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You may have always wondered why some writers decide to use a pen name, or, nom de plume. Don’t they want credit for their work? Perhaps, they have a funny name or think that they may sell books better with a catchier name. Other reasons for using pen names include privacy, the desire to have one’s work read on the basis of its own merits and not judged by a name that is known, or simply because it seemed like a good idea at the time. Creating a pen name is like being in a candy store and being able to choose whatever you like. If you never liked your name or wished it was more suave or hip, now is your chance to create the perfect name for yourself. If you are trying to market a certain kind of work, pen names can be especially useful in creating a mystique about your work. Think of a romance novel penned by Cassandra Lovelace as opposed to one written by Murray Jones. Not to mention the fact that Murray Jones may not want anyone to know that he is the one behind those sexy romance novels!
The first thing you should consider when choosing a pen name is that the name you choose may have already been chosen. Do a good search through book stores and the internet to determine if there is another author by the same name that you are choosing. You may get some benefits from having the same name as another author, but there could just as equally be negative effects. You want your name to be unique to your genre and be sure it isn’t too over the top. If your name is ridiculous it will be obvious that it is a pen name, make it unique, but not totally unbelievable. Some writers like to use different pen names for different genres, you can choose as many as you like, just remember to keep them straight!
You may be wondering how the heck you will get paid when you are using a pen name. You can’t really set up a bank account in a name that is not yours, although your bank may let you use your pen name as a business name. When you make submissions to publishers, be sure to indicate that you write under a pen name, be sure you always include your real name with the submission, but be emphatic that you should only be published by your pen name.
Overall, unless you have quite a good reason for wanting to use a pen name, it is a good idea to just use your own. For career purposes, it is easier to track a career of an author with one name than to specify different names and different categories and say, this is me! If you are interested in having all of the credit for your work attributed to you, rethink using a pen name because no one will ever know that this work is yours. However, if this is unimportant to you, a pen name can be a useful tool for privacy and versatility.
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