Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Q & A 36 Nom de Plume


If an author plans to publish under a nom de plume, should he use that name when contacting agents? If not, is there a conventional way to communicate to the agent that he does not wish to publish under his own name?

It's possible your agent will be sending you checks at some point. Unless you plan on framing them, you want them made out to someone your bank has heard of. You.

There are many reasons for publishing under a name other than your own.

1. Perhaps you have published several mysteries, and now you're trying your hand at a romance. You don't want readers buying your book expecting a mystery, and you don't want the fact that your romance tanks to drag your already successful career into the gutter.

2. Perhaps you don't want your grandma, shopping in Barnes and Noble, to happen upon your book featuring graphic sex, S & M, and a scene involving three men and a sheep.

3. Perhaps your name is Natty Bumppo Scilgelsteinometzger, and you want your readers to have an easier time requesting your book at the customer service desk. Or at least you want a name that will fit on the book cover.

Note that each of these motives comes into play after you've sold a book. Once you have a book sale, the conventional way to communicate to your agent that you wish to use a pen name is to tell him.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I second EE, and I'd like to add that using a pen name isn't like joining the witness protection program. Anyone who really wants to know who you are can find out. It's unlikely that your mother-in-law will go to that trouble, but you never know. Don't think of your nom de plume as a disguise; think of it as a marketing tool.

Anonymous said...

Hah. My gandma used to put notes in the covers of romance novels: "not so hot," "pretty good," "loved it," "v. good," "excellent," etc.

Let's just say, the kinkier and more explicit the sex, the higher the rating. Kinda makes you look at granny in a whole new light. Well, at least I know where I get it from. ;)

Anonymous said...

(Although upon further contemplation, she probably wouldn't have gone for that three men and a sheep thing.)

Anonymous said...

If my name were really Natty Bumppo Scilgelsteinometzge, I think I'd take measures well beyond a nom de plume.

Anonymous said...

Three men and a sheep?! Natty Bumppo Scilgelsteinometzger?! Oh My God. I just spewed wine all over my keyboard.

I heart Evil Editor.

Benja Fallenstein said...

Perhaps your name is Natty Bumppo Scilgelsteinometzger... and you were thinking of doing book signings.

Tawny Taylor said...

Good point Anonymous. You can't really hide behind your penname.

BTW, if you have a penname established before querying an agent, you could write something along the lines of, "I have ten books published under the pseudonym, Betty Romance..." Any agent you're querying would want to know that kind of info. They'd most likely take a little gander at your website and also read your reviews.

Anonymous said...

Three men and a sheep is actually a damned good movie; and if you watch it in the original French, it qualifies as art...

Anonymous said...

So, who is Lemony Snicket really, then? My daughters have been wondering for months now.

Anonymous said...

so what happens when the book becomes a minor hit and you have to do a worldwide tour to promote it?