Comments on: What to Do When You Absolutely, Positively NEED a Pen Name https://authorkristenlamb.com/2015/04/what-to-do-when-you-absolutely-positively-need-a-pen-name/ Author, Blogger, Social Media Jedi Mon, 08 Mar 2021 14:24:48 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.8 By: Kristen Lamb https://authorkristenlamb.com/2015/04/what-to-do-when-you-absolutely-positively-need-a-pen-name/#comment-114740 Mon, 08 Mar 2021 14:24:48 +0000 https://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/?p=17061#comment-114740 In reply to Iris.

I wouldn’t. It’s a hassle and that name no one can pronounce might have hindered you 20 years ago, but now? With search engines? It’s GOLD! We just need to recognize it in a lineup. Google ‘Janet Evonnaviche’ and see how quickly the search engine will respond with a ‘DID YOU MEAN?” in slanty words.

]]> By: Iris https://authorkristenlamb.com/2015/04/what-to-do-when-you-absolutely-positively-need-a-pen-name/#comment-114738 Sat, 06 Mar 2021 09:42:04 +0000 https://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/?p=17061#comment-114738 I’m wondering if I should have a pen name. I write fantasy with elements of romance and thriller, and I’m a primary school teacher. But how do you settle on one? I’ve also wanted to use my Chinese name since like forever, but can’t tell if it would hinder marketing because 1. foreign in an anglophone world and 2. my maiden name is without any vowels lol. So pronunciation is a problem – I know it is because I grew up with it and can write a script on the many times friends have asked me how to pronounce it.

So, do I need a pen name, and how do I choose?

]]> By: Kylie Brandon https://authorkristenlamb.com/2015/04/what-to-do-when-you-absolutely-positively-need-a-pen-name/#comment-100778 Wed, 31 Oct 2018 08:28:42 +0000 https://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/?p=17061#comment-100778 A very nice and informative article. You covered almost everything Thank you for the great information.

]]> By: Diane Watson https://authorkristenlamb.com/2015/04/what-to-do-when-you-absolutely-positively-need-a-pen-name/#comment-79849 Tue, 01 Aug 2017 15:58:28 +0000 https://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/?p=17061#comment-79849 I am so happy I came across this article. I want to use a pen name for a very sensitive subject and don’t want to be a victim of harassment. As you said, just the name change isn’t enough. are there any suggestions of how to decrease if not eliminate, someone finding out my identity?

is having private domain registration enough for a website? can you still publish and sell books on Amazon? So many questions about this because I am so ready to finish my book.

]]> By: sosherevolted https://authorkristenlamb.com/2015/04/what-to-do-when-you-absolutely-positively-need-a-pen-name/#comment-57874 Sat, 10 Sep 2016 15:00:12 +0000 https://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/?p=17061#comment-57874 Thank you so much for this Kristen! I have been going back and forth in my head about this. My two reasons were privacy (from people in my past) and the fact that my last name is Austrian and no one can pronounce it correctly. So I appreciated what you said about the fact that I’d be trading search engine uniqueness for something people can say, and then I realized that we all know how to pronounce Dostoyevsky well enough! Appreciate your thoughts!

]]> By: Author Kristen Lamb https://authorkristenlamb.com/2015/04/what-to-do-when-you-absolutely-positively-need-a-pen-name/#comment-57873 Fri, 28 Aug 2015 13:10:30 +0000 https://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/?p=17061#comment-57873 In reply to Den Lim.

These days we have to have a social media presence and we have to be interacting for social media to work. No one wants to interact with a computer or a lie. Just be you.

]]> By: Den Lim https://authorkristenlamb.com/2015/04/what-to-do-when-you-absolutely-positively-need-a-pen-name/#comment-57872 Fri, 28 Aug 2015 09:55:04 +0000 https://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/?p=17061#comment-57872 Great article. I found it when I was looking for articles on pen names.
What’s your take on using a pen name to match your writing voice? One of my betas suggested using a female pen name or at least a gender neutral one because my writing reads like it was written by a twenty-something woman. (I’m a middle-age man.) Is it a good idea?
Second, what’s your take on using a western pen name? I’m from Asia so my last name sounds Chinese. Would it be easier for me to use a western surname?
I am currently drafting some urban fantasy and paranormal romance stories.

]]> By: the author https://authorkristenlamb.com/2015/04/what-to-do-when-you-absolutely-positively-need-a-pen-name/#comment-57871 Sat, 09 May 2015 01:37:10 +0000 https://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/?p=17061#comment-57871 Interesting post (I just found it today via a link in a writers group). I use my first name and then the first name of my one writing partner as the last name for the stories we are writing. He is a teacher. It wouldn’t be pretty if folks discovered it. I also use my ex-husbands last name on the radio because it flows well … and because I earned it! LOL Thanks for the article.

]]> By: jwuollife https://authorkristenlamb.com/2015/04/what-to-do-when-you-absolutely-positively-need-a-pen-name/#comment-57870 Tue, 14 Apr 2015 06:05:50 +0000 https://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/?p=17061#comment-57870 Kristen, I want to thank both you, and all your commenters, this post has now made me re-think the use of a pen name. Very insightful information and the timing couldn’t be better 🙂

]]> By: Jennifer's Journal https://authorkristenlamb.com/2015/04/what-to-do-when-you-absolutely-positively-need-a-pen-name/#comment-57869 Mon, 13 Apr 2015 23:37:07 +0000 https://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/?p=17061#comment-57869 Hi, Kristen. I have used my legal name, with my husband’s surname at the end, since I started blogging over three years ago. To me, Jennifer Kelland Perry sounds better than Jennifer Kelland. Now that I have landed a publishing contract, I’m thinking of sticking with it. Your thoughts?

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