Pen Names

The jury is still out on whether or not to use a pen name for your writing. The main question is: Do you want to lose the right to privacy?

If you choose to use your own name you risk becoming so well known that you might have to change your phone number so you won't get calls in the middle of the night, or you might be recognized and mobbed for autographs wherever you roam. Letters might arrive by the thousands, flooding your mailbox and requiring that you hire a secretary just to handle all your correspondence.

So you decide you might want a pen name. That way you can keep your privacy. But what happens when you're at a book signing and someone starts calling your assumed name and you ignore them? They'll think you're stuck up and start bad-mouthing you to all their friends. Then your best seller hits bottom and all the stock is returned from all the bookstores. No sales = no royalties = no more paydays. Then that fantastic seven-book deal with your publisher is cancelled and you have to return all the advance monies - that equals instant bankruptcy. All because you wanted to be a private, common person.

So, plan carefully as you work your way to being a published author. Of course you could turn out to be like me - published under part of my name and still unknown. So much for fame and fortune.