Writer Berry looking for a pen name

[name]Hi[/name] there, berries -

I’ve posted this in the Writing section but got no responses, so I thought I’d move this here. You’ve all been so helpful in the past, so I thought I’d enlist your help in this unique request. I’m a budding author, and I love to write, and my goal is to one day write a book that wins some sort of honor or medal. However, I hate my name. My parents decided to be “progressive,” so I have a hyphenated last name, which is entirely cumbersome. It’s mostly unpronounceable, and it starts with Sh.

My first name is [name]Bailey[/name], which is okay, but I want it to be clear that I’m a girl. And my middle name is [name]Suzanna[/name], if anyone cares. I’ve been using [name]Bailey[/name] Suze as my whole name for a while now, and while I like it, I think I want something a bit more exotic as my pen name.

My genre is young-adult-fiction, but not like [name]Suzanne[/name] [name]Collins[/name]. More like [name]John[/name] [name]Green[/name]. (HUGE [name]John[/name] [name]Green[/name] fan right here. Anyone?) I want something clearly feminine, and something you’ll remember. [name]One[/name] of my biggest pet peeves is when people add a lot of gratuitous ys to their names, so you get pen names like my friend’s, [name]Onyx[/name] Safyre, which is fine, but for whatever reason that just really bothers me.

Right now I’m really liking the idea of an A name, so:
[name]Anna[/name]
[name]Aria[/name]
[name]Avalon[/name]
[name]Antoinette[/name] (I keep coming back to [name]Antoinette[/name]. [name]Do[/name] you guys like it?)
[name]Aliza[/name] (it’s a family name)

Some other things that inspire my writing are music and colors, so maybe some sort of something based on that?

As for a last name, I’ve been using [name]Fabian[/name] as a placeholder, but I’m very much open to suggestions. Something that sounds like a name, but doesn’t have to be too common. I’ve also been considering [name]Sparrow[/name], [name]Day[/name], and Marks, which is a family name.

Thanks!

Which music, colors etc inspire you with your writing? It might be best to start there…For example you might like [name]Mozart[/name], so perhaps choose names that reflect that (classical: [name]Lydia[/name] or maybe his Austrian heritage: [name]Ada[/name]). Or is there a particular meaning you like that reflects your writing, or the themes you want to write about? For e.g hope-[name]Asha[/name].

Anyhoo here is some suggestions:

First Names:

Starting with A-

[name]Aveline[/name]
[name]Agatha[/name]
[name]Andrea[/name]
[name]Annora[/name]
[name]Audrey[/name]

(I like all the ‘A’ names you have pondered so far. If you keep on coming back to [name]Antoinette[/name]. it might be the one?)

[name]John[/name] [name]Green[/name] esque (inspired by his character’s names)-

[name]Albany[/name]
[name]Katherine[/name]
[name]Margot[/name]
[name]Fleur[/name]
[name]Charlotte[/name]
[name]Iris[/name]
[name]Evelyn[/name]

Last Names-

[name]Adair[/name] (maybe some alliteration, it could make your pen name more recognizable?)
Beattie
[name]Beck[/name]
Devereux
Caulfield

[name]Hope[/name] that helped!

I think you are making a good point about not wanting a pen name with lost of gratuitous y’s in it. Especially if you want to be a professional writer and hope to start a career under that name. I would probably look for a name that is memorable but yet popular name.

I’d take into consideration the type of fiction you want to write. Think about the names of people who are already successful in that business and use them as a guidepost. Since you really love [name]John[/name] [name]Green[/name] maybe choose a last-name that is close in the alphabet. Something that should you get published will put your books close to his in a bookstore -> I don’t know about others but I tend to find my favorite authors in the bookstore and peruse the books around them when i’m too early for an appointment.

I really like [name]Anna[/name] [name]Fabian[/name] or [name]Aria[/name] Marks from your list.

FN:
[name]Aurora[/name], [name]Aurelia[/name], [name]Alexandra[/name], [name]Alexa[/name], Anedra, [name]Amanda[/name], [name]Amelie[/name], [name]Adelaide[/name], [name]Addison[/name], ect.

LN:
[name]Thatcher[/name], [name]Anderson[/name], [name]Hollis[/name], [name]Errol[/name], [name]Earhart[/name] (just don’t pair this with an A name), [name]Havelock[/name], [name]Webster[/name], [name]Addison[/name]

The first thing that came to mind for me was a name reversal to [name]Suzanna[/name] [name]Bailey[/name]. Very classy, and I guess I realized through reading your post that I like for a pen name to have some traces of the original name…

I like [name]Anna[/name] [name]Bailey[/name] too as it is very similar. I also like the idea of [name]Zanne[/name]. [name]Zanne[/name] [name]Bailey[/name] or [name]Zanne[/name] Marks or [name]Zanne[/name] [name]Sparrow[/name]. [name]Sparrow[/name] got my eye…I agree with you that there is something about [name]Antoinette[/name] in general and specifically it gives off an established vibe if you will, as if you have already won medals :wink: I would thinking about [name]Antoinette[/name] Marks OR [name]Antoinette[/name] [name]Bay[/name] instead of [name]Day[/name], bc it is a nod to [name]Bailey[/name].
This also leads me to two more that ring out for me [name]Aliza[/name] Marks (two family names although your fn would not ever be spelled right)…and then for the genre you’re in, I think [name]Suzy[/name] [name]Sparrow[/name] has a fun, true zing. Good luck!

I like [name]Antoinette[/name] and think you should use it. I love kids’ books and have written some myself, and this seems to me to work for that world. It is memorable, imaginative, and evocative – all good qualities in a children’s writer. I like [name]Antoinette[/name] [name]Bay[/name] a great deal. I love [name]Bay[/name] as a middle or last name, and here it suggests a place (as would [name]Forest[/name], [name]River[/name], Mount, Mer, or [name]Lake[/name]) we would like to locate on the map of our imaginations. It is sunset on [name]Antoinette[/name] [name]Bay[/name], and some lights are flitting on the bank. Is that a castle – or a ruin – I spot through the darkening trees? What will happen on [name]Antoinette[/name] [name]Bay[/name]?

You could add something with S. (standing for [name]Suzanna[/name]) or B.

[name]Addison[/name] S. [name]Lane[/name]
[name]Addison[/name] B. [name]Wolfe[/name]
[name]Anna[/name] B. [name]Weston[/name]
[name]Alice[/name] B. [name]Pruitt[/name]
[name]Annabel[/name] S. [name]Jenson[/name]

The first thing that came to mind after reading your post was [name]Anna[/name] [name]Bailey[/name], which I saw was already suggested. I whole-heartedly agree with it, both because of your current preference for A names, and also because I think it’s nice to tying in your real name. When you become a huge best-seller you’ll be able to easily explain where your pen name came from, and as opposed to saying “well I just liked the sound of it” you can confidently tell the world that your writing “truly emerged from part of yourself” or something similarly romantic. Another suggestion in the same vein would be [name]Anna[/name] [name]Bay[/name]- short, sweet, and memorable. Though either one puts you at the front of the alphabet and the top of every summer reading list. Good luck! =]