Do I query using my pen name?

SpiteLokidottir · Jul 18, 2014

Hi all,

I think I read a thread about pen names a few weeks back, so sorry if this was covered there. What I'm asking is pretty much the question I've named this thread with. I have a pen name - totally ordinary, not outlandish at all - which is Chinese because I live in China. It's my official Chinese name. I want to be published under this name, but do I query using it, or my real name? Or do I put my pen name on my manuscript and mention it in the email?

noranne · Jul 18, 2014

My understanding is that you query with your real name. Agents want to know the real person they are working with. I wouldn't mention it in your initial query at all; that's something you will work out a little later in the process. The only reason I would mention it in the query is if you have previously published successfully under that name.

Here a couple people with more experience who agree with me:
http://writersrelief.com/blog/2010/...a-cover-or-query-letter-to-agents-or-editors/
http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2009/12/whats-in-name-all-about-pen-names.html

SpiteLokidottir · Jul 18, 2014

Articles helped, thank you. So on my manuscript I should put:

Novel name
By
Real name
(Writing as pen name)?

I just want to make sure I get it right.

Osulagh · Jul 18, 2014

I've heard conflicting reports, but I side with using your real name. You are trying to start a partnership with the agent, why use a fake name to establish this? They will--and have to--learn your real name at some point.

Bring it up later and converse with them about doing it or not.

VoireyLinger · Jul 19, 2014

My queries are REAL NAME writing as PEN NAME. If it's legal or contractual, real name is required. The pen name is saved for the public face of things.http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/

WeaselFire · Jul 20, 2014

Query with your pen name if you want your pen name to get the royalties...

Jeff

Maryn · Jul 20, 2014

Here's what I've done, with no confusion or complaints so far.

I query using my real name. I don't even mention that I use a pen name. If the query results in a request for a full or partial , that's when the pen name first appears. There's a method for that, too.

The cover page for a novel, if they want one, has the novel's title, the word by, and my pen name centered, then in a lower corner, my real name, address, and contact information. The slugline is my pen name's surname, my real surname in parentheses, a one-word version of my title, and the page number: Twain (Clemens), FINN, 26.

If they don't want a cover page, I go with the form for a short story. At the top is my real name and contact information on the left, and flush right the rights offered for sale, the word count, and whatever else they want. A third of the way down the page is my title, by, and my pen name, centered.

Editors/agents/publishers seem to get it immediately. In this example, I used a string of periods to make it line up a little, but they'd be blank spaces.

Mary N. Blickborn...................................[flush right]...............65,000 words
123 Pleasant St........................................First North American
East Overshoe, WI 98765.....................................Serial Rights
(432) 447-8765
[email protected]

SWELL TITLE

by

Maryn Blackburn

..
....It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, but so freakin' what? Frankie did give a rat's ass...

Perfectly clear, yes?

Mary N. Blickborn (snort)

Pamster · Jul 21, 2014

Wonderful explanation Maryn.

And thank you OP for asking this.

Maxinquaye · Jul 21, 2014

Yeah, query using your real name. What you are doing with a query is to ask someone else to enter into a business relation with you. You, personally, are asking to hire someone to market a work. If I’m employing someone, I want to know that person’s actual name. I want Mark S Digger to dig my ditch, not Marky Ditchlord.

ishtar'sgate · Jul 21, 2014

Yes, query using your real name. In any case, once you're under contract and filling out the rafts of paperwork for the publisher, one of the things they ask you is whether you want to publish under your own name or a pen name. That's when I'd bring it up.

J.S.F. · Jul 21, 2014

What Maryn said.

Use your real name, and if you're sending your manuscript to a Western publisher, put your first name first and your family name last. While that sounds obvious, I live in Japan, and my understanding is that Asian culture always has the family name come first (i.e. Lee Kai-Shen).

Send it as (Mr./Ms.) Kai-Shen Lee. You can put in your pen name below (i.e. K.S. Lee) if you wish, but you're gonna get your checks to your real name, so use it and be proud of it.

Best of luck to you!

Jamesaritchie · Jul 22, 2014

J.S.F. said:
What Maryn said.

Use your real name, and if you're sending your manuscript to a Western publisher, put your first name first and your family name last. While that sounds obvious, I live in Japan, and my understanding is that Asian culture always has the family name come first (i.e. Lee Kai-Shen).

Send it as (Mr./Ms.) Kai-Shen Lee. You can put in your pen name below (i.e. K.S. Lee) if you wish, but you're gonna get your checks to your real name, so use it and be proud of it.

Best of luck to you!

If you're western, send queries and everything else just as you always do, regardless of where you're sending them. The worst thing you can do is try to imitate style, grammar, spelling, culture, or anything else. You'll always get something wrong, and it's unnecessary.

Japanese agents and editors know how it's done in the west, and expect it to arrive this way. That's what editors are for.

Do I query using my pen name?

SpiteLokidottir

noranne

the possibilities are endless

SpiteLokidottir

Osulagh

Independent fluffy puppy.

VoireyLinger

Angel Wing Fetish

WeaselFire

Benefactor Member

Maryn

Baaa!

Pamster

Summer time Blues

Maxinquaye

That cheeky buggerer

ishtar'sgate

living in the past

J.S.F.

Red fish, blue fish...

Jamesaritchie