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Writers of Warrior Forum, do you use a pen name?

by Shadowflux
13 replies
I understand the usefulness of a pen name. It's essentially a brand which readers can use to find the other material you've written. I know pen names are really popular in fiction, and with good reason, but I was wondering:

How many of you use a pen name for non-fiction?

Do you think it's better to use a pen name or your real name?

Most of my work has been ghostwriting, obviously, so I rarely choose what name goes on the material. Now that I'm writing more for myself, however, I've been considering the benefits and drawbacks of a pen name.

What are your thoughts? All opinions are welcome.
#forum #pen #warrior #writers
  • Profile picture of the author writeaway
    Yes. I use a different pen name for the different niches I cover. This applies to articles and ebooks. I have been assigned hard left and hard right political essays in the past and having different pen names really help to preserve ideological consistency I probably will use my real name for Kindle books I am planning to write for myself instead of clients.
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      I've seen more and more authors that use pen names acknowledge those names on an author platform site or blog. Jane Doe might write YA Romances under her own name, cookbooks under "Janet Doe" and mystery/thrillers under "J. K. Doe". Yet her author site might offer the various books as "Jane Doe writing as Janet Doe" and so on.

      You still get the separation, but you're not lying to people. And contrary to popular opinion, most Kindle readers seem to grasp the concept that a writer is three dimensional. Knowing that the person who wrote the last whodunnit they read also cooks does not make their heads explode.

      That said, I still haven't come out of the literary closet (revealing some of my pen names), but I'm thinking about it...
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      • Profile picture of the author colorado1850
        Shadowflux this is such a good question. As writeaway points out, sometimes you need to use pen names just because of the assignment.

        I use pen names for various different non-fiction books. Like I recently did one of the 'puppies' books as part of the warrior book club and I used a pen name there.

        I've used variations on my name as pen names.

        But the flip side of the coin that bothers me about pen names is that it takes more work to build a platform of followers. They become like a collection of niche websites - where they never really take off like one would if you gave it your 100% focus.

        Good luck with your writing...
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  • Profile picture of the author TMGG
    I now use a real name for my non-fiction writing. I used to use pen names to try and hide my tracks in some of the competitive industries I worked / wrote books in.

    That was when traffic was super easy to get so reverse engineering a business in a weekend worked.

    Now with traffic not so super easy and a lot more riding on relationship, social, word of mouth etc it seems a lot better to use my real name.

    If I write some children's books, which I might this year, perhaps a pen name will return.
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  • Profile picture of the author Horny Devil
    Banned
    Originally Posted by Shadowflux View Post

    Writers of Warrior Forum, do you use a pen name?
    At times my wife likes to call me Parker, but I don't know whether that's in relation to the pen, or a secret crush for the Thunderbirds chauffeur. So, yes m'lady.
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  • Profile picture of the author ddavidlv
    I just signed up and use my real information, I think it is wrong to use an alias. Where is your integrity.
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    • Profile picture of the author JRJWrites
      Originally Posted by ddavidlv View Post

      I just signed up and use my real information, I think it is wrong to use an alias. Where is your integrity.
      Well, that's irrelevant...

      TO THE OP: I use my first two initials and last name - not only for my work, but also for everything else I do online. Not really a pen name, but you won't find that set of initials + my last name anywhere else.
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Ten
    I use a pen name for publishing some non fiction. I've thought about using my real name. I might in the future.
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  • Profile picture of the author withjay
    Yaah, I use a pen name for some stuff, but on my website all my info is legit.. Or is it… I work with a lot of people online and I personally don't care what their name is provided they don't shaft me. Like some of the other guys I use a fake name such as H G Pennypacker when I am writing things that probably shouldn't be linked to my name or things I wouldn't want my grandma to see
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    • Profile picture of the author Shadowflux
      Thanks for the responses everyone. Just to clear things up, I'm not asking for any deceptive reason. Authors have used pen names for a very long time and there is nothing wrong with that. Stephen King used one, I believe the author of Harry Potter used one.

      The purpose is to set that book apart from their other books. If you wrote nothing but spy fiction then you would probably use a pen name if you decided to write a sci-fi novel. An author's pen name is essentially their brand.

      It would only be deceptive if I wrote a book and then put Stephen King's name on it. Or, I suppose, if I invented some sort of millionaire persona which didn't actually exist.

      I was just interested in hearing what the consensus is when it comes to non-fiction, particularly anything related to IM, investing, marketing, or any other topic which might be relevant to WF in any way.

      Using a pen name is no more deceptive than hiring a ghostwriter and people have been doing both for a very long time.
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  • Profile picture of the author sweetcrabhoney18
    Each niche I'm writing in has a different pen name because I need to build a brand around that name and that book. I think the last time I counted all my pen names it was 8 different ones. I don't want someone buying a cookbook but thinking it's a children's book because they both are in the same name. That would be soo annoying..
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  • Profile picture of the author BradCarroll
    I've used them, although I don't at the moment. It can also be a great idea just so you don't spread your personal brand too thin. That way, when people look up your pen name, they don't run across 10 different niches under your name (not that they'll hate you for it--but it can be a bad way to keep people's attention if your niches aren't related). But like colorado1850 said, it stretches you thin in other ways.
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