Does anyone use a pseudonym?

The_Minister

I was thinking of it, but I'm not sure how copyright or revenue matters would be handled.

EileenG

I do. I write as Evie Hunter as well as Eileen Gormley.

All money you earn is in your own name, and is liable for tax, no matter what name is on the cover of the book. You own copyright in your work no matter what name is on the cover of the book. There is no problem using a pen name, but your agent and publisher will know your real name, and you'll sign all contracts using your own name.

There are two main reasons for using a pen name. The first is privacy. You are writing an expose or a book in a genre which would be an embarrassment to your real life. If you are a Catholic bishop, and you are writing a sex manual, you might want to do it under a pen name.

The other is that you write in different genres, and want to make sure readers don't get confused between them. So you might write children's books under one name, and erotica under a different one.

Now, having used both, I have to say that there are a lot of disadvantages of using a pen name. For one thing, there is no guarantee of privacy. It's virtually impossible to make sure that no one ever discovers who you are. Remember JK Rowling's attempt to write as Robert Galbraith?

The biggest one is that it makes promotion of your book a nightmare. If your book is published and there is going to be a big splashy book launch, and you are working under a pen name, you can't invite all your friends and family. In fact, you probably can't go yourself, in case anyone recognises you.

You can't generate publicity for your book by facebooking and tweeting, you can't give interviews to the press, you can't go on the Late Late and talk about it. If you happen to be signing autographs, you can't sign your own name. Sounds silly, but try writing someone else's name a hundred times and you'll see how difficult it is.

The main reason people give for wanting to use a pen name is that they'd be embarrassed if their granny/mammy/auntie read the racy scene with the ice and ginger. Relax, they won't. If it's not a genre they read anyway, they won't read yours. They might buy a copy (though more likely to expect a free one) but they won't read more than the first couple of pages.

Das Kitty

The advice I was given on pen names, is that it's something that's done once you have a publisher and not before. Purely to keep confusion during correspondence to a minimum.

If you're self-publishing, this doesn't come into play unless you're likely to confuse yourself.

There is another reason to use one, and there are differing views, but if you're a woman and you're writing crime/thrillers and things that appeal to male readers, it can help not to have an obviously woman-y name on the book. There is apparently research to say that men would be less likely to pick up a book with a female author's name on it.

Mr E

Das Kitty wrote: »

There is apparently research to say that men would be less likely to pick up a book with a female author's name on it.

Oooh..... controversial. That's a shame - there are lots and lots of great female authors out there (even in crime/thrillers!), so those narrow minded readers are missing out.

echo beach

If your real name is the same or similar to a well known author (or anybody famous for that matter) you might want to use a different one to avoid confusion.

EileenG

echo beach wrote: »

If your real name is the same or similar to a well known author (or anybody famous for that matter) you might want to use a different one to avoid confusion.

Or make the most of the confusion. There is a good chance that you'll get some sales by accident, someone who thought she was buying the famous author, and who then likes your book enough to buy more.

EileenG

@Das Kitty. You can always use initials instead of a girly first name for thrillers.

Lyaiera

I've been taking a go at writing romance and it's pretty much a given that people will use pen names. Authors will use different pen names depending on the type of romance and readers will know that.

The main reason for me to use a pen name is I want to release something more literary and trad published on my own name.