As I work more on building both my fiction and freelancing careers, I am becoming more enamored of the idea of using a pseudonym for my fiction.
More and more of the freelancers/fiction writers I have come across use pseudonyms to keep their business and fiction separate. But, I have built some level of name recognition and have been open about my fiction aspirations.
So, I’m going to crowdsource this one. If you pseudonym, please tell me why and how it helps your business and your fiction. If you don’t pseudonym, please share your reasons. If the nature of the fiction you write has influenced your decision to pseudonym, please let me know.
Thanks!
Ask yourself these questions:
* Will your fiction damage your brand or build it?
* Will your current nonfiction/blogging brand support your fiction?
You should have your answer then.
I use a pen name because I want to keep my two professions separate. I’m a doctor IRL, and I’m not quite ready for my patients to know that I also write books.
uberVU - social comments // Dec 22, 2009 at 9:48 pm
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by jenroland: New post: The Pseudonym Debate Rears Its Ugly Head Again (http://cli.gs/nG2eG)…
My decision to have separate freelancing and fiction writing names was a tough one to make, too. As a freelancer, I was open about my fiction writing progress and proud of it (and vice versa). Plus, I always thought I had a nice “romance novel-y name.”
However, I’ve since discovered that the branding for writing fiction and doing freelance work is completely different. That’s what really made me do the separation. Being a fiction author is just like running any other business, and I want a strong platform for marketing myself in the future.
You’ve all given me such great feedback. And, you’re right. I need to separate my non-fiction and fiction life with different writing names. The coming year is bringing a lot of changes, and the addition of a pseudonym will be one of them.
The Joys of Pseudonyms « Uncategorized « Jen's Writing Journey // Dec 24, 2009 at 9:18 am
[...] updates or follow me on Twitter. Thanks for visiting!Based on all of the input I got in response to Monday’s post and my gut feeling, I have decided to better focus on my brand by creatng a pseudonym for my [...]
I publish under my own name in my business as the Writing Career Coach as well as my fiction and non-fiction. I do this because each time you write under a different name you have to reinvent yourself in your marketing. I prefer to simply focus on building credibility by developing myself as a writer, speaker and writing career coach. Each builds the other brand and increases my name recognition.
Good topic. Oh, and thanks for the shoutout of my Writing Career Coach course. Did you download any of the free articles?
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