A pen name is an assumed name used by a writer instead of their real name. So, mary ann evans became george eliot and karen blixen became isak dinesen. Some of our literary worlds most beloved, bestselling authors have formulated their entire careers using alternative identities. What are the pros and cons of writing under a pen name. Rowlings success with the harry potter books brought her plenty of attention and plenty of pressure when it came time to undertake her next project. Finally, there is one more issue to tackle when it comes to pen names the author headshot.
Passively grow your email list via our free book directory. Here, eight that threw me for a loop when i first heard about them. It could be for marketing purposes or it could just be for their own comfort. Choosing a different name creates a layer of deception between writer and reader in an era in which social. Male names, female names or both, in batches of up to 500. This prolific author faced the same problem as stephen king when he was told that writing more than one book a year, especially in different genres, was a bad idea. In the 80s, awardwinning author joyce carol oates wrote a short, experimental novel called lives of the twins, and submitted it to publishers under the name rosamond smith. Reedsy pen name generator boasts more than 1 million names. Share your giveaways with our audience coming soon.
Pen names and the famous writers who use them the writers. Adopting a pseudonym grants writers the ability to conceal their true identity for personal, political, and ethical reasons. May 10, 2016 lets take a look back at the weirdest and funniest author pen names of all time. Spam or selfpromotional the list is spam or selfpromotional. If you want to use one, but dont know where to start, try this nifty pen name generator created by invaluable to help. Here are a few of the many reasons authors use pen names. Daniel handlers alter ego becomes a character in his stories, giving his series of unfortunate events books another layer of detail. I know a lot of authors write under pen names for varies reasons. You can manage all of the author pages from your current author central account. A pen name is whats listed as the authors name on a published book, and readers often do not know the real name or identity of the author. Once you are verified, you can get to your pen name through the. Undeterred he adopted at least ten different pen names and went on to publish up to eight.
Business, too, can motivate an author to choose a pen name, since the brand of an author contributes to how well books sell. For centuries, writers have created pen names to publish their literary works. An adjective that could be used to describe the weapon e. Unfortunately, we are not currently set up to accommodate multiple pen names each member profile can only be attached to one author profile at a time. Other famous authors simply wanted to remain anonymous or differentiate from their upbringings. You can use your kdp details to create the first author central account for your first three pen names. He penned a number of books under other names, such as theo lesieg and rosetta stone. Anne marreco, anne wignall, 20thcentury english author. The authors real name is likely known to the publisher but not to the public.
Pen name generator choose from over a million pen names. Search for book written by pen name, by title, author, or isbn. K rowling, when writing the harry potter series of books. Rowlings fans reacted harshly to the casual vacancy. Why do some writers choose to write under a pen name. Pen name if you are writing under a pen name, click let us know under the do you have a pen name heading. Then as many author central accounts 3 pen names per account as you have pen names. Well call it your pen name on the bookfunnel dashboard. So if youre a practicing attorney and dont want your clients or partners to know you write steamy romance novels on the side, youll want to use a pen name. Rowling famously tried to escape the harry potter series by writing as robert galbraith. Whatever the reason, pen names remained a constant in the literary world. But regardless of why one chooses to use a pseudonym, creating a pen name can play an important part in your book s marketing. Go to the books tab located on the top of the page.
When you see a familiar authors name on a book cover, you probably feel confident that. If you are an author and will be writing under a pen name this pen name creator should help you out. Pen names are like secret identities and code names. The author s real name is likely known to the publisher but not to the public. Confusing readers by writing different genres is the reason many authors use pen names. Author central allows you to manage up to three pen names within a single account. Designing author websites for writers with multiple pen names for every genre, its important to create brand distinction between one persona and another on your author website and social media platforms. It develops a unique name based on the genre you choose. For some authors one or even two pen names are more than enough, but not for dean koontz. A pen name may be used to make the author s name more distinctive, to disguise the author s gender, to distance the author from their other works, to protect the author from retribution for their writings, to combine more than one author into a single author, or for any of a number of reasons related to the marketing or aesthetic. A pen name may be used to make the authors name more distinctive, to disguise the. However, we can add one common name of your choosing to each book published under each of your other pen names.
If your name is lacey darling and youre writing a spy thriller, having a cooler name might influence just enough early buyers to make a difference. She began publishing under this name in the year 20, when the dutiful daughter was released. But regardless of why one chooses to use a pseudonym, creating a pen name can play an important part in your books marketing. Writing different genres is the reason why dean koontz has more than 10 pen names to cover all the genres. The techs at web design relief have the answers you need. If you have ever read a book and found yourself thinking that the style. So for her next project, a suspense thriller, rowling published under the name robert galbraith. Even if they love the book, they wont share it or comment on it, because its just a book, and they cant forge a relationship with a book. Sep 12, 2011 then as many author central accounts 3 pen names per account as you have pen names. People who call me chloe are the people who know me best, she says. Jo ann brown is one of the many pen names that popular romance author jo ann ferguson uses to publish some of her work. Feb 08, 2018 why do some writers choose to write under a pen name. Anne knish, arthur davison ficke, coauthor of spectra.
Seven legal myths about pen names sidebar saturdays. All you need to do is add your pen name as the authors name in the contributors section when you are preparing the book for publication. May 25, 2017 the techs at web design relief have the answers you need. Theodor ted seuss geisel wrote more than 60 childrens books and became one of the most famous childrens authors of all time. And the list goes on and on amongst many other famous pen names and authors. Because id rather read a book by a trixi winship rather than a jessica smith if ya know what i. If the intent is to deceive, to disguise the fact that the writer is producing three books a year making some people leery of their quality, or to disguise the fact this is a nonfiction author venturing into fiction, or whatever, then i have problems with it.
Incorrect book the list contains an incorrect book please specify the title of the book. Snicket is both the narrator and the author of the books, which were of course really written by handler. Aug 15, 2019 here are a few of the many reasons authors use pen names. Creating an author website and social media profiles is a key part of book marketing. Generate pen names for yourself or for your fictional characters using our free app. So before you decide on a pseudonym, you might want to check the. If theres another author with that pen name already, you may want to find a new pen name. After you publish your book on amazon, it will show on the bookshelf page of your account, along with all the other books you have published.
Some pen names you dont see coming, though, and assume the name on the book cover is the real deal. Choose some keywords and we will automatically create a pen name in seconds. A pen name is a name an author uses in place of their real name when publishing. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century, many female writers used pen names because they feared their work would not be taken as seriously as male authors by the industry.
Jan 27, 2018 use these pen names some people feel that pen names are like people being fake no no no, its a cool name that an author can be recognized more for. Select it as the author, and it will show as the primary author. How to handle multiple pen names on your author website. Pseudonym, pen name or alias authors have been writing under names other. The pen name should match the name of the author on the book cover. But where pen names get interesting is when an established author decides to slip past the spotlight and write something secretly under a pseudonym. Pseudonym generator randomly generates thousands of names for both male and female. Another interesting note is that the k in her authors name is an invention. However, if the author with your ideal pen name exists but has not published many books recently or hasnt sold many books, you may want to just use that pen name anyway. There are various reasons why authors have decided to publish under a pseudonym, both in the past and today. Kickstart your writing career with this pen name generator that boasts over 1 million fake names.
You can search using filters such as the first letter, language, or gender. There are a few reasons why some writers or artists pick pen names. You can click on the names you like the best and can copy before you leave. Use these pen names some people feel that pen names are like people being fake no no no, its a cool name that an author can be recognized more for. A pen name allows you to write and publish your book anonymously. Xgens with hyphenated surnames opt for something short. Use this pen name generator to find unique pen names and pen name ideas. A pen name is a name that you use to publish your books. By using a pen name, she protected her joyce carol oates brand from the stigma of low book sales, the inevitable result of an novel that is experimental. He used a few pen names, but his most popular one is a household name. If a contract has been signed under the authors name, the author cannot avoid contract obligations by hiding behind a pen name. Why do authors use pseudonyms surprising authors behind famous pen names key criteria to come up with the. Jul 01, 2014 yet, if adopting a pen name can offer a writer creative freedom, there are drawbacks.
How to set up different pen names at amazon author central. Inappropriate the list including its title or description facilitates illegal activity, or contains hate speech or ad hominem attacks on a fellow goodreads member or author. If you are wondering how to choose a pen name and where to get started just browse through some of the pen names. Choosing a pen name can be a difficult process for writers.
How to handle multiple pen names on your author website web. The surprising stories behind the pen names of 10 famous authors. You can let your imagination run free, stripped of. Pen names or pseudo names are very common amongst authors and publishers. Her publishers were afraid that young boys would not want to read the books if they knew the author was a woman, so she used her initial instead of full name and added the fabricated k for good measure. Seuss, one of the more wellknown pen names, was adopted from geisels middle name once he started writing childrens books.
There are a number of places where you may feel you should post a photograph of yourself your website, social media, in guest post bios, even in your books perhaps. For example, if an authors contract has a noncompete clause or right of first refusal for the next book, that author cannot use a pen name to publish a competing work or publish under a pen name to avoid giving. Kaitlyn oconnor and her pen names books i dont know how she keeps all of her books and pen names straight. Seuss has published books under the pen name theo lesieg. In the 80s, awardwinning author joyce carol oates wrote a short, experimental novel called lives of the twins, and submitted it to publishers. A simple example is of an author whose early work was poorlyreceived, and whose name was associated with the bad book.
Dixon and carolyn keene for the hardy boys and nancy drew mystery series, and kenneth robeson for the doc savage and avenger series. Jun 06, 2018 finally, there is one more issue to tackle when it comes to pen names the author headshot. That made writing the casual vacancy a more stressful experience than rowling wanted. You can let your imagination run free, stripped of caution and compromise. Well ask you what your pen name is, and well contact the book publishers to verify you as author. Once you are verified, you can get to your pen name through the link in the upper right corner of author central. Author joanne rowling adopted the more masculine sounding pen name, j. How 8 famous writers chose their pen names mental floss. I actually appreciate it when an author writes ya book. This exmilitary mystery novelist is actually one of the most beloved childrens book writers of all timej. If you have ever read a book and found yourself thinking that the style and way of writing seemed very familiar, it is possible that the book you are reading was actually written by your favorite author only under a pen name. Writing yourself a pen name creative writing the guardian. Because id rather read a book by a trixi winship rather than a jessica smith if ya know what i mean.
Here are a few fictional examples of how to handle pen names on author websites. Choosing a different name creates a layer of deception between writer. Pen names or pseudonames are very common amongst authors and publishers. Female writers, especially during the 19th century, have. O ne of the fun things about being a novelist is inventing names for your characters. Yet, if adopting a pen name can offer a writer creative freedom, there are drawbacks. Lets dive into how to come up with cool pen names that will work for your books.
Snicket is both the narrator and the author of the books, which were of course really written. The real people behind 10 famous pen names bookstr. Authors write under pen names for all sorts of reasons. I also have a few neutral reasons that are a bit sticky, like obscuring your gender. Also author rank is per author, so yes, all authors pen names will have a different rank. This is a list of pen names used by notable authors of written work. Over the years ive been asked my opinion about authors using pen names. So before you decide on a pseudonym, you might want to check the availability of your name. Rowling has written and published books under the pen name robert galbraith. She uses her own name for the ya novels, and a pen name for the bodicerippers. Like brand names, they are designed to be catchy, memorable and suited to the genre. Feature your pen name in our author discovery directory.