How to nom de plume?
December 14, 2014 2:38 AM Subscribe
I am starting to write a novel. I have a totally different career in another field and want to write controversial / disturbing literary fiction. How should I handle this?
I'm writing a novel on the more disturbing side of literary fiction. The novel is not genre fiction or erotica, but covers some taboo topics. Think Hunter S. Thompson or Mary Gaitskill or D.H. Lawrence in his time.
I'm thinking of writing under a pseudonym, but am wondering how that actually works in the age of image recognition software and social media.
All the advice I read online is super useful (not) like "don't try to avoid paying taxes by having a pseudonym" (duh) or "pseudonyms are for people writing in a new genre after they are super successful in their first genre" (I doubt JK Rowling read their blog post to figure out what to do with her professional career).
My concern is that what I'd like to write is very far from the personal brand I've built in another field, where I have a social media presence, numerous presentations at conferences, professional contacts, etc. It would be presenting an entirely different (and deliberately provocative) image.
I won't be relying on the publisher to promote the book (a foolish plan these days), so I would need to do most of the marketing myself.
The most useful advice I've read so far is to use a pseudonym with the same first name, so that you can plausibly avoid linking the names for a while, but it won't be as inconvenient as an entirely new identity. Or, just write under your real name and hope your book is very successful and you can quit your day job. (But I like my day job as well, so that advice doesn't really work for me.)
- What to do?
- How do I network with other writers when writing under a pseudonym? How do you deal with fans? Readings?
- What are some examples of people with pre-existing careers who've written unconventional books under their own or other names? Any articles or links to how they did it? (The only example I can think of is Lemony Snicket / Daniel Handler, but in that case his pseudonym was kind of a joke.)
- Other ideas?
I'm writing a novel on the more disturbing side of literary fiction. The novel is not genre fiction or erotica, but covers some taboo topics. Think Hunter S. Thompson or Mary Gaitskill or D.H. Lawrence in his time.
I'm thinking of writing under a pseudonym, but am wondering how that actually works in the age of image recognition software and social media.
All the advice I read online is super useful (not) like "don't try to avoid paying taxes by having a pseudonym" (duh) or "pseudonyms are for people writing in a new genre after they are super successful in their first genre" (I doubt JK Rowling read their blog post to figure out what to do with her professional career).
My concern is that what I'd like to write is very far from the personal brand I've built in another field, where I have a social media presence, numerous presentations at conferences, professional contacts, etc. It would be presenting an entirely different (and deliberately provocative) image.
I won't be relying on the publisher to promote the book (a foolish plan these days), so I would need to do most of the marketing myself.
The most useful advice I've read so far is to use a pseudonym with the same first name, so that you can plausibly avoid linking the names for a while, but it won't be as inconvenient as an entirely new identity. Or, just write under your real name and hope your book is very successful and you can quit your day job. (But I like my day job as well, so that advice doesn't really work for me.)
- What to do?
- How do I network with other writers when writing under a pseudonym? How do you deal with fans? Readings?
- What are some examples of people with pre-existing careers who've written unconventional books under their own or other names? Any articles or links to how they did it? (The only example I can think of is Lemony Snicket / Daniel Handler, but in that case his pseudonym was kind of a joke.)
- Other ideas?
Three thoughts:
- You can sell your books yourself on iTunes these days:
http://www.apple.com/itunes/working-itunes/sell-content/books/book-faq.html
I have written and published books in the past. Writing for a (huge) publisher was fun, because they distributed my books to all the right channels (press, large bookstores), but I never made a dime on them because of the low percentage I got. Mind you, these were computer books so it was easy to find a publisher. Then I self-published two books from family members, and this was also not very lucrative, because "all the right channels" refused to take my books because I wasn't a large publisher. Also, these were poetry books, so finding an audience was pretty difficult. So, again, a total loss of money on my account. Seems like publishing electronically via iTunes would be a more interesting thing to try for an indie author these days.
- If your other internet career and the fiction writing hugely diverge in terms of audience, I would definitely consider writing your book under a pseudonym. You can easily have multiple twitter and Facebook accounts, so what hurt would it really do? It's easy these days that people will find out about everything you do, so there could be a possible risk that clients from your day job do not want to be associated with the kind of things you publish.
- You can always start by giving away your fiction at first and see if you can build an audience. Then it's just a matter of creating your own beautiful pdf and making it available for download via your website. You can still give it away via the iTunes book store as well. Slap a nice creative commons license on it (http://creativecommons.org), read your own book in separate chapters as an audio podcast and see if you gain listeners. There are examples in the audio fiction/podcast genre where authors started out giving everything away for free first and selling stuff later on. Like, for instance Mur Lafferty (http://murverse.com/books/) combines the giving away for free with selling her stuff too. You could always contact such authors for advice.
Good luck and have fun!
posted by hz37 at 3:40 AM on December 14, 2014 [1 favorite]
- You can sell your books yourself on iTunes these days:
http://www.apple.com/itunes/working-itunes/sell-content/books/book-faq.html
I have written and published books in the past. Writing for a (huge) publisher was fun, because they distributed my books to all the right channels (press, large bookstores), but I never made a dime on them because of the low percentage I got. Mind you, these were computer books so it was easy to find a publisher. Then I self-published two books from family members, and this was also not very lucrative, because "all the right channels" refused to take my books because I wasn't a large publisher. Also, these were poetry books, so finding an audience was pretty difficult. So, again, a total loss of money on my account. Seems like publishing electronically via iTunes would be a more interesting thing to try for an indie author these days.
- If your other internet career and the fiction writing hugely diverge in terms of audience, I would definitely consider writing your book under a pseudonym. You can easily have multiple twitter and Facebook accounts, so what hurt would it really do? It's easy these days that people will find out about everything you do, so there could be a possible risk that clients from your day job do not want to be associated with the kind of things you publish.
- You can always start by giving away your fiction at first and see if you can build an audience. Then it's just a matter of creating your own beautiful pdf and making it available for download via your website. You can still give it away via the iTunes book store as well. Slap a nice creative commons license on it (http://creativecommons.org), read your own book in separate chapters as an audio podcast and see if you gain listeners. There are examples in the audio fiction/podcast genre where authors started out giving everything away for free first and selling stuff later on. Like, for instance Mur Lafferty (http://murverse.com/books/) combines the giving away for free with selling her stuff too. You could always contact such authors for advice.
Good luck and have fun!
posted by hz37 at 3:40 AM on December 14, 2014 [1 favorite]
I know people who have self-published and used a stock photo for the author photo and done all their promotion and networking on the internet; they were very, very careful to keep their identities separate, and outside of a trusted friend breaking that trust and spilling the beans, it would have been impossible to link them.
If you publish traditionally, do not send them a stock photo and claim it's you, but do tell your editor the situation. The safest thing would be to not do any in-person networking or promotion stuff at all; Twitter is better for both these days. A step down from that is to just be very careful about using only your pseudonym in writing-related spaces.
When you submit a manuscript, put your real name in your cover letter and your pseudonym on the manuscript under the title.
I published a novel under my own name, and I was mildly nervous about any possible controversy . It's quite a clean YA book, but the protagonist is a lesbian; I am a youth librarian and am working in a pretty conservative neighborhood. At one point one of the library kids connected the names and the jacket photos, but basically, nobody cares.
posted by Jeanne at 3:40 AM on December 14, 2014 [2 favorites]
If you publish traditionally, do not send them a stock photo and claim it's you, but do tell your editor the situation. The safest thing would be to not do any in-person networking or promotion stuff at all; Twitter is better for both these days. A step down from that is to just be very careful about using only your pseudonym in writing-related spaces.
When you submit a manuscript, put your real name in your cover letter and your pseudonym on the manuscript under the title.
I published a novel under my own name, and I was mildly nervous about any possible controversy . It's quite a clean YA book, but the protagonist is a lesbian; I am a youth librarian and am working in a pretty conservative neighborhood. At one point one of the library kids connected the names and the jacket photos, but basically, nobody cares.
posted by Jeanne at 3:40 AM on December 14, 2014 [2 favorites]
You have to assume people can discover who you are if they have some talent and really care. When I've had to publish something that was a little controversial, I've kept my name findable for those who care. My defense was: it wasn't hard to find.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 5:19 AM on December 14, 2014
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 5:19 AM on December 14, 2014
This is done all the time in publishing and is really no big deal. If you are exceptionally well known in your field (like famous), expect to be outed someday. People in publishing like to gossip. There is one will known literary agent who is also a ya writer under a different name. She does events. Other writers whisper, but what can one do? Nothing, really.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 6:17 AM on December 14, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 6:17 AM on December 14, 2014 [3 favorites]
This is probably obvious, but when you're setting up your online presence, they shouldn't point to your email address. You need an email linked only to your pseudonym.
I can't help with the logistics of networking. I would think that you'd have to be your alias in-person all the time in a writing group or your real self but never mention that you have an alias.
KJ Parker is a pen name. She/he/they have done a few interviews with trusted friends (Tom Holt is one) and kept the secret for many years. Authors are pretty accessible these days; I'd say reach out to Holt or other authors directly for tips.
Kristine Smith was a scientist before she wrote five science fiction books. Recently she started publishing under a pen name in a different genre.
Metafilter has several authors. They're easy enough to find and I believe most had established non-writing careers.
posted by Ik ben afgesneden at 6:47 AM on December 14, 2014 [3 favorites]
I can't help with the logistics of networking. I would think that you'd have to be your alias in-person all the time in a writing group or your real self but never mention that you have an alias.
KJ Parker is a pen name. She/he/they have done a few interviews with trusted friends (Tom Holt is one) and kept the secret for many years. Authors are pretty accessible these days; I'd say reach out to Holt or other authors directly for tips.
Kristine Smith was a scientist before she wrote five science fiction books. Recently she started publishing under a pen name in a different genre.
Metafilter has several authors. They're easy enough to find and I believe most had established non-writing careers.
posted by Ik ben afgesneden at 6:47 AM on December 14, 2014 [3 favorites]
Using a pen name is not at all unusual for authors. Reasons include many you alluded to above. I think it's a personal choice. I briefly considered using a pen name myself for a while before deciding I would be crestfallen if my book won a prize some day and it wasn't my real name on the award. But it sounds like it might be a good fit for you.
I say, write the book first, worry about these details later. You're putting the cart waaaay before the horse.
posted by deathpanels at 6:48 AM on December 14, 2014 [2 favorites]
I say, write the book first, worry about these details later. You're putting the cart waaaay before the horse.
posted by deathpanels at 6:48 AM on December 14, 2014 [2 favorites]
Andrew Holleran is the pen name of a gay writer who was first published in the late 70s when proto-teabaggers tried to crack down on recently established anti-discrimination laws. He still writes and gives readings using this name.
posted by brujita at 7:44 AM on December 14, 2014
posted by brujita at 7:44 AM on December 14, 2014
This is fairly common among erotica/erotic romance writers, for safety as much as confidentiality, but if you reach the "personal appearance" level of success you have to be prepared to give up any hope of even well-kept-secret status.
If that absolutely positively cannot happen for you, you'll need to form a company to write your book and hire someone to be you in public, and know that you will be burnt to the ground when that ruse gets discovered.
But if you can afford to hire a fake you, you can afford to lose your job or only work for employers who don't care, so I think it's better to be prepared to own your work. Which is not to say you can't brand it under a pseudonym just to buy yourself a year-ish of anonymity, and to have a brand that lives separate from your personal brand, but do it with acceptance that the complete separation of the two will require a Thomas Harris-like existence (either for the real you or the pseudonymous you).
That's why there's no official guide - it's basically impossible unless you have exceptional resources. You are only safe as long as nobody cares, and once people care there will be someone who loves you so much they need to know everything, or someone who's got so much beef with you they need to dox you. Or someone who will take money or notoriety for not keeping your secret any longer.
But you don't even have a book yet. If you need to scratch this itch, find a name that's still relatively google-clean, claim the domain and social media accounts, and then get on with the writing and querying and all the actual business of having something to hide in the first place.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:25 AM on December 14, 2014
If that absolutely positively cannot happen for you, you'll need to form a company to write your book and hire someone to be you in public, and know that you will be burnt to the ground when that ruse gets discovered.
But if you can afford to hire a fake you, you can afford to lose your job or only work for employers who don't care, so I think it's better to be prepared to own your work. Which is not to say you can't brand it under a pseudonym just to buy yourself a year-ish of anonymity, and to have a brand that lives separate from your personal brand, but do it with acceptance that the complete separation of the two will require a Thomas Harris-like existence (either for the real you or the pseudonymous you).
That's why there's no official guide - it's basically impossible unless you have exceptional resources. You are only safe as long as nobody cares, and once people care there will be someone who loves you so much they need to know everything, or someone who's got so much beef with you they need to dox you. Or someone who will take money or notoriety for not keeping your secret any longer.
But you don't even have a book yet. If you need to scratch this itch, find a name that's still relatively google-clean, claim the domain and social media accounts, and then get on with the writing and querying and all the actual business of having something to hide in the first place.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:25 AM on December 14, 2014
Step 1: Write the novel. None of this is really a thing until you've finished the novel and gotten comfortable with what all is in it on your own terms.
Step 2: Figure out if there are realistically any publishing avenues for your finished novel. I have a friend who is a professional writer as his main career. He has written about five times more novels than he has published (inasmuch as he has published one novel and written something like five). He wants to publish the others/more, of course, and he has published works in other areas, but seriously, you should not in any way assume that "I wrote a novel" equals "I'm publishing a novel."
Step 3: Your editor and publisher can probably answer all these questions for you.
In terms of anecdata, I have a friend who writes romance novels and also writes other stuff unrelated to the romance novels. She uses a pseudonym for the romance novels. However, it's not any big secret or anything. Don't think of a pseudonym as a wall, think of it more like a sheer muslin curtain. Do not do this if your goal is for nobody to find out that you wrote this novel.
In general, it's probably a better bet to just own the controversial content of what you're writing. To be honest, assuming that you only want to do this for branding/marketing reasons, this is really more a PR question and less a pseudonym question.
If you want to, you can start coming up with fun pseudonyms as an imaginative exercise, if that helps. In the meantime, though, I would guess that you are a ways away from any realistic strategizing about this.
(FWIW my friend who writes under a pseudonym uses her real first name and a very Stereotypical Romance Novelist surname.)
posted by Sara C. at 10:14 AM on December 14, 2014 [2 favorites]
Step 2: Figure out if there are realistically any publishing avenues for your finished novel. I have a friend who is a professional writer as his main career. He has written about five times more novels than he has published (inasmuch as he has published one novel and written something like five). He wants to publish the others/more, of course, and he has published works in other areas, but seriously, you should not in any way assume that "I wrote a novel" equals "I'm publishing a novel."
Step 3: Your editor and publisher can probably answer all these questions for you.
In terms of anecdata, I have a friend who writes romance novels and also writes other stuff unrelated to the romance novels. She uses a pseudonym for the romance novels. However, it's not any big secret or anything. Don't think of a pseudonym as a wall, think of it more like a sheer muslin curtain. Do not do this if your goal is for nobody to find out that you wrote this novel.
In general, it's probably a better bet to just own the controversial content of what you're writing. To be honest, assuming that you only want to do this for branding/marketing reasons, this is really more a PR question and less a pseudonym question.
If you want to, you can start coming up with fun pseudonyms as an imaginative exercise, if that helps. In the meantime, though, I would guess that you are a ways away from any realistic strategizing about this.
(FWIW my friend who writes under a pseudonym uses her real first name and a very Stereotypical Romance Novelist surname.)
posted by Sara C. at 10:14 AM on December 14, 2014 [2 favorites]
Also, I have to say, if you are concerned about this, self-publishing is probably the absolute worst way to go, because you will not have access to any of the professionals who can advise you about how best to promote your book under a pseudonym.
I have to say, it seems to me that every time someone's controversial novel they wrote on the side comes back to bite them on the ass, it's always something they self-published. Probably because a reasonable publisher wouldn't have touched the thing with a ten foot pole. If nobody wants to publish your highly controversial novel, I'm pretty sure the answer isn't to just get it out there yourself. Especially if you're worried that it could tarnish your real-life reputation.
posted by Sara C. at 10:18 AM on December 14, 2014 [1 favorite]
I have to say, it seems to me that every time someone's controversial novel they wrote on the side comes back to bite them on the ass, it's always something they self-published. Probably because a reasonable publisher wouldn't have touched the thing with a ten foot pole. If nobody wants to publish your highly controversial novel, I'm pretty sure the answer isn't to just get it out there yourself. Especially if you're worried that it could tarnish your real-life reputation.
posted by Sara C. at 10:18 AM on December 14, 2014 [1 favorite]
If you want to be really anonymous, don't tell anyone your real identity except the one person (or possibly two or three) who have to know so that you can receive your royalties (there may even be ways around that, but I don't know what they are). Obviously, that person then has to be trustworthy enough to not tell you. There are authors who've done that, so it's possible (Elena Ferrante is the most famous contemporary example). Of course, this requires turning down interviews, readings etc.
posted by Kattullus at 3:52 PM on December 14, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Kattullus at 3:52 PM on December 14, 2014 [1 favorite]
If your book turns out to be a big success, someone will figure out who you are and it will become common knowledge.
That's not a reason not to write the book - if you have something to say, do it - but you do need to be prepared for what could happen.
Best of luck to you!
posted by aryma at 6:22 PM on December 14, 2014
That's not a reason not to write the book - if you have something to say, do it - but you do need to be prepared for what could happen.
Best of luck to you!
posted by aryma at 6:22 PM on December 14, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
I think you can just keep the two separate, without really making a big thing about hiding your writing for the sake of your already existing career. 3491again [pen name] isn't the same as 3491again the [your profession], I think.
posted by Enchanting Grasshopper at 3:32 AM on December 14, 2014