Thoughts on a pen name appreciated

[Anne in CA]

So, I have almost finished editing a young adult book. I am hoping to self publish it to Kindle soon. It still needs cover art and copy editing.

 

DH thinks my pen name should be my full maiden name.

 

He has several reasons for this. One, our last name is the last name of the step father he had in high school who he loved and looked up to very much but who ended up cheating on his mother and trying to destroy his mother. So, dh doesn't want to give his last name credit for a real accomplishment. Which I get. DH never changed his last name back to his father's because it is a goofy name that got him teased a lot as a kid anyway, and for many years he and his dad had a bad relationship. They don't now, but dh is not sentimentally attached to that last name. Also, the headache of changing the last name seemed daunting to dh when he was younger and now it is just too late.

 

Also, my maiden name is extremely distinctive. There is not another person with my first and last name in the US although there are several similar names in Poland, but even then probably not exactly mine. My mother was a flower child, what can I say. DH thinks is would make me stand out and I can't disagree with him. Anne is my nickname so people don't have to deal with my unusual first name.

 

I don't know if it matters but there is a TV vixen with Anne and my original last name, so maybe people googling her would help my sales if I went with Anne??? I'm not sure.

 

I haven't had my maiden name for 25 years and that doesn't seem like me anymore, KWIM? It just seems weird to do that, like going backward in time.

 

Also, there is an author who is Anne and my current last name. Not a best selling author, but she has a whole shelf at the library, so she is not insignificant either.

 

Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[hornblower]

My advice is to pick something easy to pronounce, easy to spell and that you can get the URL for. 

Since it's YA, pick something that resonates with the below 25 crowd. Scan the current YA top  lists for a sense of what the names sound like & consider whether initials might be better. Initials do give the advantage of not disclosing your gender & that can give you more readers. 

 

[Guest]

I wouldn't go with the name that already has a well-published author attached to it (anne current last name)

 

Outside of that, do whatever you like! Tbh it's a bit much for your husband to not want you to use your name as it is now because it's an "accomplishment" to write a book. The name is being "vindicated" if anything. You guys and presumably your kids already have this name.

 

You could always make something up from scratch.

[Anne in CA]

I would not be adverse to making something up from scratch, but it is a good point that the kids have our last name and it might be nice for them to point to it later.

[Guest]

I would use your maiden name and the "flower child" name if it is distinctive and easily remembered and spelled. Good luck with the book!

[bolt.]

People will hesitate to talk about an author if they can't pronounce her name. I'd consider a complete pseudonym and leave the family history out of it.

 

Would your first name do as a last name?

[cjzimmer1]

I've never written anything but to me there is only two reasons why I would consider using a pen name.  1) I don't what people in my real life to know I wrote something. Could be any reason why but just that I didn't want it to be well known.  2) I had some crazy name.  For instance if last name was Doufus.  Yeah, pick another name.  Otherwise I would just use my regular name.  Why complicate things?  In your case using your first name and current last name sounds fine, unless #2 applies to your first name and then I would probably use initials and current last name like suggested above since using nickname and last name is already "taken" so to speak.

[almondbutterandjelly]

How about 

First Initial   Middle Initial  Maiden Name

 

I'm thinking how J.K. Rowling is so popular.  I like that kind of pattern for a pen name.

[Guest]

Congratulations!  (This is not what I am suggesting for your pen name...just *Congratulations*!)

 

:0)  

 

I have no meaningful advice to give, however.

 

[Anne in CA]

Thanks for the good thoughts. I don't want to over think this, but I want it to be right. I do think that maiden name plus original name is not a bad idea, dh likes it because no one else will have that name, it will be extremely distinctive. I just want to live in the now, however, so that's why I'm torn. I can't use the ordinary name I go by, because, as I said, another author has it. I can't use Anne maiden name, without getting mixed up with another person who has a very real fan base. Sooo, I'm still thinking. Initials would be weird too, because mine don't have a good "flow".

[Kalmia]

Anne means Grace in Hebrew. You could use Grace Maiden name.

[Happy]

In the spirit of not over thinking...

 

Once upon a time back in my writing days, I heard a speaker tell a group of romance gals how to pick a pen name. Choose a variation of your middle name as the first name...then for the last name--pick a street where you grew up. ;) I don't think you'd want to use Main as a last name, but...Springs or Park or Meadow might morph into a respectable name.

 

I actually came out of the fun little workshop with a couple of pen names....in one case I used my kiddoes' middle names as jumping off places. One published author I know uses her husband's name as her pen name last name because their true name is quite ethic and loooonnnnnngggg.

[Misha]

I'm published under my name and a pen name. My pen name is just two easy to pronounce, easy to spell names that I liked. 

[Anne in CA]

Anne means Grace in Hebrew. You could use Grace Maiden name.

Since my mother made the combination of my real first name to mean, Graceful Helper of Mankind (I told you she was a flower child, she went to Oregon State in the 60's) that is a cool idea. I will think this over and see how it sounds tomorrow.

[Anne in CA]

In the spirit of not over thinking...

 

Once upon a time back in my writing days, I heard a speaker tell a group of romance gals how to pick a pen name. Choose a variation of your middle name as the first name...then for the last name--pick a street where you grew up. ;) I don't think you'd want to use Main as a last name, but...Springs or Park or Meadow might morph into a respectable name.

 

I actually came out of the fun little workshop with a couple of pen names....in one case I used my kiddoes' middle names as jumping off places. One published author I know uses her husband's name as her pen name last name because their true name is quite ethic and loooonnnnnngggg.

Well, I didn't live on a street as a child. I lived on a county road that was route 6. That is an funny thought, though.

[Guest]

Leigh Agate.

 

Leah Emerald.

 

Lee Fourteenth Avenue West.

 

:0)

 

I actually like a couple of these.

[ktgrok]

Honestly, without knowing what your maiden name is I can't say for sure. But if you want the experience of seeing your book with your current last name, I think you should do that, and your husband needs to get over it. I like the idea of saying it vindicates the name. 

 

Or, can you use your first name (either one) and then use your middle name as a last name? Or one of your first names as a last name?

[bolt.]

Anne means Grace in Hebrew. You could use Grace Maiden name.

No it doesn't.

 

I double checked, and it does have a linguistic history that links it to "Hannah" -- which does relate to the Hebrew word for grace... So there is a meaning tie of some form. But, no, in the Hebrew language the sylable 'anne' doesn't carry the meaning of 'grace'.

[Entropymama]

No advice, but when you publish, if you pm me the link I'll buy your book! Congrats!

[Melinda in VT]

My husband writes under a pen name. He used his same first name (very common) and a last name from back in his family history.

 

At first, he worried that the name wouldn't feel like him, but that feeling faded very quickly once he started using it.

 

I do recommend a last name that can't be traced to an address where you live, because people are crazy.

 

Also, pick a name that isn't a pain to write.

[Kareni]

Just a note about using initials.  I recently was trying to determine if my library has books by an author whose pen name begins with the initials K.J.  I found some of her books under K.J.; others were located under K. J. (with a space).  I was not able to locate all of her books without making an effort to find them.  This would make me leery of using initials.

 

Regards,

Kareni