Real name or pseudonym?

[shadowwalker]

I'm going to use a slight variation of the first and middle name I had picked out for my daughter (who unfortunately didn't make it to birth), so it'll have some significance for me and be a name I really like as well.

[Stirlander]

I have a very long full name and abbreviate it with my first two initials, my last name, and my suffix.

C.S. Zollinger, III.

This is for two reasons. My name is odd and hard for people to remember. Secondly, I like authors who use their initials, it makes them sound successful. (J. K. Rowling, C.S. Lewis, etc) So, people think it sounds successful as well--which is a plus. LOL

[MaraValderran]

Ha! I thought about doing the same thing. Unfortunately my initials are MC, DC, or DMC for married and for maiden DM, MD, or DMD. So I sound like a doctor or a rapper, neither of which works for YA epic fantasy.

[Unimportant]

Originally Posted by HapiSofi

Here's a question: how many of you are planning to start with a less-favorite pseudonym, in case your first few books don't sell well and you need to wipe the slate clean and start over?

Me, sorta

I use a pseudonym because I write erotica, and I need to keep that separate from my day job in academia. I picked a pseudonym that's easy to pronounce, spell, and remember. It's not something I'm passionately attached to, though. I also aspire to write fantasy; if I ever write something good enough to publish, I'll pick another pseudonym.

[DeeSutter]

I write under a pseudonym for a few reasons. 1) My pen is shorter than my real name. 2) It is easier to pronounce. 3) When I took on the pen, I taught at a conservative rural school where I could have lost my job should my writing become public knowledge between the faculty, students, and/or parents.

My pen is fairly close to my real name though. Dee is my nickname and Sutter is my step-family's surname. Close enough to claim it as real even if it isn't legal if the situation ever came up.

[Fanatic_Dreamer]

Personally, I feel it's a difficult choice.

Do you want to use your real name, which will probably earn you a few extra sales (maybe more, depending on how many people you know. There are a good number of people who will buy your novel just because they know you and want to show your support or are curious) but you run the risk of having people pop up from nowhere because they think you're famous.

Or use a pseudonym where you don't have the above problem but may get less sales as a result.

[truemay]

I use my real name.It helps when it comes to doing a blog etc.
What's the point of blogging with a pseudonym, and then puting up a photo of yourself?

[TheWordsmith]

Sometimes, it is imperative that you use a pseudonym. If, for instance, you write for a company that specializes in serialized stories you may have an initial storyline that really takes off but you have gotten a great offer on a second manuscript somewhere else and with a different agent. You may choose not to write anymore for the Company A but you have signed a contract with them that gives them ownership of subsequent stories and the right to continue ownership thereof. That means that, even if you no longer work with that pubisher, your story may continue to be published, and under your name! (consider that, although Ian Fleming is no longer alive, his estate continues to publish more and more James Bond novels) So you need to make sure you don't sell your name along with the manuscript. (and that HAS happened before!) So some paperback publishers (especially romance "book of the month" publishers) will actually tell you to take a pseudonym!

[MaraValderran]

Originally Posted by truemay

What's the point of blogging with a pseudonym, and then puting up a photo of yourself?

I blog with my pseudonym and I have a picture up of myself. For me, it helps to keep my author persona and the real me separate. You'll be hard-pressed to find any sort of religious or political views coming from Mara, but my real Facebook? I'm pretty opinionated.

[AllieKat]

Sometimes I think I should've used a pseudonym, but I started sending out stories under my own name pretty young. The question of pseudonyms didn't occur to me, so I sort of wrote myself into using my real name without considering the question.

I am using different variations of my name for various work, though. I'm using my initials for science fiction lately.

--

[CJ.Wolfe]

Pseudonym for me I think. The name I use here is the one I want to use. Mostly because I'm conceited enough to hope my book (when I eventually finish it and get it published) will make it big, and I want to be able to have ambiguity in my private life.

Although lately I have considered changing my mind and using my real name, because I'd love to see my name in print

[therestlessvicar]

I am "Ada Bee Dorman"what genre do I write and what genre do you think my name fits? This will be fun.

[luxisufeili]

I'd use a pseudonym since my real name is extremely common. Plus I want to keep the real me apart from the writer me, especially since not very many of my friends and family know I write.