Critique_This_WIP

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about pen names lately. Whether you love them or hate them, they have their uses. Mark Twain used his all his life, while Dean Koontz ditched his in favor of his real name. But why use them? What are the advantages and disadvantages. And most importantly, do you need one? Take a look at the pros and cons before deciding.

The Pros

Hide Your Gender, Age, and Past Sins- Way back when, before YA books were the fad, there was this brand new, super-cool genre called Science Fiction. Sci Fi was pretty awesome and people loved it…but it was a “man’s” genre. Women didn’t know how to write it. It was beyond them, duh. If a woman wanted to take part in the Golden Age of Sci Fi, they had to use a pen name, and not just any pen name—a man’s name. The same could be said for today’s Romance and YA genres. Obviously you want your book to stand out, but not because you’re the only banana in the apple basket.

“You’re not old enough to be writing. Put down your pen and come back in ten years.” Ugh! Nothing gets me so mad as when some crackpot starts putting down young writers. Age has nothing to do with your ability to create and write a story. That being said, there are still people out there who believe it—and probably will until the cows come home. To avoid any kind of age-bias, you may want to change your name from Kylie Anne Preston to K.A. Preston. Just a suggestion. Would Eragon have been such a hit if (19 year old author) Christopher Paolini’s name was something more along the lines of Jayden Fitch?

Want to get published in non-fiction, but you have a nice little Erotic Fiction novel floating around in the paperback world? Not to worry; a pen name will fix that little snafu. Or maybe you’re the kind of writer with lightening fast fingers and a mind to match it. You put out six books a year, all of which are quality pieces of art. Will your audience agree, or will they think you’re just another quack, thumbing out crap as fast as you can spin it?

Shifting Genres- Would the In Death series have been taken seriously if Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb hadn’t decided to go with a pen name? I’d bet some serious cash that it wouldn’t have. Sure, maybe some die-hard fans would have followed her across the genres, but current paranormal readers would have laughed—right before moving to the next book on the shelf. 

Day Job, meet my friend, Moonlighter-  Oh yes, it’s happened to many a good writer. One day, your writing the latest chapter in  your WIP about a teacher who goes crazy and starts murdering the kids in his class (all while tweeting your progress) and the next, “Why hello, Joe. I found you on-line last night….something about a writer? Killer teacher, huh? I don’t think the parents of your students would be pleased to see what you do in your spare time. By the way, is your latest victim based off the kid in the front of your third period class?”

Some people may be okay with their friends and colleagues finding out about their writing. Others, particularly the unpublished, aren’t.

Your Name is What?- Did your parents flunk Baby-Naming 101? Eh,  it happens. Did you know that author Anne Rice is really named Howard Allen O’Brien? No—Anne Rice was, in fact, born female. Her mother just though naming her daughter after her father was a good thing, and that Howard would be an interesting choice. True story…

I actually went to high school with a girl named Rainbow. Seriously; her name was Rainbow. But can you imagine seeing Rainbow Smith on the cover of a crime novel? Me neither.

What’s worse than Howard-I’m-a-girl or Rainbow Smith? “Hello, my name is Harry Potter and I write fantasy.” Ooh! Ouch.

No, Seriously, That’s My Name- “No, really, my mother named me Ernest Hemingway—it’s on my birth certificate, Dude!” This could go under the last section, but I thought it deserved it’s own space, if only for the title. And really, what would a young Ernest do, considering his name has already been immortalized in the writing world? *Ding, ding, ding!* He’d use a pseudonym.

The Cons

The Truth Will Come Out- You can try, but you won’t be able to hide your identity forever. We have this thing called the Internet. Once one person knows the truth, everyone knows.
“Oh my God! Did you know historical romance author Jennifer Wilde is really a guy named Tom Huff?!”

Keep Up Appearances- Remember “who” you are portraying, especially if you have more than one pseudonym.

Legalities- I won’t go in to the details, but you’ll have to do more that sign your chosen pen name on the byline of your novel. The government if funny about that whole “alternate identity” thing. Your publisher or agent will know the logistics, so if you chose to use a pen name, make sure to ask your people how to make it legal.

---

So now that you know some of the pros and cons of pen names, what do you think? Is a pen name something that would benefit you as a writer or is it more trouble than it’s worth? What are your reasons for using or not using one?