Author Pseudonyms

[Keira]

How many of you would be prepared to shorten your name on published works to just your initials, such as SE Hinton, JK Rowling, JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, etc...? Or rather, how many of you would prefer to do so, or create another name to go by instead (i.e. Mark Twain, Dr. Seuss)?

I personally like my name, but would be willing to go by KL [insert last name here] if I HAD to, lol. Though, all the way around it is a difficult name to pronounce (Keira = Cara, and my last name is in it's own stratosphere as far as anyone who's ever heard it would know) which could always get messy. I also remember when Rock and I were younger... okay, so we were about 16, haha, we came up with a funny name (that stood for something, but it's kinda random, and not worth going into) 'Rsheac' pronounced R-Shea-See and we vowed that would be our pen name when we co-wrote books. Yeah, we were in our own little world back then.

[latch22]

Dr. Seuss = awesome. If I actually had idols, he would be one of them. (For those that are almost interested, the other would be Harry Houdini. Magic tricks also equal awesome.)

My brother and I mentally catalogue new spellings of our surname. Some of them are absurd. I don't understand why people have such difficulty pronouncing it, because it's quite easy to pronounce, and just because it's on the longer side doesn't make it any more difficult to spell--and yet there are so many versions that I am in no way affiliated with.

Needless to say, I decided a few years ago that I would never subject my surname to the gruesome misspellings that it's already endured. It's my name and I'm fond of it, but it frustrates me too much to see it continually mangled. (My mum has been lobbying for years for us to shorten it, and she hates it. And she hates spelling it over the phone--twice is her limit.)

My first name is also frequently misspelled. And mispronounced. I don't care how you pronounce it at this point, but I hate being called Lora. My name is Lara, with no U.

Enough of that rant. *coughs* Sorry about that...

Anyway, yeah, I have a name all picked out. My first two initials and a fake surname. Perhaps you'll see it in a few years. ; )

[queenjaneapprxmtly]

I've been really into pseudonyms lately, and I think I probably will go by one when the time comes. I guess my real first and last names are all right, but ... well, I've got the exact same name as a college (perhaps you've heard of it, my first name is Sarah, if that's any clue), and you have no idea how many years I've gone through, "Did you know there's a college named after you?"

Well, first of all, the college wasn't named after me. And I certainly wasn't named after it. It's just a coincidence. And secondly, I am so sick and tired of that! My teachers now probably just either assume that I've been through enough of that or have never heard of said college because I haven't gotten that since about eighth grade, lol.

When I publish I think I want to use my real first name, and my mom's maiden name. I think it makes sense, too, because my parents didn't get married for a year after I was born and so it already has been my name at one point, lol. :)

Oh, and to go along with the misspellings issue ... I can't even begin to convey the amount of misspellings we've gotten. It's mostly on envelopes addressed to us, but still. My last name is not that hard to spell. And yet we still get things addressed to somebody with the last name 'Lacorence.'

The best was probably one time when my grandpa, who's name is Horace Polglaze, got something addressed to Norris Felglass. And once when we were on vacation his pool pass said 'Forrest' instead of 'Horace.'

Anyway, to make a long story short -- pseudonyms, yes. I like them. In fact, they're quite fascinating. :)

[BlindedxxFalcon]

I am definatly using one. It will be M. (last name). My last name starts with "M" too, so I think it's nice.

Also, however easy my first and last names are to spell, I still get double n's and the end instead of "ns" when people spell my last name. My first name is misspelled too, but even though my name is common the spelling isn't. It's spelled Meaghan. I'm Irish, and my parents wanted to spell it the Gailic way.

And since I have seven brothers, people are asking me "Is your brother Dan?" Because he's in the same grade as me. The same art class, even. He got held back a year.

So...pseudonyms, definatly.

[latch22]

I also like the idea of having an air of mystery and a private life; a clear line of demarcation between business and all else.

[Keira]

justonegreaser said:

It's spelled Meaghan. I'm Irish, and my parents wanted to spell it the Gailic way.

And since I have seven brothers, people are asking me "Is your brother Dan?" Because he's in the same grade as me. The same art class, even. He got held back a year.

OT {Off Topic}

Wow, and I thought I had a lot of brothers at four, haha. My youngest brother got held back a grade this last year as well. He's repeating the eighth grade. That's gotta be interesting to have a sibling in the same grade, who isn't a twin.

I like a lot of Gaelic spellings of names, too. Just be thankful your parents didn't name you Meaghanne. I've seen that one before. Poor kid will probably need to learn how to spell her name as just 'Meg' for the first year or two of school, lol.

Back onto topic:

I think pseudonyms are fun, but they can be confusing too. I remember the time I learned that Dr. Seuss's real name wasn't Seuss, and it threw me off so badly (I was only 10). I got really confused for some reason. Anyway, I do like the idea of having one, but I wouldn't have any clue what it would be. I'm not particularly fond of any of our other family surnames, so yeah. I'd probably stick with my own.

[Nittanylizard]

I'll use my actual name. Maybe.

Here's a funny one - A friend of mine from college whose name is Brian was telling us that he often got junk mail that was addressed to "Brain". Talk about messing up a darn simple name .

[Keira]

nittanylizard said:

I'll use my actual name. Maybe.

How boring are you?


A lot of famous authors, nowadays, had pseudonyms in the past. I can't remember specifics, but I know that Stephen King had one, along with quite a few others... Hmmm... Now I'm gonna have to compile a list. That'll be interesting.

Some other author pen names worth noting:

* Boz (Charles Dickens)
* Ann Landers (Esther "Eppie" Pauline Friedman Lederer)
* J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts)
* Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler)
* Publius (Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay, when writing The Federalist Papers)
* Silence Dogood (Benjamin Franklin)
* Richard Bachman and John Swithen (Stephen King)

The lists go and on and on, but those are the only ones I really recognized, lol.

[queenjaneapprxmtly]

admin said:

Some other author pen names worth noting:

* Boz (Charles Dickens)
* Ann Landers (Esther "Eppie" Pauline Friedman Lederer)
* J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts)
* Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler)
* Publius (Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay, when writing The Federalist Papers)
* Silence Dogood (Benjamin Franklin)
* Richard Bachman and John Swithen (Stephen King)

The lists go and on and on, but those are the only ones I really recognized, lol.

I started laughing when I saw that "Silence Dogood" one. It just sounds so ... odd. If I ever saw a book or something somewhere with "Silence Dogood" listed as the author, I would honestly wonder what that person's parents were thinking ... in fact, I would most likely blurt out my usual inquiry when I see an odd name: "Who in their right mind would name their kid Silence?!"

It's interesting to see all the different names authors come up with. :p

[Nittanylizard]

admin said:

nittanylizard said:

I'll use my actual name. Maybe.

How boring are you?

You need to ask this? I spend my time chatting with the almost-2-year-old about tomatoes ;D.

[latch22]

Mark Twain, for one, was really Samuel Clemens. I suppose that's pretty well-known, though.

[Keira]

::Laughing::

I can't believe she's that old *Shakes head*. Scratch that -- I can't believe I've known you long enough to not able to believe she's that old. Ah, but we had some interesting conversations that derived from that pregnancy, haha.

[zickachik73]

I think my last name is worse than my first, so I'd probably change that. People would be trying to recommend it, saying, "So there's the book I'm reading. Check it out, it's by this chick named sick-ee-fo-us. i think she's like Native American" and the name would be lost in translation and no one would ever actually read it. (Note: my name is not at all native american. haha)

I'll probably change my name to something simple - like Laura Smith. But I'll keep Laura so I don't get confused and not answer people! I'd totally do that.

[BlindedxxFalcon]

Me too! I'd try to answer all my fanmail...unless I get super famous, like J.K. Rowling, and just get tons a day. Then I'd type something general up and have my assistants send it back for all.

[Tensleep]

Pseudonyms are fun. I think if I had to pick one I'd go by T.S. Darrant. Sounds nice, just rolls off your tongue and seems professional. But if I were going for something more professional and realistic, I would lean towards a variation of my own name. A.G. Peters or something close to that.

Now, my brother decided if he was going to write he was going to be King Jhon or The King. *shakes head* Well, at least he knew what he wanted in life.