A pen name, a nom de plume – call it what you will – it’s a little bit marmite for me. Unless there is a really compelling reason why a pen name should be used, then I am a fan of sticking with your own. However, talking to so many indie writers this weekend, taking a pen name appears to be something that many seem to consider when they are looking at starting their writing career.
Pen names are used for many reasons and even in mainstream publishing they’re not uncommon – mainly by authors, household names, writing in different genres or publishing with different publishers.
In indie publishing the decision on whether to use a pen name is less commercial and can result from writing on very autobiographical topics and wishing to retain some privacy or because the topic is perceived as more masculine or feminine, so the writer implies a new gender with the pen name. Or it could simply be because the author assumes that their given name is not interesting enough… and should be jazzed up somehow!
For me, the most compelling reason to use a pen name would be to protect your author brand… maybe you are an established name in one genre and you are now writing in a completely different area – your readers are unlikely to cross over and you are protecting your hard-won author brand in the original genre by taking on a new writing persona. I suppose that an extreme example of this is J.K. Rowling with her Robert Galbraith pen name, which serves to set her crime books aside from the phenomenon of ‘Harry Potter’.
In terms of privacy, some authors who are writing more autobiographical books may think that changing their name can help mask their identity – especially if they are touching on sensitive topics that they don’t want a wider circle to know. I feel that by publishing a book and putting work in the public domain, your story and privacy can be easily unmasked. In the digital world, with information only a click away, this is not a guarantee of anonymity.
From a marketing POV, giving yourself a pen name can bring all kinds of complications you don’t necessarily foresee at the start of your writing career – from deciding how to present yourself on social media (what name? Linked to your real name? Kept separate?) to writing your biographical details for blurbs and events. Similarly, books written under different names won’t always be linked by author on metadata systems and digital platforms, which feed off the author name – so readers who have enjoyed your writing and naturally want to read more of your work won’t make that link.
Social media is an interesting case too, as Facebook won’t let you have a ‘profile’ in your pen name, and without a profile, you are unable to set up an author page. You need separation across your other social media accounts, blogs and marketing channels that, with a pen name, can double the time you spend on marketing activity if posting for yourself and your pen name separately on different social media accounts.
If you are serious about media coverage, then the press is primarily interested in people and stories. Getting coverage is easier when you can approach them as yourself. Similarly, if you are using a nom de plume because you want to stay anonymous, you’ll likely get no editorial coverage of your book and no media push to help drive sales, because you’ve limited the story that can be told about you. Straight book review coverage for debut authors is highly competitive and marketing now is a blend of reviews, editorial – such as interviews and features, radio and digital marketing to get the message out – so avoid doing anything that impedes this marketing mix.
If you are using a pen name to present yourself with a different gender, because you believe that will help you appeal to different readerships, this can get tricky when you want to do events, signings and with media coverage (when the first thing you’ll be asked for is an author photo!). So be aware that this will happen and know how you want to deal with it when it does!
So, for me, pen names can work well for authors – but it’s worth giving very careful consideration to either the need or the practicality of using one before deciding on that course.
Article by Jane Rowland, Operations Director.