Aside from fiddling with fonts, contemplating acknowledgments sections, and/or finding the perfect quote to precede the start of the book, dreaming up pen names is a favored procrastination tool for many aspiring authors out there.
As a result, I receive a whole lot of questions about them: should I include my pen name in the query letter? Do I need a pen name? Can I use “Dan Brown” as a pen name? What about “Stephanie Mayers?” See what I did there?
This post will hopefully answer all these questions.
UPDATED 10/31/19
You probably don’t have to decide right now
But before we get to the pros and cons of pen names, whether you do or don’t decide to use a pen name is something that can and should be figured out on down the line in consultation with your (future) agent.
When you send queries: query as your real self. I wouldn’t recommend send it from your pseudonym. When I was a literary agent, I wanted to know who I was really going to be working with.
If you’re considering using a pen name or have a pen name, mention it if you feel it’s really necessary and just put (writing as Mr. Pen Name) below your real name. Example:
Sincerely,
Nathan Bransford
(writing as Danger McDangerson)
Deciding whether to use a pen name
Now. As for whether you should or should not use a pen name, again, this is something that should be contemplated with your agent. Circumstances are inevitably different for every author, so generalizing will not capture all the ins and outs.
But here are some rough pros and cons:
Pros for pen names
- You can optimize for SEO. In this day and age of Google Searches, if your name is John or Jane Smith or something very common, a pen name can help you with SEO. What is SEO? Search Engine Optimization. If someone Googles “Jane Smith,” the author Jane Smith with the book out might be on page 47. Jane Jingleheimerschmidt, on the other hand, will probably be closer to the top. (Before the days of Google I never appreciated having a weird last name. Hooray for Bransford!)
- You want to avoid the attention of certain foreign governments. Some authors want a public persona that’s different from their passport name to avoid complicating future travel. (Honest!)
- Your previous books didn’t sell as well as you had hoped. A pen name can sometimes give an author a fresh start.
- Your publisher or agent feels your book might do better if the author’s name sounded more male/female/gender neutral to appeal to either a male/female demographic. Be very, very careful with this sort of thing, and it’s a practice that is largely falling by the wayside. Let the professionals decide this one and I wouldn’t try to over-engineer it.
- You want to avoid complications in your professional life. You might want your professional presence online to be different from your artistic persona online.
Cons for pen names
- It’s complicated. Many authors find it extremely annoying to have a pen name in the Internet age. In the past you just had to learn to answer to your pen name at readings and in interviews and otherwise you could go about your business. In the day and age of the Internet and Twitter and Facebook, constantly being another person gets exhausting, what with switching between e-mail accounts and remembering your alternate persona’s likes and dislikes, etc. etc.
- It can be harder to tap your network. With a fake name it’s more difficult to utilize your personal real life network to help sell a book. Regular non-book type people out there find pen names pretty confusing and difficult to remember.
- A pen name won’t give you cover when you’re defaming people. Not gonna fly in this day and age: The Internet will figure you out. And defaming people, even in novels, is extremely risky and costly business. Also it’s illegal.
In general I would recommend against using a pen name unless there’s a really good reason for it. In other words: don’t use one just to use one.
But if you really really need one…
Tips for pen names
- First check to see if the Internet domain is available. It will make your life much, much easier to have the FirstnameLastname.com domain.
- Don’t try and mimic another successful author. Be yourself.
- Many people find it helpful to stick with your first name at least so you don’t have to remember answer to a new name or accidentally call yourself your actual name.
- Make sure it’s memorable. If you’re going to get a new name, make it a good one!
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Art: Two tax collectors (detail) by Marinus van Reymerswaele
For me, it's a matter of practicality. My given name is almost identical to an existing model/actress. So I'm using my nickname or initials.
My name is complicated, heck I still haven't figured it out. I'll stick to my nom de plume. When I query I'll establish the difference. Thanx!
When I first started thinking about pen names, I decided that I wanted to use my real first name with a different last name.
I had a great one all picked out – the two names rolled off the tongue so nicely. I started a writing blog with it and thought I was golden.
Then, I Googled the name one day out of curiosity.
Imagine my complete horror when I found that the name was not only in use by another writer, it was one of YOUR clients, Nathan.
Yes, I chose Rebecca Ramsey as my pen name.
Now, I am contemplating using the shortened form of my internet handle, Ana, as my first name. Ana Ramsey still has a wonderful ring to it. Not as great as Rebecca Ramsey, but we take what we can get, no?
some pen names suggested to me were already famous people
Johnathan Ross is a BBC announcer
Harvey Ross is a Forbes 500 company Executive
The 4 names I chose, frankly on Google, and social media never existed before now, now they do thanks to me.
I write and perform under the name “Linda Lou.” I have to since my last name changes with every husband.
I'm thinking of getting a pen name. Can anyone guess why?
If I published under Amber Tidd Murphy… would people know to look in the "M's" or would they search the "T's?"
Well, it doesn't matter. Amber Murphy by itself is just too plain.
And Amber Leigh Tidd Murphy is too much a mouthful.
I use a pen name. I like it. Here's another pro– if your real name actually is close to someone's name who's already famous (like if your name really IS Stephen King)it's a good idea to use a pen name and be done with it.
I read about a poor kid who's legal name was Harry Potter (he was named before the books were ever published). I'd change my name ASAP.
back when I first started, I wanted a pen name so I could sound elegant (and possibly British).
But these days I use my real name, Sarah E. Melville, and when you google me, 80% of the first page is me.
I happen to like my name a lot too, its just not effective for my ability to sell any books. Five under this name, have yet to produce sales worth mentioning. One was an award nominee last year, the 5th is up for three awards. The "Ross" only distinguishes me from the Crime guy John Harvey by about 16-17 pages on Amazon. Yes I'm self-published, but my first pen-named book has had the benefit of editors during the process as I changed publishing outfits.
Great post. I used pseudonyms when I did radio and acted. Funny thing is, my married name is one of the names I made up way back when. It sounds kind of fake.
There are already published authors out there with the same name. I'd love to have the problem of thinking I need to differentiate myself from them – no danger of that as of this writing. 🙂
I think I shall thank my mother for not going with "Kimberly."
I found it harder to come up with a pen name than naming characters for my writing. I guess that much is to be expected, but I had to resist putting "Darth" or "Captain" in front of my end result.
As far as creating a pen name with initials, I wish I had considered it- just need to avoid "R.R."
I've heard that publishers and book buyers check your sales through the use of your real name so they know what to offer you and how many copies of your book to buy. If I change my name just slightly, would that be enough to fool them? I'm thinking Bruce Pollack, which is how most people spell it anyway. If that's not deceptive enough, I could try Polly Bruce. But then no one in my high school class would know it was me.
You just convinced me to use Douglas Bransford…. Ok, not really. I'll stick with my real name, for now anyway.
Haste yee back 😉 is lookin' at, Bumpy Toad, Threepenny Tickett and Gummy Rings!
You tell me?
Haste yee back 😉
I initialized my name, and fully intend to remain as such should I be published.
Why? Because my real first name is the name of a main character in another series of books– a made-up name, and a character my mother named me after. While I admire the author and the books are some of my favorites, I don't want to be associated with and/ or legally intruding on the author by using my real name.
Legolas!
I've used my pen name for years that I can't remember my real name anymore. 🙂 But I love it! I hope when the time comes to get published, my readers will love it too.
Lorelei– if that guess was for me, nope. 🙂
Dang.
Amanda — it was Michael Slade, invited to a show by Alice Cooper. He did get into the show, though, he just had a hard time at first.
Nathan, I understand your points. Moira Young is a pen name. Here are my reasons for making that choice:
First and foremost — I was a teenager when the World Wide Web was born. I've been using my plain Jane name everywhere and although I was never intentionally a troll anywhere (well, I hope I wasn't), between that and my handle, I'm sure I've said a lot of stupid things that can never be retracted no matter how much of it I track down and delete. But I was a teenager, cursed by the blatant obliviousness of youth, growing up when the Internet as we know it was young. Back then, most of us, myself included, didn't quite appreciate the fact that nothing you post ever dies on the Internet. I want a "fresh start" from the persona I've built up as myself.
Second, my given name is fairly plain, and although I can get the .ca domain, I'd much rather have the .com. Moira Young is much more unique and I already own the domain.
Third, recently I attended a video game convention (Penny Arcade Expo, or PAX for those of you who know it). Jerry Holkins, known on the Internet as Tycho, was asked at a Q&A if it ever bothered him that he was famous as Tycho and not as Jerry. He said that it was perfect, because it meant that he didn't have to be Tycho all the time. Any time he wanted to be normal, he could just step down and out of his persona. This resonated with me, because that is exactly how I feel. I'd much rather have a pen name to identify with when doing anything writing-related. I can be horribly antisocial at times. I need to be able to put my author persona aside and just be myself.
This decision wasn't made lightly. I did think about it for a long time and I consulted with some of my published friends. This feels right. If there ever comes a day that I get so famous that something I said when I was fourteen comes back to bite me in the butt … well, I should hope I get that famous. And then my first response would be, "Hello, I was fourteen!"
I'm in pen name hell, as my alter ego gets more work than I do now. I even got a request to speak at a prestigious business school as my alter ego and had to turn it down because it would have "outed" me.
I have a good reason for writing under a pen name in my given field, but it can be a real drag sometimes.
Hi Nathan,
What if your last name is VERY difficult to say and spell (and your first one's not so terrific either)? Pro or con?
The new digs are pretty swanky.
I have a very common and unmemorable name; ergo, I use a pen name for my work. It's never an issue; I submit under my real name, "writing as pen name"; the headers of the manuscripts have my real name. I do use pen name at conferences and conventions, because it's the pen name I want known. Yeah, sometimes it happens that I might be on a panel with a friend who will call me by my real name and confuse everyone, but that's a small price to pay.
Great post and so timely for me!
Yes, I'm using a pen name. First, because of the gender thing. My novel is a guy novel and although my own name is androgynous, I wanted something a bit more masculine.
Also a teensy bit of privacy. Yes, I realize the Internet thing. But according to Google, my real name belongs to a risk-management specialist in the UK. And possibly also, to a Grade B actor.
Unlike Jenni, Id' rather have NYTimes best-selling author, fake name. I worked as a reporter, I know what bilines can lead to.
And then, if you become really successful, as in make actual money, there are all those long lost relatives to deal with…
I'm perfectly happy with my "new" name (as opposed to my maiden name). OTOH, when I google "Laura Raitman," I'm one of only a couple out there. But there seem to be several "Laura Martones."
After much work, though, I have most of the first ten links. So, I'm keeping it! I dare a publisher to try and change it! Muhahaha!
My one thing is that choosing a 'Neutral' name usually means choosing a Eurocentric name and kind of feeds into the whole Eurocentric = default. I'd love to be able to keep my name even if it doesn't sound like a Smith or McDonald. I just hope there any writers who have done that and still remained successful….looks like I'm going to have to do some research! This was definitely a thought-provoking post!
Privacy is a very good reason for pen names. You never know who is watching or following you. I've had a few incidents with a stalker which have been reported, but have caused me much anxiety and anger. Ghouls from your past are like the zombies that never die. Google seems to keep the old info forever as well.
In my opinion, pen names are handy devices. Thanks for an excellent post, Nathan.
Thank you for this one Nathan. I'm pleased to see that I've followed all your tips. It is sometimes cumbersome to have the pen name, but I'm glad I use one.
Hey, L.T.! Please tell me it's not "Lassie" – 'cause that would've been just plain mean. I feel weird enough that my mom named me after an old song about a dying race car driver.
Laura– nope, not Lassie 🙂 It's a slightly more obscure fantasy series.
I love the surname Smith but it has disadvantages… including the author who got my genre and got to use the name. 🙂
Good points. I recently created an "alter ego" for when I'm in a particularly zany mood (I won't tell you who exactly, but if you look around my Red Room page, you'll be able to track him down).
For a very short while, I used my real name for stuff like this, but suddenly realized my readers were becoming confused and decided this material needed compartmentalizing.
This is a great post Nathan. I use a pen name for several reasons. Mostly because I do write in different genres but also because my real name is just awful, and when I Googled it, I found that it is way too common.
On the day I was born, my father named me, then went to celebrate while mom changed it to her name.
So, I had my mother's name.
Long ago my grandfather changed our family name, so my last name was made up.
Got married making my last name his name.
Got divorced, kept his name because it was also my children's name.
Got my first computer and was scared to go out "naked" so I made up a name I felt was me.
Now, almost as many people know me by that name as my legal name.
So….I use my computer name for writing novels and the name my father gave me at birth for writing illustrated children's books.
Googled my married name and….I died in 1996 and was from England.
This is a topic I often wondered about, but after reading all these responses, I feel comfortable with my pen name as much as my legal one.
Another reason for using a pen name is if you want to simplify a multiple-author situation. I co-authored a novel with 2 others (still trying to sell it), and rather than shove all 3 of our names on the cover, marketing materials, etc., we decided to combine into a pen name, PGK Hanson. Plus, we all also write in other genres, so it made sense for that reason. And anyone who goes to the website can find our real names, so we really aren't hiding anything.
Great post, Nathan! Thanks!
I am going with a pen just so I can have my real name pronounced correctly for once. Mom named me Melanie but prounced it
Muh-Lanie. Yes, introductions are always fun. Thanks Mom!
How about this scenario:
I have a brother who is relatively well known the business world and has his name popping up all over google searches. Since his wife shares my first name and changed her surname when she married my bro., she and I have the same name (down to the middle initial).
I like my name, but I'm not sure I'd use it if I got my books out there. My sis-in-law might not want to have the association, should the occasion arise.
my name is unusual, but only one letter different from a famous author's, so that if you google my name the search always asks if in fact you made a mistake and meant to search for the famous author. this makes me wonder whether a pen name would be useful. when you are an emerging writer and hoping people will remember your name, it doesn't seem ideal for you to be so easily mixed up with an established author.
For me it's an issue of privacy. There is only person pf my name in Australia, and that would make it pretty easy for someone to rock up to my front door (if I am ever published).
So, if I ever get that far I'll be using a pen name.
I was just wondering about this the other day, and here you are addressing it! Thanks a lot!
Did you notice that "Don Brown" was a Kindle bestseller for quite awhile? He might still be. I found that really irritating.
I hate having a pseudonym, but it's a necessity. I'm a social person, so I've abandoned all marketing for pseudonym, which is fine: it sells the same either way, LOL.
But being two people always sucks.
Oh dear, forgive me. Someone just emailed me, and Don Brown is actually a real person, who is not trying to trick people into thinking he's Dan Brown.
So actually, he's quite fortunate in his name. 🙂
I'm sorry for my assumptions!
Nothing to add about pen names – except that my hubby would have way too much fun coming up with suggestions for me 🙂
I really wrote to say how much I love, love, and then love some more the forums on this new site. I'm taking breaks while revising my ms to peek at them – so fun!
Heh!
Someone stole my thought. Genre-crossing.
And I'm probably going to upset a few people by saying this because I use this name almost everywhere … Lydia Sharp is not my real name. I have already been published under that name (by my choice alone) so I am not going to change it. However, I do not make up a fake person/ personality to go with my fake name. What you see in my comments is the real thing. Except for the name, of course. Haha.
Funny timing to your post. I never thought I'd use a pen name. However, yesterday the perfect pen name popped into my head. In case I ever need a pen name, I now have one! I'm thinking it might not be a bad idea to separate my picture books and YA books with different names (if I am lucky enough to get published in both areas in the futures).
Genre crossing is one reason for me to use a pen name. My name comes up in google after years of writing for business press and I will want separation from that nuts and bolts stuff when my fiction starts to appear. I am also assisting someone to write a memoir and I will use my journalistic name too but not on on my own urban women's fiction. And even that is greatly different from and adds genre-crossing questions about the epistolary novel I have written. I think the initials suggestion could be good. Good post. Great site revamp.
Glad to hear it, L.T. That would've been a little strange…