When to think about pseudonyms?

[Brian G Turner]

Brian Tuner is a name made famous in the UK by a TV chef, plus there appear to be a couple of published writers named Brian Turner.

I figure if I'm published, then the least I'd have to do is modify my name slightly - ie, Brian G Turner.

However, the issue of writing across different genres came up before, and was suggested that individual authors need to be recognised as genre-based.

If I were to aim for this, then wouldn't this therefore mean I would have to look at using a pseudonym for different genres I were trying to write for?

I know it's probably a little premature to think about pseudonyms without a completed manuscripted, but I'm curious about the process, and whether I'm going to have to think long and hard about one or more writing names for the different writers markets I plan to aim for?

 

[iansales]

Few writers these days have careers that cross genres--with or without pseudonyms. Stephen Donaldson is said to have remarked that he lost 80% of his readership when he stopped writing Thomas Covenant novels, and 80% of those who remained when he changed from fantasy to science fiction (i.e., The Gap Cycle--which I quite liked). Unless you're a huge-selling author, those numbers are not going to look good on a publisher's balance sheet. And using a pseudonym means that the pen-name is effectively a "new" author... with all the disadvantages that entails when entering the market.

Gardner Dozois once advised aspiring writers to create a universe and concentrate on writing stories or novels based in that universe. Only when their career is healthy, should they consider moving away from it. Alastair Reynolds is an excellent example of this.

Um, not sure I've answered your question. Personally, I would concentrate on a single "project" (i.e., works set in a single universe), and aim for publication with something from it. The name you put to what you manage to sell, given that other authors or celebrities share your name... Well, you can cross that bridge when you come to it

 

[Marky Lazer]

I'm even using a pseudonym when I'm pretty sure my real name isn't even taken...

 

[the_faery_queen]

my dad said that you had to have a different name for different genres. not sure how true that is, but i am keeeeping mine because i want the people i hated at school to know all about my fame, fortune etc. im petty. and also lucky (ish) cos my name is ok and i don't think anyone else has used it.

that and names are the hardest bit for me, so thinking up a new one would be a nightmare!

 

[John Jarrold]

Ian is quite right. Don't even consider different genres until you have a number of novels published successfully in one genre. In the 70s and 80s a number of jobbing writers would knock off six or eight books a year in different genres, each under a different pseudonym. But over the last twenty years publishing in the UK has changed totally and many of the genres those novels were published in have either disappeared (westerns, short Hornblower rip-offs, etc) or metamorphosed, in commercial and sales terms - like SF and fantasy.

Do one thing and do it as well as you possibly can...

 

[Brian G Turner]

Many thanks for the reply - good to see you around as well, John - keeping busy, I hope.

 

[John Jarrold]

Apologies for being quiet. Went away for a few days to Devon earlier in the month, and been catching up with work since my return!