Does anyone here use different pen names for different modes?

When I first joined there was a parallel thread on this subject: Using your author identity (nom de plume) in real life?

What I can say regarding the topic at hand is--in this day and age--don't expect an alias to shield you from your choices. Those days are over unless you have multiple, unbreachable, firebreaks in place to keep one alias/identity separate from another. IOW, if you require an absolute detachment from one identity to another, your best course of action is to not publish what's at issue in the first place. You'd be surprised at the depths some folks will investigate 'who a person is,' just out of infatuation.

However, if you're just wanting a superficial detachment and aren't worried about any fallout, have fun with it.

K2
 
If you're self-publishing, it's hard enough to build yourself up as a brand with just one name - I'd dread to think of the effort involved in building up strong brands in multiple pen names.
 
Jo Zebedee said:
Not the springs name - I’m grand with that and am still on some forums as that - but the Zebedee bit. I’d have changed it when I got married but my husband’s name isn’t much better
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All joking apart, there's nothing wrong with Zebedee as a writers name. If you Google 'zebedee writer' or 'zebedee author' the top 10 results or so are all about you - and that's something very few authors can say about their names.

If you don't like it, though, you can call yourself whatever you like. How about Jo Rebecca Rachel Tolkeen?
 
-K2- said:
What I can say regarding the topic at hand is--in this day and age--don't expect an alias to shield you from your choices. Those days are over unless you have multiple, unbreachable, firebreaks in place to keep one alias/identity separate from another.
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This is true - and it's also how we catch the self-publicists that join, then post threads like:
I've just read this amazing new book by (Author)! You can find it at (link)!
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And when we check the IP of the poster and the author, surprisingly, it's the same!
 
-K2- said:
What I can say regarding the topic at hand is--in this day and age--don't expect an alias to shield you from your choices. Those days are over unless you have multiple, unbreachable, firebreaks in place to keep one alias/identity separate from another. IOW, if you require an absolute detachment from one identity to another, your best course of action is to not publish what's at issue in the first place
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It works with Cathbad, me and REBerg tried all ways to get his real info but sadly we couldn't.
I hope he gets well enough to get back online from whichever nursing home they rushed him to
 
dannymcg said:
It works with Cathbad, me and REBerg tried all ways to get his real info but sadly we couldn't.
I hope he gets well enough to get back online from whichever nursing home they rushed him to
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I'm not saying you don't have skills, determination, or have made a compassionate concerted effort, but you'd be surprised what can be dug up if someone 'fixates' on someone, or has 'worked' to improve those skills, or is so outright so nuts--most often the case--they doggedly glean through every lead they can find. It looks like his profile is locked or deleted (based on 'Cathbad'), if not, there are likely hints somewhere within his posts.

In any case, though I use my real name here, and can be found elsewhere on the net, it's only what I wish for folks to find...and still, I've had 'fans/stalkers' trace back a couple decades to get general ideas where they might run into me, and one even tracked down an old 8mm movie of me from 44+/- years ago and half a world away (I'll keep the rest of my insulation to myself...it's all rather twisted).

Regardless, and to the point of the topic's question, if you have concerns about something you write harming your reputation--of which mine can only improve--the best course of action is not to write it. If you're just looking for casual insulation and aren't too worried about the two names being connected, then have fun with it...just enjoy the ride.

K2
 
Seems way back the main reason an author used more than one name was that they were often limited by how often magazines would publish the same authors work in one year.
So if you have to eat you use a different name and keep getting stories published.
 
As many here already know, I do write under a pen-name, but that had nothing to do with changing the kind of books I wrote. It was done to make my publisher happy.

A lot of midlist writers were reinventing themselves under new names at that time, at the behest of their publishers, so I thought "why not?" I knew writers who had done it and done well for themselves.

I did not, however, as it turned out, make me happy. So when I finally finish the last two books in that series, they will appear under the pseudonym to avoid confusion, but never again will I write under a name that isn't at least some version of my own. If I ever, for instance, write a mystery novel or a romance, I would probably just insert my middle name.
 
Teresa Edgerton said:
I would probably just insert my middle name.
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That's what I'll do if I ever publish something that's not compatible with my YA and adult work, like picture books for the little ones — use a different combination of names. (I have five parts to my name in total, and currently use three, so could just switch up the middle one, for instance.)
 
I think I would have different pen names for different genres, it would have the added benefit that if I ended up writing a terrible book that agents everywhere despised and put them off ever reading any query I sent in future, I could just come up with a new name and approach them again with new material and try again.
 
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