The Pen Name: My Experience So Far
June 17th, 2011@DannieC_Hill on twitter just asked me my thoughts on pen names** and if I’d done a blog post on the subject, so here I am.
Until very recently I’ve always written under my own name, Linda Nagata. This was done largely out of naivete and partly out of defiance (see the very current and continuing discussions around the Internet of women writing science fiction). Suffice to say that the intervening years have convinced me that “Linda Nagata” might not be the best name I could be writing under.
With my latest book, The Dread Hammer, I did a radical genre change from hard science fiction to unabashed fantasy. What better time to try out a pen name? So I published TDH under the name Trey Shiels. There’s nothing secret about it. I want my long-time readers to know that’s me, but I also want to see if having a different name on a book might make a difference in sales to people who have never heard of either of us. (Not that this is in any sense a scientific experiment. Whether the book is a roaring success or an abysmal failure, there’s no way to isolate the contribution of the pen name.)
That said, pen names are a pain! On my first pass at a print version for The Dread Hammer I managed to put “Linda Nagata” at the top of every left hand page in the book, instead of “Trey Shiels.” This cost me $110 and a couple weeks of time to fix. When I go to sign the book, I have to repeat over and over “Trey Shiels” — “Trey Shiels” — “Trey Shiels” — or you know what I’m going to write. Someone won a copy of the ebook, and I realized afterward that the name of the file I sent was “The Dread Hammer-Linda Nagata.epub.” (now fixed)
I do not ever think of myself as “Trey Shiels.”
Other authors have multiple pen names, but if I did that I think I’d have to have an assistant at my side to keep reminding me who I am at the moment.
It’s only been a couple of months. I suppose that in time I’ll adapt. And maybe, in the end, “Trey Shiels” will be a more successful author. But my advice, where pen names are concerned, is tread cautiously!. Better to pick the right name from the start.
**every time I start to write “pseudonym” I have this deep fear I won’t spell it right, so I write “pen name” instead
Posted on: Friday, June 17th, 2011 at 1:47 pm
Categories: Writing.
June 17th, 2011 at 11:14 pm
Great article, Linda… or is it Trey?
I write in different- completely different- genres and that was the reason I asked you the question. It’s a hard choice and you’ve showed that well. I too want my readers to know who I am, but much advise I’ve read is to seperate the genres by using a pseudonym.
As an independent author I’m just not sure how it would work with the printer I use. I have a lot to think about and must decide quickly. I have a Fantasy coming out this year.
Thank you, Linda, for a very good look into the world of pen names.
I wish you the best of luck with your new book– all your books actually. I have The Dread Hammer in my cue to read and I am really looking forward to it. I’m not sure I would agree with the name change because I have read a number of really great Fantasies written by women, but I do understand the possible need to seperate genres.
I’ll let you know what I decide. It would be very interesting to hear what your readers thing about pen names! There are several well know authors that use many different names but in the end most readers know who they are.
June 17th, 2011 at 11:48 pm
It’ll take time to see how it plays out. Thanks for the good wishes, and best of luck with your own work!