Thinking about using a pen name?
Choosing to write under a pen name is a decision that many authors face in their publishing journey. While pen names have been used throughout literary history, today they serve as powerful tools for modern writers looking to navigate the complexities of publishing, privacy, and personal branding. Let’s explore whether a pen name might be right for you and how to use one effectively.
Understanding the Value of Pen Names
There are many reasons to use a pen name. Professional writers often find themselves straddling multiple worlds, and pen names can help you confidently build a brand around each one. . A medical professional crafting thriller novels might prefer to keep their writing separate from their clinical practice. Similarly, if you’re penning a series of polyamorous merman romance novels (this is a real genre I just learned about!), you might understandably want to maintain some distance from your everyday identity.
The Power of Genre-Specific Branding
Many successful authors maintain different pen names for different genres, helping readers know exactly what to expect from each persona. This strategy can be particularly effective when building a series or establishing a strong online presence. However, it’s crucial to consider whether you can maintain multiple online identities, complete with separate websites, email lists, and social media accounts.
Selecting Your Pen Name: A Strategic Approach
Choosing a pen name requires thorough research and careful consideration. Before settling on a name, you should:
- Search online bookstores and websites to avoid duplicating existing author names
- Conduct trademark searches through the U.S. Trademark Office
- Verify domain name availability
- Avoid using celebrity names or public figures
- Consider the impact on real people sharing your chosen name
Famous Pen Names
Just for fun, here is a (short) list of famous authors who chose to use pen names (and why):
Mark Twain, whose real name was Samuel Clemens, is one of America’s most famous examples. He derived his pen name from riverboat terminology – “mark twain” meant the water was two fathoms deep, safe for navigation.
George Eliot was actually Mary Ann Evans, who chose a male pen name to ensure her work would be taken seriously in Victorian England and to avoid the stereotype that women only wrote light-hearted romances.
George Orwell was born Eric Arthur Blair. He chose “Orwell” after a river he loved, and “George” because he felt it was a distinctly English name.
The Brontë sisters were initially published under male pseudonyms: Charlotte was Currer Bell, Emily was Ellis Bell, and Anne was Acton Bell. They kept their initials but chose masculine-sounding names.
Lewis Carroll, who wrote “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” was actually Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, a mathematics lecturer at Oxford.
George Sand was the pen name of French novelist Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin. She scandalized society not only by writing under a male name but also by wearing men’s clothing and smoking in public.
Dr. Seuss wasn’t a doctor at all – Theodor Seuss Geisel used his middle name as his pen name, adding “Dr.” to honor his father’s wish that he become a professor.
Stephen King published several books as Richard Bachman early in his career to circumvent publishers’ limits on how many books an author could release per year.
Pablo Neruda was born Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto but took his pen name from Czech poet Jan Neruda. He legally changed his name to Pablo Neruda in 1946.
J.K. Rowling has also published under the pen name Robert Galbraith for her crime fiction novels, seeking to establish herself in a new genre without the pressure of her Harry Potter fame.
Legal Considerations and Protection
When it comes to copyright registration, you have several options: registering under your pen name alone, your legal name, or both. It’s important to note that works registered solely under a pseudonym have different copyright durations – 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, compared to 70 years after the author’s death for works registered under legal names.
For business purposes, you may need to file a Fictitious Business Name Statement if you plan to receive payments under your pen name. Additionally, securing relevant domain names and being transparent with publishers about your identity (unless working through a business entity) are essential steps.
Best Practices for Success
DO:
- Maintain consistency in your chosen persona
- Consider your pen name’s marketability
- Secure necessary digital assets
- Keep records linking your legal identity to your pen name
DON’T:
- Create false credentials or biographical information
- Use pen names to bypass contractual obligations
- Expect complete anonymity
- Use pen names to avoid legal responsibility
Picking a pen name
If you’re going with a pen name, definitely choose something genre-appropriate and have fun with it. Tell ChatGPT your genre / niche and let it brainstorm some ideas for you, or use the Reedsy Pen Name generator to come up with some. Pick something that sounds like the author names you found in your competitive analysis! The key to success lies not just in choosing the right pen name, but in understanding how to leverage it effectively within the modern publishing landscape. With careful planning and strategic implementation, your pen name can become a powerful element of your author brand.
Practicalities
This is one of the questions I get the most so I want to answer it here: you do not need to open a totally new KDP account if you’re publishing under a pen name. Your pen name (the name that appears on your book’s listing and on the book itself) will have absolutely no connection to the name your KDP account is registered under. You can have as many different pen names as you want in your KDP account, and up to seven Author Pages. You’ll be able to create the first three within your account, and you’ll need to contact KDP support to set up the rest. There should be no need for you to have more than seven Author Central pages, because the end goal should be to build a whole platform around any pen name important enough to get its own Author Page.
You can manage all of your Author Pages through the main Author Central login, which you can find at: https://author.amazon.com
To learn more about Author Central and how to use it as part of your author platform, go on over to the All About Author Central page.
Final Thoughts
A pen name is more than a mask; it’s a creative tool and a strategic choice.