Dear O'Abby: Should I use a pen name?

Dear O'Abby,

I'm getting ready to start querying my novel, and I was wondering if I should use a pen name.  I'm a pretty private person, and while I don't have anything in particular to hide, I can't help feeling that I'd feel safer and happier about putting my work out there under a different name.

Do you have any advice?

Yours,

Nameless

Dear Nameless,

There are any number of reasons why someone might choose to use a pen name and protecting your privacy is as good a reason as any other.  I mean, you probably don't want Janet in accounts knowing that steamy romance she's been reading in the break room was written by yours truly, right?

Or maybe you're writing police procedurals and your main character is pretty scathing about the inefficiencies and injustices she sees daily in her own department.  And your day job just happens to be as a cop.  Probably don't want your boss to know you're airing the department's dirty laundry to the reading public.

Or perhaps you've been writing non-fiction for years and are something of an expert in your field.  But this is fiction and written to appeal to a completely different audience than the non-fiction you're known for.  By all means, use a pseudonym.

I use one myself because I write primarily YA, but I do, on occasion, write and publish other genres, including (once or twice) erotica.  I don't want my YA readers to accidentally stumble on one of those saucy zombie sex romps, so when writing that type of stuff, I publish it under a pen name.

So yes.  Use a pseudonym if it makes you more comfortable.

Just remember there are downsides too.

One you're published, promoting your book becomes that much harder if you're using a nom de plume.  You can't reach out easily to the people you already know and ask them to help with the promotion.  You can't use your already existing social media networks.  You can't easily organize in-person events (although, in this new COVID-19 world, the concept of in-person events feels somewhat far-fetched).

So think hard about going down this route.  If you've been carefully cultivating a social media following or engaging thoughtfully with the reading and writing communities throughout your writing journey, choosing to use a pen name now may lose you all the ground you've built.  You'll be starting a brand from scratch.

If you are an expert on a subject, or have real-life experience in the area you're writing about (for example, the cop mentioned above), by using a pen name, you're losing the ability to use that real-life experience as part of your pitch as to why people will want to read this book.  People value authenticity, and being able to say in your author bio that you've spent 25 years working in a specific city's police department gives cachet to whatever you're writing about police procedure and practice.  But if that city's police department has no record of someone by that name working there, you could be called a fraud by claiming that bio.

There is also the legal aspect to think about.  When you publish, do you want the copyright record to be under your legal name or the pen name?  At the querying stage, you will want to let the agent know both your pen name and your legal name as all contracting and payment will need to be to the legal name.

My advice would be to think carefully about your reasons for wanting to use a pen name.  If they are more compelling than any of the potential downsides, then go ahead.  If not, I would seriously consider using your real name.  It's just so much easier!

X O'Abby