Jan 29, 2024
Do you use or have you considered using different pen names for different genres of your writing?
Back when I started writing poetry and wanted to publish, I picked a pen name.
Even published a few poems under using it. Why? Frankly, I thought my given name was boring. It didn’t reflect who I was as a person. I was more ‘artsy’ than it implied.
Time passed, and I was no longer the person the first pen name represented. It was retired. Life and circumstance presented me with the P.J. MacLayne moniker and I embraced it, first for my poetry and many years later, for my stories. As I’ve been involved in selling books at events, the writing personality and the day-to-day me have become entwined. There are people who know both names and use them interchangeably.
Advice floating around on the internet suggests that when a writer switches genres, they should also adopt a new pen name, especially if they write erotica. That’s to ‘protect’ readers who prefer not to buy those stories. I suspect there’s a hint of misogyny in that thought. Women’s stories and writing are still not considered as ‘important’ by part of the literary community, and the suggestion of changing names hints at making it easier to avoid those stories. Frankly, that thought process irks me. Readers need to be given more credit for being able to choose what suits them.
I don’t follow the advice about having different pen names. My urban fantasy/paranormal stories, crime, and female sleuth mysteries use the same one. So will the hard-core mystery I’m currently working on. I trust my readers to purchase what they want. I don’t have any fans that blindly follow me and buy everything I put out.
But there are selfish reasons for my decision.
It’s time and attention factors. Social media is a necessity for an indie author, and there’s a lot of effort in keeping my name and books in front of a potential audience. To duplicate that for additional pen names would take energy I’d rather put into my writing, and make me crazy trying to keep track of it all. Besides, I’m not that good at social media. I’d be worse if I had to maintain accounts for several ‘personalities.’
I don’t know if any of the other authors who frequent this hop use multiple pen names, but I’m going to find out. I’m off to follow the links below and check out their posts. You’re welcome to join me on the hunt.
As always, until next time, please stay safe.
Jan 29, 2024
Do you use or have you considered using different pen names for different genres of your writing?
Having one pen name to hide behind is plenty for me. After eleven years I’ve only just got used to being Richard Dee. I don’t want to confuse myself further.
I’m with you!
Right. Let’s not give ourselves Dissociative Identity DIsorder.
So is P.J Maclayne your real name or a pen name?
Pen name. But I will answer to either it or my legal name.
So many of us have different names across our lives, between marriages, divorces, transitions of various sorts. But I don’t think I can keep up with more than one of me, so I’ll just stick to my current name for all of it. @samanthabwriter from
Balancing Act
Your name has a nice ring to it. I understand why you keep it. 🙂
I can see using a pen name if you write erotica. But otherwise, I agree with your approach to stick to one name. Many authors write in more than one genre but don’t change their name.
I suspect it’s going out of fashion. In these internet days, it’s hard to hide behind a pen name. There’s always a way for a determined reader to figure it out who you really are.
I would agree with you there. Most porn actresses don’t use their own names either.
But frankly, I don’t buy books without reading the blurb, so if my favorite author (currently Brandon Sanderson, so extremely unlikely for this to happen) were to write an erotica or pornographic book, I wouldn’t buy it because I’d notice what the blurb says about it.