Judged on past contributions?

Mr. G said:

I have somewhat of a dilemma. I'm feeling reluctant to use my real name in an article to be submitted to a cannabis-related magazine. I'm afraid that future publications might see this and automatically dismiss me based on my contribution to this magazine. This sounds absurd, but people can be very touchy about these types of subjects so I am not ruling it out as a possibility.

Am I being paranoid? Is using a pseudonym advisable?

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I think you are being a bit paranoid. A good story is a good story. If it turns out well, I see no problem using it as a clip. And (speaking from my own experience) editors don't have time to google everyone who sends them a pitch or writes for them. Still, I don't see any problem with this.

It really depends on what you plan for "future publications". For example, if you wrote an article on sex toys for teenagers, it may not be a good idea to use it as a clip for a conservative Christian magazine.

If you do not want it to come up easily in a search use your first initial and last name.

Unless the article demands you be an expert with wide credibility, use a pseudonym. There's nothing at all wrong with this. I've seen issues of magazines where every contributor used a pseudonym.

For that matter, I once saw a magazine where every contributor was really the same writer who used a different pseudonym for each thing.

I'd think one issue would be the type of article and the type of magazine.

"My Happy Week Getting High" published in "Drugs Are Fun!" is rather different from "Cannabis treatment for male cancers" published in "Theraputic Cannabis Uses Today".

(All titles made up - I hope!)

If using your real name is going to make you unhappy and worried, and there's no particular reason to do so (like professional qualifications) then I'd use a pseudonym.