Can you sell the same story under two different pen names?

Interesting question, and I assume (although I don't know for sure) that if you have the rights back you can legally republish as a reprint under a different name since the copyright would reside with you (right?). Perhaps people with more experience/knowledge can chime in.

I'm also curious what the gurus will say about any effects on marketing and branding, and the pros and cons of doing so. I can see why you might want to reprint a good story associated with a certain pen name you were wanting to brand. If I read the same story with two different names, I would suspect plagiarism before it would dawn on me that it was a reprint with a new pen name. Maybe saying "by [Pen Name A] writing as [Pen Name B]" when you reprint? I've never thought of that, so I'm interested in seeing what others say.

There are several authors that wrote under a pen name, then when they became "famous" they put them (the same stories) out again under their real name. Ian Douglas comes to mind (sci-fi). There are others.

If you're trying to separate yourself from the pen-name you first sold that story under, why would you do this?

If anyone spots that it was published before (and people notice things, you know) it's going to appear that your new name has plagiarised the story.

You'll then have to explain what you did, and by doing so you'll establish a connection between the two names and, what with the internet being forever, you'll be stuffed.

It seems like a bad idea to me.

However, you probably could do this if you wanted, although you'd have to tell the new publisher that it was previously published under a different name.

Whether you can and whether you should seem to be two different questions here. If you legally have all the rights to publish that story then you can. But if you want to keep those two pen names apart then you shouldn't, because the story will link them. Someone is going to spot that they are the same.

Either sell it as a reprint under pen name A, or self publish it, or whatever, but stick with new material for pen name B.

I've seen people do it for reasons like they changed their name (e.g., they got married/divorced) or they used multiple pen names and want to combined everything under one name. For the reason you've given, it sounds like a bad idea. You can't keep two names separate if you publish the same story under both. Especially as reprints often have the first publication information.

It's fully legal as you have your own rights. The problem comes with the use of a pen-name; what's the point of a pen name when you're going to be published the same story across another one? Why not publish the story again under the same pen name?

If the story is a fandom story, wouldn't that pose a bigger challenge to it being published elsewhere? (As most publications can't/won't take fan fiction.)

If the writing's good enough your name is immaterial.

If the writing's fan fiction you might well find it impossible to sell it anywhere reputable.

Rechan said:

I plan to do it. I was just checking the legality.

Click to expand...

Sorry, I don't think asking a bunch of people on here, good as they are, is a legal opinion. If you have doubts, contact an attorney.

A lot of Louis L'Amour's work was published under various pseudonyms, then later under his own name. Not always under the same title, and some of them were rewritten or expanded, which makes for some amount of confusion as to exactly how to count up his work. In l'Amour's case, he lost the copyright to some of his early work, which was gleefully reprinted to cash in on his later popularity; he got bupkis from it.

A.E. van Vogt freely cannibalized his earlier work, filing off the serial numbers and inserting big blocks of it into later stories. As the end customer, I found it very irritating.