchy "authoristic" name in my humble opinion


----------



## CTStanley

I've started with a pen name, though it doesn't vary greatly from my actual name. Even though I'm female I'm often shocked by decent fantasy from women authors (even though I really shouldn't be!) so thought I'd de-sexualise my name a little. Besides no one can pronounce my real last name anyway...


----------



## Aravelle

I believe it can be somewhat influential. My legal name would sound wonderful if I was writing a manual, or a book on law, economics, or medicine. However, I don't think it has much flair for a fiction writer, hence me going by the name Emma Raether. It suits me very well, to the point where being Miss Raether is practically an alias, an alternate identity [although, I do remain true to myself].


----------



## Micha Fire

since I'm German but write in English ................

and my real name is not well pronounced by English speakers,
I chose a pen name 

gets mispronounced by Germans *lol* but that's the smaller evil

and I often get thought to be male 'cause of my pen name -- 
which seems to be better for being a wanting to publish author


----------



## J. S. Elliot

My name is insanely common, so I'm thinking of going by a pen name. I just haven't decided on what. I may just do a more elaborate spin on my given name to give it a unique flair, though. An option, at least.


----------



## Mindfire

SeleneHime said:


> My name is insanely common, so I'm thinking of going by a pen name. I just haven't decided on what. I may just do a more elaborate spin on my given name to give it a unique flair, though. An option, at least.



Try anagramming your name. I tried that with mine, but it invariably creates names that are either stuffy and boring or utterly ridiculous.


----------



## MystiqueRain

So far I've been using my real name, but since my novel series is written by several people, I was considering just combining everyone into one pen name. Something we can all agree on, of course.


----------



## A. E. Lowan

I use a pen name for a couple of reasons.  For starters, I'm one half of a two person writing team, and while her name is very common and easy to spell and pronounce, my name is unusual in the U.S. and is often mispronounced and misspelled.  Secondly, from both our careers in the retail bookselling industry, we have noticed that books written by two people generally do not sell as well, and that books written by writers whose names fall at the far end of the alphabet (as my last name does) also do not tend to sell as well, because readers often do not make it that far down the stack.  So we have chosen the pen name A. E. Lowan, which covers the gender issue with readers, and the name placement issue - our name falls right between McCaffery and Lackey, and generally hits right at eye level to waist level in most stores we have observed.

Always keep an eye to marketing when choosing your pen name.


----------



## SeverinR

icebladeaskante said:


> I have had people tell me flat out that women should not write fantasy. Apparently women are more likely to turn it into a romance novel or go off on a 'boring' emotional angle rather than write about magic, sword fighting, blood and guts. Apparently women read fantasy written by women and men read fantasy written by men, because the gender affects what you want from a story and how you write it.
> 
> Personally I would prefer to be published under a pen name as I am uncomfortable being in a spot light of any sort. But I don't think I would take the route of initials, though that because I would become J.K. Quinn, and I'd rather not people think of Rowling when they pick up my book, and because I am female, and I don't want to hide that fact just so a few other more people will read my book.



Just to let you know,
Lackey and MacCaffrey were my inspiration to actually start writing. 
I think women writing fantasy is different then men writing fantasy, but by any other means of categorizing each person style will be different then another.  (race, religion, history, height, skin color, etc)


----------



## Weaver

SeverinR said:


> I think women writing fantasy is different then men writing fantasy



_Why?_

I don't understand where the idea comes from that women always write one way and men always write another.  Is there an explanation that makes sense?  (I may get banned from the site for asking, in which case it's been nice knowing all of you).

See my post (#62) on the previous page of this thread for some of why I don't understand 'author's gender determines writing style/subject matter.'


----------



## Mindfire

Weaver said:


> _Why?_
> 
> I don't understand where the idea comes from that women always write one way and men always write another.  Is there an explanation that makes sense?  (I may get banned from the site for asking, in which case it's been nice knowing all of you).
> 
> See my post (#62) on the previous page of this thread for some of why I don't understand 'author's gender determines writing style/subject matter.'



It's hard for me to put my finger on it, but there is a difference. Having been used to Lewis and Tolkien, LeGuin's style threw me for a loop at first. All the events were... smaller, more "personal", not the epic, grand-scale stuff I was used to. And one might say that's just LeGuin's style and not a function of gender. BUT, it seems to be true of all the female writers I've read, and nearly all the female _prospective_ writers I've met. I know it's not PC to say it, but from what I've seen stories by women writers tend to be... more low-key. (That's not quite the right word.) In my creative writing class, even the guys and girls who wrote in the same genre (the majority of the class was aiming in the vague direction of "literary". Me and one other were leaning in a more fantastical direction) had differences. The guys tended to be more... theatrical, whereas the girls tended to be more personal. Why does this happen? Who knows. But I see it happen.


----------



## ookami

Id much rather go for using my own name. I can imagine feeling a much bigger sense of pride if I saw my book out somewhere with my name on not fake one.


----------



## Addison

True, very true. And, if you choose real name and not pen name, you have less chance of writing the wrong name during book signings. 

But J.K Rowling hit a road block with her agent on this matter right? He didn't think that kids would read a book about a boy wizard written by a woman. So she used her first two initials instead of her first name. Which would suck for me, being A.L.


----------

