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Hi, all! As some of you may know, I’m planning on self-publishing a novella late summer. I’ve been figuring out self-publishing and marketing and I’ve begun rewriting the little beast, but one question arises; do I need a pen name? my parents want to kind of keep me protected, and though having my real name on my published book has been a dream of mine, I do want to be safe. What do y’all think? what are the pros and cons?
@rochellaine @seekjustice @alia @ariel-ashira @catwing @daughteroftheking @kaya-young @kate-flournoy @anyone elseI'm a Kapeefer 'TIL WE'RE OLD AND GREY!
www.jennaterese.com@jenwriter17, I decided on using a pen name a while back simply because while I doubt I will even be one of those big name authors, on the off chance I will be I want to have some privacy from author me and real me. Even if I stay small time, I still don’t necessarily want my real name to be out there. But for me, growing up in China probably plays a part in that. In a lot of countries if your name is tied to anything Christian it is hard to gain extended access to that country, and since I feel as though I am being called overseas later on in my life, I just choose not to draw attention myself.
WIP - Decisions
Kapeefer til we're old and grey@jenwriter17 I suppose it depends on how much you want to protect your identity. Personally, I use a pen name because my real name isn’t common in the USA, so it would be easy to search for on the internet, therefore, more prone to people nosing about my personal information.
But I don’t know how rare your name is. *grins*
That’s all I got. 🙂
You can pronounce it however you want.
@jenwriter17 Well, as you know, I use my real name on my books…or did you know that? 😛 There was never really any question about that with my parents, since it’s a business for me, and for business everyone uses their real name, obviously. (Unless you’re an actor, in which case you can change your name to whatever fancy name you want.)
I think the two biggest things to consider would probably be (1), the possible side effects of having your name known, as you say, just privacy, and (2), the possible side effects of not having your name known, for instance, much harder to advertise and get people to remember you for both names.
Does that make sense?
My parents want to keep me protected too, of course, which is why I’m not on any social media – this is as close as I get, and it’s not even my real name, and I didn’t even join until I was eighteen years old – so I would say that’s pretty well protected and I’ve got plenty of privacy. 😀 So I will definitely say discuss and over-discuss this with your parents, and those two opposites listed above are the biggest things I can think of that you will need to weigh in the balance. I believe they sum up the entirety of the issue.
"Sylvester - Sylvester!"
@dekreel @alia @rochellaine thank you all for your input! 😉❤️
I'm a Kapeefer 'TIL WE'RE OLD AND GREY!
www.jennaterese.com@jenwriter17 Personally, I am going to use my real name unless my parents forbid me to, which I don’t think they will. (They are pretty protective too, and felt more comfortable with me using a pen name here.) I guess I just like my real name as much as Ariel Ashira, and I want people to know me by it. My last name is different than most, so people will likley have an easy time if they want to find out who I am, which has both up and down sides to it. Not sure I answered your question… You could use your first and middle name instead. I might end up doing that.
"In a mask, was he?"
@ariel-ashira yes I was thinking of just using my first and middle name on my blog and everything. What if my books just had my initials on it? Do authors do that?
I'm a Kapeefer 'TIL WE'RE OLD AND GREY!
www.jennaterese.com@jenwriter17 I chose to use a pen name, simply because I don’t want my real name circulating around on the interweb. 🙂 I’ve never published anything, though. If I do, I will use my pen name. For now, I just use it on writerish websites like this one.
Blog: https://weridasusual.home.blog/
@jenwriter17 I have seen authors that do that. Or use their full first name, and then middle and last name letters (like: Esther M.W.).
"In a mask, was he?"
@jenwriter17 Personally, I love pen names, so I plan on using one anyway when I publish something…
Even if you don’t have your real name on something, you could have your middle name or a nickname and something that means alot to you as your pen name. So like Jen ( or whatever your middle name is) Cavalerie (it means horse in french).
The Kingdom has been torn asunder...
http://www.encircledbygrace.com/
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