Should I write under a pen name?

Ask the Author Podcast Transcript

Episode 32, 11th December 2023 \ \ Subscribe

Should you write under a pen name? Jodi Gibson, author of REINVENTING EMILY BROWN shares her thoughts on whether a pseudonym is a good idea for you…

Intro

In the intro, Jodi Gibson talks what she’s working on in the lead up to Christmas (brainstorming for her work in progress) and discusses coming down from NaNoWriMo. Jodi has a big year planned for 2024 and some great podcast questions lined up! Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss an episode after the Christmas break. Jodi introduces this week’s topic, using a pseudonym.

Show Notes

• General info about Australian Copyright Law
• Pen names to help with difficult to pronounce names
• Pen names for privacy reasons
• Pen names to help with genre differentiation
• Pen names for gender anonymity
• What you need to consider in adopting a pen name

Episode Transcript

This week's question comes from Meg on Instagram, and Meg's question is regarding pen names or pseudonyms. Meg's question is quite detailed, so I'm going to paraphrase it, but basically, she's asking a few different things.

_Firstly, about the legalities regarding things like copyright and trademarking, and also whether or not it harder to pronounce names are an issue, and so therefore, we're using a pen name be advisable. _

Okay, so I want to tackle the legalities of pen names first, but with a disclaimer I'm obviously not a lawyer or any type of legal representative, so any advice I offer needs to be fact-shipped by someone with the right credentials and, of course, my advice is of a general nature.

Some general information about Australian copyright law

Firstly, as I said, please check and verify this information. But from what I understand here in Australia, copyright is automatic and free when you publish, and that applies to your pen name as well. So whether you are writing under your own legal name or you choose to write under a pen name, in Australia copyright is automatic.

Now, I believe this is likely to be different in other countries. For example, I believe in the US, copyright isn't automatically granted, so you have to apply for it. But again, please check this with your country's legal advisors for clarification and further information.

With regards to trademarking, I think that's a whole can of worms and while I don't know many authors personally who have trademarked their name, I'm sure there are those who have particularly huge brands, such as the likes of JK Rowling. So trademark may not, at least at first, be an issue for authors and for aspiring authors, but again, it's not something I can offer any advice on. I do suggest that if this is something that you'd like to know more about or is concerning you and you want to know more about before you dive in, then I think you're best to chat to a legal representative, say an IP lawyer In Australia. I'd even suggest contacting the ASA, the Australian Society of Authors. They will be able to point you in the right direction and possibly give you some advice through their legal team as well.

Pen names to help with difficult to pronounce names

Okay, so let's move on to Meg's more general concerns around choosing and using a pen name. So if you are considering using a pen name rather than writing under your real or legal name, there are a few things that you should consider.

As Meg mentioned, having a name that is difficult to pronounce or perhaps not overly memorable, it can be a consideration to choose a pen name. I guess my personal opinion on this is twofold. I think we're a multicultural society these days, and so acceptance of different names should be a norm. However, if you do feel particularly strong about this aspect and people are always getting your name wrong, pronouncing it wrong then perhaps that might be something that you want to consider. Just keep in mind that the decision is completely yours.

If you are going to be traditionally published, it might be a discussion that you have with your publisher, but at the end of the day it comes down to what is going to suit you and what you feel comfortable with. Meg also mentioned that she has a hyphenated surname, which in those cases that can mean your name is quite lengthy. So that may be another reason. You want to consider a more simplified pen name, which is totally understandable, but again, it really is a personal decision.

There are really myriad reasons why authors choose to use a pen name. It might be for the sole reason of making their name more simple, memorable, easier to pronounce those sorts of things. I've even heard of an author who chose a pen name with a surname in the middle of the alphabet, based on the fact that they wanted their books to be at eye level in the alphabetical section of the bookstore True story. So I don't know how well that works, but anyway, definitely something to consider.

Pen names for privacy reasons

I suppose another reason and this is quite a big reason might be anonymity or privacy. There might be a personal reason why you don't want to use your real name, which is totally fine. It might have something to do with family reasons, it might have to do with your profession, or you just want to keep that also life separate from your personal life. So that might be a reason that you consider thinking of using a pen name.

Pen names to help with genre differentiation

Another huge reason that authors end up using a pen name is when they write under different genres. For example, if you want to write children's books and then you decide you want to delve into writing some steamy romance, it's probably advisable to use a different name. So a pen name for one or the other for obvious reasons, but also using a pen name when you do write under different genres can be a good thing for branding and marketing reasons, particularly if the genres are very different and don't cross over at all. There are some authors who successfully brand under one name and do write in different genres, but a lot choose to either use their initials for one genre, full name for the other or a totally different pen name. So that is a consideration, because then you can definitely market your books to each genre, which can be a consideration to take into account.

Pen names for when you have the same name as a published author

It's also very common that if you have, say, a common name or there's an author out there, particularly a high profile author, who has the same or very similar name to you, it might be a great idea to consider using a pen name to really differentiate yourself.

I'm wanting to avoid any potential legal action, particularly if your name is something like Stephen King or Agatha Christie, then I'd say you're probably going to have to use a pen name. So that's something to think about.

Pen names for gender anonymity

Also, in the past, female authors some men, but mostly females have chosen to write under a pseudonym to avoid gender discrimination and prejudice, particularly if, say, they were writing in a genre that was dominated by the other gender. I hope this is an outdated practice and one that doesn't hold any weight in the current and future publishing landscape, but that was quite common in the past.

Okay, so there are a few of the different reasons why you might consider using a pen name and ultimately it comes down to what is going to suit you for your personal reasons, what you feel comfortable with not your family, not your publisher, not the public how you feel and how you want to proceed as an author and your branding as an author.

What you need to consider in adopting a pen name

However, should you go down the pen name route, then there are a few things that you need to think about, so let's discuss those.

Firstly, you'll need to come up with something that suits you and possibly even fits the genre that you write for. So if you're writing for kids, perhaps a simple name that's quite catchy might be something to consider. If you are going to use a pen name, that way it's easy to say, easy for the kids to remember, and maybe you want to choose a name that means something personal to you as well. So that's something to think about.

The other thing to think about is to do with marketing and branding. This was part of Meg's question. As she mentioned, she wanted to decide on a pen name before starting a social media presence and web presence, which is a brilliant idea. It is hard to, once you start building a social media presence, to then change everything over and have two different platforms or whatever. So if you are thinking about it and you're very early on in your career, absolutely think about it first. I think that's a brilliant way to look at it.

Now, when you choose a pen name, you'll not only need to write under that name, but you'll need to mark it under that name. So, therefore, your website, your social media accounts will all be under that pen name, and if you write under different pen names, you're most likely not in all cases, but most likely need a separate web presence and social media presence for each one, and this is where it can become tricky, because managing one website and one social media channel or a couple of different social media platforms under one name is challenging and time consuming enough. So when you think about adding another name into that maybe a couple of different pen names you really do need to consider if doing this is something you're willing to commit to, because it can be a big commitment to not only manage all of those but finding the time to devote to each of those different pen names or your own personal name If you started branding as that and then a pen name as well. So really think about that time commitment and how much you're going to need to put into that.

Another thing to consider is when you do interviews and in person events, book signings, all those face to face opportunities that may come up throughout your author career, you'll be associating your face with that pen name. Now, when I first started writing, I did consider a pen name, mainly because I'm a very private person, but when I thought of having to answer to a different name, I almost thought it was like pretending or being inauthentic, and it wasn't something that sat well with me. So I decided not to, but that purely might be a me thing, so it's not something that you need to consider, but it was something that I did think about.

So definitely think about that aspect when you're doing interviews or face to face things that you are going to be presenting as your pen name and how do you feel about that and you're going to be able to answer to that name.

The other thing you can consider when choosing a pen name is if you just want to use your initials. So, for example, I write under Jodi Gibson, but my website is JF Gibson. I set that up because I may choose to write in a different genre where I'll be JF Gibson as well as Jodi Gibson. So do you want to write under your initials or do you want to write under a name that means something to you, or your middle name? So there are all different things for you to throw around when you are thinking about pen names. So, absolutely, there is lots to consider when you are choosing whether or not to write under a pen name.

In Summary

But I think, Meg, and to anyone else who is thinking of it, the first thing is the reason why you want to choose to write under a pen name. There's no right or wrong reason. There's no right or wrong decision. It's purely yours and yours alone and what's going to work for you Definitely for yourself publishing. So you just need to be comfortable with the choice that you make and make sure you've made an informed decision. Again, with regards to legalities, definitely touch base with a legal representative in that area who can give you some advice if you are wanting to know more on that side of things. But do your research, make sure the decision is yours and based on you and your circumstances, taking into consideration all the things we've chatted about today. So I definitely hope that helps you, Meg, and anyone else who is considering a pen name.