book

Choose. Then Use.

Posted on by Brenda Poulos

To choose, copyright, and use a pen name:

  1. Make sure you haven’t chosen another well-known person’s pen name. (I just read this week that even though it is ok to choose a pen name of a different gender, it is NOT acceptable to use one of a different ethnicity than your own.)
  1. Purchase URLs and social media handles for your pen name.
  1. Legally set up a business using your pen name. Most writers choose LLCs or sole proprietorships. Open new bank accounts in your pen name. 
  1. Apply for a Fictitious Business Name Statement (FBN Statement) if you plan to receive payments under your pen name. (Amazon will make payments to the account owner name of your KDP account, so if you’re only selling on Amazon, you may choose to skip this step).
  1. Inform your agent and publisher of your real name for contracts and tax purposes.
  1. Use your pen name on your book cover and copyright notice (like this: © 2021 [your pen name]).
  1. Register the copyright for your work under your real name and your pen name.

Next week: the conclusion of Using Pen Names.

More Information on Faking It

Posted on by Brenda Poulos

We are getting near our series on pseudonyms. We will end off the the one that is far and above the best, the Fake Name Generator.

It generates legitimate names, along with real addresses, phone numbers, and occupations. It lets you specify gender and culture.

And, if you didn’t find anything you liked in last week’s list, here are some more you can try: 

Masterpiece Pen Name Generator, Fantasy Name Generator, Reedsy’s Pen Name Generator. And, you can use the anagram tool to create a plethora of names out of the letters in your real name. 

Let’s try some names generated from my name, Brenda Poulos:

Paul Boone; Raul Bendos; Brad Enos; and Lupe DanBoor. (It took twenty minutes for me to come up with these on my own. And, not very good ones at that.) Trying the generator tools is faster, easier, and the names are much better!

Next week, we will learn how to properly copyright and use a pen name!

Are You a Fake?

Posted on by Brenda Poulos

Want to create a pen name, but don’t feel particularly creative?  

Check out these name generators: 

Reedsy’s Pen Name Generator

Fantasy Name Generator

Masterpiece Pen Name Generator 

Fake Name Generator (this one will create a fake address, phone number, occupation, credit card number, and even supporting persona backstory…)

And, if you really want to customize by creating a name with hidden meanings, try:

anagram tool

Igne’s Anagram Generator

These are lots of fun to play around with!

Look for my blog next week, when I share more fun facts about Pen Names!

Famous Pen Names and How to Choose Yours

Posted on by Brenda Poulos

  • Although authors can register copyrights for work created under a pen name, remember that this reduces the length of time the copyright will be active.
  • Using a pen name doesn’t protect you from lawsuits, taxes, or anything else.
  • You can acquire a trademark for a pen name. (But not your own real name!)
  • You can legally sign contracts using a pen name.
  • Don’t use another author’s pen name or real name.

Peruse this list of famous pen names: J.K. Rowling, Dr. Seus (this one is a registered trademark, also), Lee Child, Mark Twain, George Orwell, Lewis Carroll, and Lemony Snicket.

Choosing a Pen Name:

  • Choose the right age. One that appeals to your readers. You might use a list of baby names of your target year, or one or two years older.
  • Choose names that fit your vibe and genre. Amazon is a great place for ideas by looking for author names in your genre.
  • You’ll want to own the internet domain and social media handles for your pen name. Go to siteground to see if your choice is available. Be sure to check under both .com and .org.
  • Use a name that is easy to pronounce, spell, and remember.
  • Make sure the name you choose isn’t identical or similar to another writer’s.
  • Sign up for social media sites using the pen name, even if you don’t use them right away.
  • Choose a fake photo. How? Go to Generated.photos/faces. (You can choose age, gender, skin tone, eye and hair color, emotion). Note: The free versions cannot be used commercially.)

More next week…

Reasons, Reasons, and More Reasons

Posted on by Brenda Poulos

Reasons for Authors Using Pen Names Might Include:

  1. If the author’s real name is similar (or identical) to another well-known person, an author might want to change it so as not to be confused with the “other person.”

2) To keep their writing career separate from their “occupation.”

3)  To have a more memorable name.

4)  To make certain one has access to the URL and social media handles they want.

5)    If one’s real name is hard to pronounce or is easily misspelled.

6)   Writing under different names may help to avoid readers’ confusion if the authors writes in several different genres.

7) If they are writing about something controversial and fear reprisal.

8)  If their real name suggests something negative. (I remember being afraid of our family doctor when I was a child. His name was Dr. Slaughter!)

9) Just for fun!

“Faking” It

Posted on by Brenda Poulos

Last week, I said I would publish the titles of my most popular blogs from the last six years. However, I have been learning a lot about pen names in the past few days, so I have decided to share that with you instead. (I’ll get back to previous blogs at some point in the future, I assure you.)

I have long been thinking about writing in a different genre from Christian Fiction and when I heard that authors who decide to change genres often change the name under which they publish, I started to dig for information.

Most authors are already aware that a pen name is one which an author chooses to use in place of using their real name. Often called a nom de plume or pseudonym, the author’s real name is likely not known to the public.

For a host of reasons, authors may want to keep their real identity a secret. This is especially true when they want to write in a different genre than they normally do, targeting an entirely different audience. 

You may be interested to know that it is perfectly legal to use a pen name and there is no cost to do so. All major publishing houses allow the use of pen names. 

Something to consider:  If you are trying to keep your identity secret, you must remain incognito at events, festivals, conferences, in press releases, and so on. 

**Want to know more about Pen Names?  Next week’s blog post will delve deeper into the subject. 

Writing Opportunities

Posted on by Brenda Poulos

I am always looking for new writing avenues, so I Googled 2021 Writing Opportunities and came up with this short list of the most popular and “available” opportunities for authors: Movie and television scripts, grants, magazines (most popular: poetry, relationships, parenting, and personal stories.)

There is a breakdown in each of these categories on www.medium.com. I have no further information on this website except to say that it is fairly new and already has thousands of followers. You may want to check it out. 

**Next week’s blog post will be a list of the Top Twenty of my most-liked blogs from the past six years! I’m due for a walk down memory lane. How about you?

When Is An Author Like a Mosquito?

Posted on by Brenda Poulos

We’ve had more rain than usual this year in Arizona. And that means mosquitos.

So, I went online to see just how long these pesky critters might be hanging around—and making my life miserable. 

I googled Life Expectancy of the Mosquito. From what I read, it looked like they might be around for awhile.

But that got me thinking …

What is the life expectancy of an author? I’m not referring to the number of years they might live. Just how many years they will write… the total number of years they will practice the craft of writing?

I went to Google. I found information on how many books the average writer reads per year, how long it takes for the average writer to write a book, how much money the average writer makes per year, the average daily word count for an author—in other words, all kinds of information. But I didn’t find any information about how many years they write, on average.

So, I can only speculate that authors write as long as it is profitable for them, as long as they have interest in the craft, until they run out of ideas, as long as the circumstances of their lives don’t change and require their time to be spent differently.

Asking a few authors this question, most said one of these:

“As long as I can.”

“As long as people keep buying my books.”

“As long as I keep waking up each day with a fire within me that can only be quenched by writing.”

“Until I no longer enjoy writing.”

 As for me?

 Like the mosquito, I just may be hanging around for awhile.

You Say I Can’t Use Adverbs?

Posted on by Brenda Poulos

New authors are taught lots of rules. One of the most notorious—and most resisted—is NOT to use adverbs in our writing.

There are actually some situations where an adverb might be the best choice. When writing a back cover blurb or anything else that has limited space, adverbs may be preferred.

But, when they are used as a crutch instead of choosing a more specific phrase or showing emotion, they should be avoided.

Most adverbs end in -ly. Loudly, sadly, angrily. You get the picture.

Or, do you?

How about showing balled fists and clenched teeth, rather than using those -ly words?

Remember: a good book is like a movie shown with word pictures.

Painting WORD Pictures

Posted on by Brenda Poulos

En-route to the FICTION section in my local Barnes & Noble Bookstore, the cover of one of the children’s books displayed on a table caught my attention. The art work was breathtaking. I picked it up and flipped through page after page of mesmerizing illustrations. 

In my humble opinion, it is often the Illustrator (and not the author) that should be credited for the success of some of many of these so-called picture books.

I am not a Children’s Author. However, I have read many such books to my kindergartners over the years. And I realized as I stood in the bookstore that one of the things I liked most (and the students responded to) was the VISUAL.

But, writing FICTION, as I do, requires the ability to  paint the VISUAL of my stories with rich vocabulary… to use language to give readers that other dimension necessary for limitless enjoyment.

So when they browse the pages of my books, they too will be mesmerized with the VISUAL that only an author’s words can paint.