I’m an aspiring writer/novelist, and I’m about 90% convinced that if I get my big break, I’ll use a pseudonym. [name]Every[/name] so often, I get the desire to figure out my own pseudonym, so it’ll be ready when I need it. I go back and forth between something short and sweet and a bit timeless (like [name]Lily[/name], [name]Clara[/name], [name]Ella[/name], or [name]Grace[/name]) or something a bit longer and more involved and striking (like [name]Aurelie[/name], [name]Genevieve[/name], [name]Elora[/name], or Adalet), or something with sentimental or family meaning (like [name]Natalia[/name], [name]Lou[/name], or [name]Geneva[/name]).
Anyway, I’m still tossing ideas around, trying to figure out what I want, but I’m just curious–if you needed to go by a pseudonym, what name would you choose?
I’m leaning toward [name]Lily[/name]/[name]Ella[/name]/[name]Clara[/name] [name]Abbott[/name], at the moment, but I’m sure that could change. The last time I thought I had it figured out, I would have been [name]Aislinn[/name] [name]Lily[/name] [name]Girard[/name] or [name]Aislinn[/name] [name]Rachel[/name] [name]Girard[/name]… What about you?
I love [name]Aislinn[/name] and [name]Clara[/name]!
I have no idea what pseudonym I would use, would depend on the genre. There are authors with full names that are very similar to mine (even if I used my MN), so I would probably use a more distinctive pseudonym, maybe [name]Catherine[/name] [my surname] because my mn is derived from [name]Katherine[/name]. I would want it to be a name that would suit me in real life, but other than my real name I don’t know what would suit me. It would be really fun to think up a pseudonym, though!
I love the sound of [name]Aislinn[/name] [name]Lily[/name] [name]Girard[/name], sounds so classy!
To be honest I’ve never really thought about it but would be so interesting to call myself something else. As I have a very traditional name I’d want something more eye catching and quirky, but would obviously depend on the genre of my work. A while back I did begin looking into becoming a children’s author, and began mind mapping ideas and such but it never really took off with my busy work schedule.
[name]Ronnie[/name], [name]Frankie[/name] and [name]Pixie[/name] are my first ideas - the former has sentimental value, while I just love the last two names - [name]Pixie[/name] is massive GP of mine. [name]Ronnie[/name] would suit me and my personality, so maybe something like [name]Ronnie[/name] [name]Rose[/name] or [name]Ronnie[/name] [name]Francesca[/name]? I think the name I have would be forgotten easily so I’d want something that people would remember!
Oh, I just thought something like [name]Eliza[/name] would work for me too, much more youthful and fun sounding than the full [name]Elizabeth[/name].
[name]Clara[/name] [name]Abbott[/name] is great - very classy!
I’ve actually thought about this quite a bit, since I’m an aspiring author myself! I’d probably use a family surname - the most likely candidate would be Brink, my maternal grandma’s maiden name, since it’s the easiest to spell and pronounce. Since Brink is pretty simple, I’d probably pair it with a more dramatic and memorable first name, like one of the ones on my “husband rejected for actual children” list, haha. Some ideas that I’ve tossed around are [name]Anthea[/name] Brink, [name]Aurinda[/name] Brink, [name]Margaretta[/name] Brink and [name]Olympia[/name] Brink - haven’t yet settled on one though!
I really like Aislinn Lily and of your newest choices, I really like Clara Abbott.
I’ve been published a few times with my given name, nothing too big. When my novel is published, I just started thinking recently about using a Pseudonym. I go back and for between Dantea (dahn-tay-uh) or Anese (ah-ness). I’ve also toyed with [name]Glory[/name] [name]Kiona[/name] [name]Ryder[/name].
I haven’t gone much farther than that though, as I’m more concerned with finishing the rewrite of my novel. Getting there too! When I’m finished, then I’ll think seriously about it.
Unless you have a terribly compelling reason, your editor will not want you to use a pseudonym. [name]Just[/name] to let you know. Publishing is a business, not a name game.
I am going to respectfully disagree. [name]One[/name] of the main reasons for using a pseudonym is to keep yourself private for one reason or another. [name]One[/name] of my husbands favorite authors writes paranormal romance under her own name and historical fiction under a pseudonyms. My mom reads romance novels by a man written under a woman’s name because he thought it would be easier for people to read them if a woman wrote them. Those aren’t compelling reasons.
My editor, who is also a published poet and novelist (I can give you her name if you want to look her up, she’s quite good), is the one I’m getting my info from. I see you work in publishing so maybe different company’s have different policies. I’m not sure, just wanted to let you know what I’ve been told.
Again, I don’t mean to offend, just I’ve been told something different. Maybe you could elaborate on your companies policies or whatnot?
[name]Ash[/name]- I like [name]Lily[/name] [name]Abbott[/name]…[name]Aislinn[/name] is a really pretty name but it is easy to misprnounce…but I really like that too
So maybe [name]Aislinn[/name] [name]Lily[/name] Abbbott…I thinks its perfect!
[name]Molly[/name], thanks! The first pseudonym I had picked out was [name]Lily[/name] [name]Alcott[/name], but I had changed my mind since it was so close to [name]Louisa[/name] [name]May[/name] [name]Alcott[/name]. So I am quite partial to [name]Lily[/name] [name]Abbott[/name]–it has a similar vibe to me! Today I’m leaning toward [name]Eleanor[/name] or [name]Lillian[/name] something-or-other… although pretending to be an [name]Eleanor[/name] all day has resurrected all my life-long dreams of changing my name. I can truly imagine being an [name]Eleanor[/name] nn [name]Ella[/name] or a [name]Lillian[/name], nn [name]Lily[/name]! [name]Just[/name] when I had given up on that. Oh, dear.
miloowens - I haven’t gotten that far into the writing business to know anything about that, but when I’ve been published in magazines, they’ve asked if I wanted to go by my real name or a pseudonym, so I just figured I would always have that option. In case I will be able to use a pseudonym, I’d still like to have one picked out. [name]Even[/name] if I can’t, it’ll be fun to pick it out.
I prefer the idea of one of your shorter name ideas.
[name]Aurelie[/name], and Adalet might be a bit too obvious that it’s a pseudonym. [name]Genevieve[/name] is a bit more obvious too, but [name]Elora[/name]'s a bit more workable.
I like [name]Elora[/name], [name]Ella[/name], [name]Clara[/name] [name]Abbott[/name].
I like [name]Girard[/name] too! Is it said like [name]Gerard[/name]?
[name]Aislinn[/name] is a bit…eh. It’s too modern child like to me. I like [name]Ella[/name] [name]Girard[/name]!
Oh, that does make sense! Maybe I’ll go searching for something striking but believable next… I just don’t want anything too dated, and I love that [name]Aurelie[/name] and Adalet are obscure enough that I don’t think they’ll ever be dated to one time period, lol!
And yeah, [name]Girard[/name] is said like [name]Gerard[/name]. It’s the French spelling. Since French culture means so much to me, I thought it might be a nice nod, for my pseudonym to have some meaning. I keep going back and forth on options… I really like [name]Ella[/name], [name]Eleanor[/name], [name]Grace[/name], [name]Clara[/name], [name]Lily[/name], [name]Lillian[/name], [name]Hannah[/name], [name]Lily[/name], and [name]Annabel/name. I can really see myself as an [name]Annabel[/name]/[name]Annabelle[/name], a [name]Lillian[/name], or an [name]Eleanor[/name] lately. The LN is more up for grabs… I still really like [name]Girard[/name], and [name]Abbott[/name]. I’ve always loved St. [name]James[/name], too, so that might be an option, as well. And I love [name]Eleanor[/name] [name]Gray[/name]… I’ll have to keep playing with it.
[name]Aurelie[/name] and Adalet do not have that dated feel, you’re right!
I like that nod to French culture.
[name]Eleanor[/name] [name]Gray[/name] is great! I would buy a book by an [name]Eleanor[/name] [name]Gray[/name]! St. [name]James[/name] is a great idea as well. I’ve always like the sound of [name]Sinclair[/name], and St.[name]James[/name] is like that but more grounded/realist.
[name]Annabel[/name] [name]Girard[/name], or [name]Annabel[/name] St. [name]James[/name] are great. I like [name]Lillian[/name] St. [name]James[/name] as well. You’ve got some great options, it’s had for me to stick to one idea. lol
@tressa - lol, I did not know that! Thanks for the heads-up. [name]Lily[/name] St. [name]James[/name] doesn’t seem quite right to me, anyway, though, so I think we’re okay.
@east93 - I know, haha! Too many options. There were too many options last time, and I have even more options now! [name]Rachel[/name] and [name]Aislinn[/name] are other options… ugh. I think I’m going to continue this in that PM coming your way in a few minutes.
Haha, me too! The only difference is that I’m planning on changing my name regardless - but thinking about how a name will look/sound in that particular industry is a big part of it. At the moment, I’m leaning towards [name]Meredith[/name] __________.
I do really like [name]Lily[/name]/[name]Ella[/name]/[name]Clara[/name] [name]Abbott[/name]!
I plan on writing for both children and adults. I will probably keep my real name for the adult books and a pseudonym for the childrens. I haven’t settled on a last name yet, but the first name is a word, sort of along the same lines of Lemony Snicket.
I had been planning to use [name]Molly[/name] Chambers as my pseudonym if I ever needed one - Chambers is a family surname, and [name]Molly[/name] is a contraction of the name of the street my mum grew up on. I always planned to have significance in any pseudonym I used, and this one seemed perfect to me. Until, of course, I discovered the Kings of [name]Leon[/name] song [name]Molly[/name]'s Chambers, which pretty much rendered my name unusable. Now I’m probably going to use [name]Craig[/name] as a surname, because it’s what I’d have been called if I was a boy. [name]Haven[/name]'t got a first name for it yet though, I want something that’s not too obviously a pseudonym but will stand out, and also has meaning to it. [name]Sophie[/name] [name]Craig[/name] could work as is, but I think if I’m changing my name I want to go the whole hog.
