: Do I need a pen name? And how do I pick a good one? Try having the name 'James Thompson'. It doesn't really sound like a name a professional writer would have, does it? Because I don't

Vote Up Vote Down

My background is in digital marketing and I'll answer first from that point of view. "Thompson" is a complex name even for English natives - with or without the "h" or the "p"? By the time you prepare your marketing for all iterations of the spelling, you'll have spent more than others. There's also the chance that as a reasonably common name, there might be a writer with the same Christian name but a variation on Thompson. Even worse, there might be a politician.

Also, I've chosen a pen name because my irl surname is so English that it takes my postman three attempts to say it. I chose something simple, common and two syllable without any major variations internationally.

(0)

Vote Up Vote Down

As an aside, you may want to see the discussion here: Would there be any problems with choosing a pseudonym of another ethnicity and sex?

I think if you are using a pseudonym to pretend to be something you're not, that may not be a great thing. It sounds like you are mostly looking for a more exciting or unique name or something that ties more to your subject. That's fine, just be aware of not putting in a layer of meaning you don't intend.

I think @Sara_Costa has a good answer for an approach. I think you may have fun playing with the meanings of names as well as the sound (baby name books or websites are a good source for that information) because you may find a good tie in with your subject matter.

(0)

Vote Up Vote Down

Of course if you want to use a pseudonym, go right ahead. But "James Thompson" seems like a perfectly usable name to me.

Normal reasons to use a pseudonym include:

You don't want friends or business associates to associate you with this book. Like if you're writing pornography, or extremist politics. Perhaps you're afraid of repercussions of one kind or another.
You're name is difficult to pronounce or strange enough that it would be distracting to potential readers. Like if your name is "Poopy McSnotface" and you're writing technical chemistry books.
You think your name sounds inconsistent with the type of book you're writing. Like your name is "Bambi Loving" and you write technical books.

"James Thompson" sounds like an ordinary, respectable name to me. I don't know what your problem with it is.

But given that for whatever reason you don't want to use it ...

If you're publishing through a traditional publisher, you just tell them you want to use this pseudonym and they should handle the details.

If you're self-publishing: Put your pseudonym on the spine, title page, back cover, wherever you put author name. When you file your copyright registration, in the US the form has a place to say that this is a pseudonym. You then may, but are not required to, give your real name. Copyright registrations are public record so if you put your real name there, someone could research and find it. If you don't put your real name, I'd guess this makes suing someone for copyright violation more difficult as you'd have to prove that you are the author. I don't use a pseudonym and I've never sued someone for copyright violation so I don't know the details of that.

If you're not in the US, I don't know how they handle pseudonyms on copyright registrations in your country. You probably would want to look into it, just to make sure there are no gotchas.

(0)

Vote Up Vote Down

Do keep in mind @RobtA 's advise concerning copyright.

I'd also like to suggest that you look at what you write and decide what type of name fits. Take steps:

language (English, Chinese, Spanish, etc)
1.1 decide whether to apply the same language to both first name and surname or use different languages
quantity of first names
2.1 one or two (some languages with short names can make two desirable)
2.2 use initials only for first name (two first names could make this sound better)
gender (female, male, unisex)
3.1 initials work great to make a first name seem unisex
length
4.1 decide if you'd rather have all names be long, short or a combination
common or not
5.1 should they be common, uncommon, unique, have conventional or unconventional spelling, ...
meaning
6.1 should they have an obvious meaning (Autumn), a hidden meaning (Sarah = princess) or no meaning
sounds
7.1 a strong sound (e.g. with p, b sounds) or a soft sound ( e.g. with s, l, sounds)
7.2 abundance of consonants or vowels (Fred vs. Layla)

Now, start making a list of names and a list of surnames. Mark the ones you like, the ones you dislike and the ones that are ok. Erase the ones you don't like.

If you chose initials, it's easier, just check the alphabet (so much shorter) for the letters that have the right sound and feel.

Start combining favourite first names and surnames, and then also mix some of the ok names/surnames. If you chose to have two first names, try first deciding which two go together before adding the surname to the mix.

I strongly suggest that you end up with half a dozen possible names, even if you fall in love with a particular combination.

Last stage: get a pool of people and tell them that you have a list of writers. One of those writers is famous for their [genre] books. Can you guess who is it? Or just get the pool to vote on their favourite. It works best if you ask this to 20-30 people rather that 2-3.

Good luck.

(0)