# Pen Names???



## phoenixwings (Jan 13, 2012)

I'm not sure if this is the appropriate place to ask this, if it's not please tell me. Are you using your proper name or are you creating a more tantalising, interesting one? 

I have had many perspectives on the pros and cons and am still undecided on the subject.


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## sashamerideth (Jan 13, 2012)

I am using a pen name. I know some people use a different pen name for each genre that they write to keep their mystery people from being disappointed by a romance title.

Sent from my Blade using Forum Runner


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## myrddin173 (Jan 13, 2012)

There was already some discussion on this here.


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## Kaellpae (Jan 13, 2012)

I call Awesome McAwesomeness.
My real name is too boring. 
But on the other hand if I use my real name then there's the possibility of being recognized if only by name only.

Edit: My pen name will be, Larry Porter.


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## phoenixwings (Jan 13, 2012)

My real name is far, far too boring for fantasy.

I'm thinking of using Blaze Mckenna as it has been stuck in my mind for quite a while but i'm not sure.


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## hppavmx704 (Jan 13, 2012)

If I decide to use a pen name I would use Shric Norhe, which has all of the letters of my name just rearranged. Don't really know if I'm going to use one or not.


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## Taytortots (Jan 13, 2012)

It seems I'm one of the few who would use my real name. My name is boring, but I just wouldn't be able to use a pen name.


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## Androxine Vortex (Jan 14, 2012)

I don't understand the purpose of using a pen name. I have read articles saying that it helps authors write in different genres and all this stuff but I don't really understand why. Why not write a book and be able to say "I wrote this" and not "I wrote this but under a false name of a person that doesn't exist." 

I know in movie and music bussiness, people change their names because their name is "boring." But are you really going to pick up a book, look at the author's name, and put it back because of a name? I think using pen names is kind of catchy (like saying J.R. Tolkein is fun to say) but at the same time I think it is really silly.


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## Benjamin Clayborne (Jan 14, 2012)

Androxine Vortex said:


> I don't understand the purpose of using a pen name. I have read articles saying that it helps authors write in different genres and all this stuff but I don't really understand why. Why not write a book and be able to say "I wrote this" and not "I wrote this but under a false name of a person that doesn't exist."
> 
> I know in movie and music bussiness, people change their names because their name is "boring." But are you really going to pick up a book, look at the author's name, and put it back because of a name? I think using pen names is kind of catchy (like saying J.R. Tolkein is fun to say) but at the same time I think it is really silly.



Some people don't want their writing persona to be involved with their real persona, for privacy reasons. Some people write in multiple genres and don't want to be pigeonholed. Some people's names really _are_ boring, and they believe that a name that sounds more appropriate to the genre will help them sell more books.

I think maybe the fact that there's thousands of successful authors who use pen names might indicate that there are good reasons for doing it, even if you don't understand them.

Also, I'm not sure what you mean about Tolkien, but that wasn't a pen name.


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## Johnny Cosmo (Jan 14, 2012)

> _I think using pen names is kind of catchy_



@: Androxine Vortex: that's not just a good thing, that's a very good thing. A catchy name might help you remember an author when you're next in a book store.


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## Jess A (Jan 14, 2012)

My true name, regardless of whether I marry (and change my surname) or not.


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## Androxine Vortex (Jan 14, 2012)

Benjamin Clayborne said:


> Some people don't want their writing persona to be involved with their real persona, for privacy reasons. Some people write in multiple genres and don't want to be pigeonholed. Some people's names really _are_ boring, and they believe that a name that sounds more appropriate to the genre will help them sell more books.
> 
> I think maybe the fact that there's thousands of successful authors who use pen names might indicate that there are good reasons for doing it, even if you don't understand them.
> 
> Also, I'm not sure what you mean about Tolkien, but that wasn't a pen name.



Oh ok I see. And I thought that the format mattered too, that's why I said J.R. Tolkein. I thought that as long as your official full name wasn't posted there it was a pen name.


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## Benjamin Clayborne (Jan 14, 2012)

Androxine Vortex said:


> Oh ok I see. And I thought that the format mattered too, that's why I said J.R. Tolkein. I thought that as long as your official full name wasn't posted there it was a pen name.



I don't know if there's any official rules about what makes something a pen name. Abbreviating part of your name isn't generally considered as such, though. Especially middle names. "John Ronald Reuel Tolkien" is pretty long to put on the front cover of a novel, and back then people were more likely to use their entire real names, which is why he ended using "J. R. R. Tolkien". If he had inserted initials he didn't have, or used a different surname, that would be a pen name.


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## Androxine Vortex (Jan 14, 2012)

Benjamin Clayborne said:


> I don't know if there's any official rules about what makes something a pen name. Abbreviating part of your name isn't generally considered as such, though. Especially middle names. "John Ronald Reuel Tolkien" is pretty long to put on the front cover of a novel, and back then people were more likely to use their entire real names, which is why he ended using "J. R. R. Tolkien". If he had inserted initials he didn't have, or used a different surname, that would be a pen name.



Ah, so it's only a pen name if you use letters that don't belong to your real name. Ok.


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## Benjamin Clayborne (Jan 14, 2012)

Well, it's a pen name if it has parts in it that aren't part of your real name. If your name is Robert James Smith, then all of the following would *NOT* be pen names:

Robert James Smith
Robert J. Smith
R. James Smith
R. J. Smith
Robert Smith
R. Smith
James Smith
J. Smith

or substitute "Bob" or "Bobby" for any of the "Robert" above since those are standard nicknames. (I think if you changed "James" to "Jim" it'd count as a pen name, since middle names are not normally abbreviated... except I had a friend in high school named "Scott Edward [Surname]" and he went by Ted most of the time.)

Pretty much anything else would be a pen name, including the following:

J. R. Smith
Robert L. Smith
David Smith
Mike Hunt
etc.


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## Xanados (Jan 14, 2012)

I would use my real name. I hate my real name, but I'd use it.


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## mrmister (Jan 17, 2012)

My pen name is going to be J.R.R. Tolkien.


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## Anders Ã„mting (Jan 18, 2012)

Ã„mting is not my real surname - it's my mother's maiden name, and while she and two of my siblings have made it their official surname, I have no plans on doing so. However, I was thinking about using it as a pseodonym since it's very unusual (IIRC, my great grandfather basically made it up) so it stands out more then my real name.


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## Mike Carmel (Jan 21, 2012)

I love the idea of using a pen name for different genres, but that means you are starting from ground zero with credibility an fan base each time.


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## Benjamin Clayborne (Jan 22, 2012)

Mike Carmel said:


> I love the idea of using a pen name for different genres, but that means you are starting from ground zero with credibility an fan base each time.



True, but sometimes established authors will use a new pen name and then make sure that the connection between the two is public and advertised. E.g. Nora Roberts writes as J.D. Robb for some of her work, and this is intentionally (as far as I know) not a secret.


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## Androxine Vortex (Jan 24, 2012)

I've been thinking about pen names for awhile now. I have never thought of using one but I'm trying to think if I HAD to use one, what might I use? What are some of yours? How and why did you select the letters you did? I'm sure they're not random and have some reason for doing so.

(I know that this next question is hypothetical and unlikely)
And let's say for example that a book gets really popular, and you write it under a pen name. If you make a public appearance, like an interview or something like that, would they address you by your pen name too? Just curious.


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## The Grey Sage (Jan 24, 2012)

I considered actually using 'The Grey Sage' as a pen name but limited it to poetry only, as far a prose... I'm sticking with my real name.


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## Arcturus (Jan 25, 2012)

If I ever use a pen name, I'd use my middle name or last name, but never my first.  I don't know why, but I never liked how my name looked in writing.  It also doesn't suit the type of genres I write with, so I'm not really that heartbroken over the fact.


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