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| The late & much lamented Victoria Collins |
One of the first big decisions facing any budding author hoping to publish their novel is deciding what to call yourself. There are two options.
Option 1: Be yourself.
Plus points are that it's easy to remember who you are (until dementia takes over, when you have to rely on friends and family). And it stops that look of vague terror crossing your face when being introduced as a guest speaker. Or seeing a poster with your face and stranger's name under it. It also makes the banking of meagre royalties easier, and stops HMRC from going into meltdown every time you fill in a self-assessment form.
Option 2: Be someone else.
Initially, that's what I was going to do. I wanted a different name for the author of Diamonds & Dust. As it was going to be my first 'adult' novel, I thought I'd like to create a new identity to go with it. And I wanted something that would place my books at eye-level on the bookshop shelf - something that not enough writers factor in when choosing their author name. (Think supermarket and bottom shelves). Plus I wanted a name that suggested the book was a historical novel. Thus Victoria Collins was born: Victoria after the Queen; Collins after Wilkie Collins, writer of the first detective novel. Great name! Or so I thought.
Alas, just as I was beginning to develop a split personality and quite enjoying it, the negative aspects of my decision began to surface and niggle at me. To launch as an unknown historical fiction writer seemed a bit risky, didn't it? How would anyone who already knew me, find me? A quick trawl on the internet also threw up a couple of other Victoria Collins. Both established writers, both with blogs. My alter-ego had competition before she'd even started.
However, 'Carol Hedges' existed as a known entity, and had a presence on Amazon, Wikipedia and other sites. It seemed daft to turn my back on what was already set up and running. So sadly, Victoria and I parted company. Purely for commercial reasons. But I like to think that she hasn't completely gone away; that she is still out there, somewhere. A spiky, scatty version of me ... in a bonnet and crinoline. Causing trouble.
I tried to be Mandy for a while. I was fed up with a name that derives from the word for bitterness and one I've always found hard to pronounce. But it just didn't stick. ~Miriam
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed so many authors use a surname beginning with W as their books always lurk down on the bottom shelf.
ReplyDeleteExactly. Supermarkets put their 'lost leaders' on the bottom shelf. When D got married, she said she'd retain her maiden name if she ever stood for Parliament again..Hedges coming further up the ballot paper than Young
DeleteI married to lose my W maiden name!
DeleteSee ...as in writing so in politics
DeleteAll I did was decide to use my full name Kathleen instead of 'Kath' which everyone has called me since I was 10 years old (apart from my mum who called me Kathy but she was the only one allowed to do so).
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I wish I'd done was use 'Val' instead of 'Valerie'. Even now, when I'm introduced at a talk, I see my mother fixing me with her withering glare when the host announces me as Valerie Poore! I've never thought of using a pen name, though, nor have I ever thought of the impact of the alphabet on author search fields. That must be why my name never shows up quickly when I type it in on Amazon...haha!
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine you as being anything other than..well...you!! Since it seems to be proven that people's behaviour can change with their names...well, I rest my case.
Hahaha. I still would have liked to have an alter-ego .... maybe if I start writing erotica ...hmm....
DeleteI did briefly consider using a middle name as my pseudonym, but then felt my own name was ideal to publish under. Google found me and only pretender was a musician. However, by chance not Google just discovered one of my characters is the lead in another writer's mystery series - same surname, gender, and nationality.
ReplyDeleteaargh! sad fact of writing life. There are a couple of Diamonds & Dusts out there so I sympathise. And as there are only supposed t be 7 plots , I guess we are all reinventing the wheel to some extent!
DeleteThis helped with my dilemma, Carol. I wanted to write some erotica under a different name to remain in the shadows. Now I think I'll just be me. @v@
ReplyDeleteMind, I do know of one writer who writes erotica under a different name so as not to embarrass her kids...
DeleteAmazon helpfully lists all your books (under whatever name) on your author page. I know one author who wrote erotica under a pseudonym and who got caught out by that.
DeleteUnless you set up more than one author page, of course ...
DeleteI didn't like it when I was asked to write under a pseudonym for a magazine when they wanted to print more than one of my stories in an issue. It felt like someone had stolen my story! Luckily this only happened once and now they are happy to use my real name on all stories. What it did make me realise was that seeing a different name on my novel would be even worse! I see why people do it (changing genres etc.) but it wouldn't be for me.
ReplyDeleteI guess if you want to write erotics and its lower equivalent, being called, Pauline Bloggs is not as ''sexy' as Foxy Rosie
DeleteI can't face trying to be anyone else. I have enough trouble just being me!
ReplyDeleteI love having an alter ego! My real name was already taken by another author plus I started out writing, and publishing, in secret so Georgia Rose was born. Nowadays I'm more likely to answer to Georgia than anything else though - haha!
ReplyDeleteI envy you. My decision was also made by a request from my accountant, who struggles enough with my paper work and said he really really didn't want it to get even more complicated than it already was. Hiho.
DeleteI decided on Tyler as a 'Yo Respect' to Steven Tyler; I got married again just before publishing my first Amazon book and my new surname didn't go with Terry (and, indeed, still doesn't!). I liked the alliteration (and Terry Tyler was also the name of Steven T's second wife, an added bonus!). It's sort of become my name now, anyway; I only use my 'real' name on official stuff, as I use a pretend one even on my personal FB account. It's my 5th surname, counting my maiden and 3 married ones; it gets confusing as it is.
ReplyDeleteYou know how to find your romantic novelist name ~ your middle name and the name of the road you live in. When I lived in Cromer, it would have been Caroline Church - it works! And your erotic novelist name - the name of your first pet, and your mother's maiden name. Ginger Hall :)
So..wait... that makes me.....1. Judith Lane ..and 2. Honey Mannheim hmm.....
DeleteI was published under my maiden name before I was married, so have kept that. It has the advantage of being a real name, so is fine for banking etc, but means I can use my married name if I want to distance myself from the writer me any time.
ReplyDeleteGreat advice. Being yourself is far less complicated! I think people accept that you might write different types of books - the important thing is to make sure your readers know what to expect. I guess that is why some people like to use different names for different types of book, but classifying books by genre should do the same trick. I love the picture of the lady at the top of your blog. Please can you tell me who it is by?
ReplyDelete