{"id":11095,"date":"2018-05-08T01:00:26","date_gmt":"2018-05-08T01:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/?p=11095"},"modified":"2021-06-29T14:45:07","modified_gmt":"2021-06-29T14:45:07","slug":"e28-how-to-choose-a-pen-name","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/e28-how-to-choose-a-pen-name\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Choose a Pen Name"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"podcast-box\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none;\" src=\"\/\/html5-player.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/6552007\/height\/90\/theme\/custom\/autoplay\/no\/autonext\/no\/thumbnail\/yes\/preload\/no\/no_addthis\/no\/direction\/backward\/render-playlist\/no\/custom-color\/204a83\/\" width=\"100%\" height=\"90\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><a href=\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/itunes\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10134\" src=\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Subscribe-to-Book-Marketing-Show-Podcast-on-iTunes.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"45\"><\/a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/GooglePlay\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10133\" src=\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Subscribe-to-Book-Marketing-Podcast-on-Google-Play.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"45\"><\/a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/stitcher\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10132\" src=\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Subscribe-to-Book-Marketing-Show-Podcast-on-Stitcher.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"45\"><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Many authors choose to write under pen names for a variety of reasons, such as separating their personal and professional lives, not wanting to be associated with the genre or work, the URL for the author\u2019s name is already taken, or to avoid confusion with someone else\u2019s name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some authors pick a pen name in order to fit in better with the genre they\u2019re writing in, if their original name doesn\u2019t sound like it would fit as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\r\n<section class=\"standard-cta testimonial\" id=\"cta-block_60a2afd218233\">\r\n    <div class=\"cta-inner row\">\r\n                    <div class=\"cta-media col-md-4\">\r\n                                    <div class=\"cta-media-inner\">\r\n                    \r\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/click\/rocket-in-content\" alt=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\">                        \r\n                                                    <i class=\"fa fa-play\"><\/i>\r\n                        \r\n                                                    <div class=\"img-overlay\"><\/div>\r\n                        \r\n                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/PR_Competition-Feature-e1621274721682.png\" alt=\"Publisher Rocket Amazon Dashboard\" height=\"232\" width=\"400\">\r\n                        \r\n                        <\/a>                    <\/div>\r\n                            <\/div>\r\n        \r\n        <div class=\"cta-body col-md-8\" style=\"text-align:center;\">  \r\n                            <a class=\"cta-heading\" href=\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/click\/rocket-in-content\" alt=\"\">\r\n                            <h3>Book Marketing Made Simple<\/h3>\r\n                            <\/a>\r\n                        \r\n            <p>Over 47,000+ authors, NYT bestsellers, and publishing companies use Publisher Rocket to gain key insight to the market.\u00a0<b>Help your book now<\/b><\/p>\n                    <\/div>\r\n\r\n            <\/div>\r\n<\/section>\r\n\r\n\n\n\n<p>Some examples of famous authors who choose pen names include Stan Lee, George Orwell, J.K. Rowling, and even when Stephen King wrote a book under the pen name Richard Bachman to see if he could still make the New York Times Bestseller list under a pseudonym. He also used the name in order to skirt around his publisher\u2019s idea that an author should only release one book per year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-5-steps-to-picking-a-pen-name\">5 Steps to Picking a Pen Name<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There are five things to think about when deciding to use a pen name:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>The age of the author \u2014 Consider the age the readers would ideally like the author to be. If the author has a young sounding name, but is writing on a serious topic, picking a pen name from an older generation may help provide credibility<\/li><li>It fits the niche better \u2014 Consider how the name will look on the cover of the book.<\/li><li>The website domain available \u2014 Check a site like GoDaddy to make sure the domain is available for the name to put up an <a href=\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/amazon-author-central-page\/\">author page<\/a>.<\/li><li>It\u2019s easier to remember or spell \u2014 We talked in a previous episode about how readers need more than one reminder if you want them to act on anything. If the author\u2019s name is difficult to remember, it might be harder for them to search for the name or recall it at a later time.<\/li><li>Your original name is close or can be associated with another name \u2014 If the author\u2019s original name is close to or the same as a celebrity\u2019s or a well-known person, keeping that name may cause confusion with the reader and may even make that person angry. When you pick a pen name, make sure to search for anyone else with that name using a search engine, as well.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>When searching for a pen name, as mentioned above, you should consider that pen name\u2019s age. Check the popular names of the year the author\u2019s pen name would have been born in for common names of the time period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can also choose two first names from the baby name registry from the year they were born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another tool you can use is one of the many pen name generators. These are also available for different genres of books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When choosing a pen name, ask yourself three important questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>What will the name look like on the <a href=\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/book-cover-design\/\">book cover<\/a>?<\/li><li>What will the name sound like on the lips of readers?<\/li><li>Does it represent the type of story the buyer will want to read?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-resources-referred-to-in-this-episode\">Resources Referred to in this Episode:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.godaddy.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">GoDaddy.com<\/a><\/li><li>Book Marketing Show <a href=\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/14-listing-previous-books-sales-steve-scott\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Listing Previous Books for More Sales with Steve Scott<\/a><\/li><li>Kindlepreneur <a href=\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/how-to-choose-a-pen-name\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">How to Choose a Pen Name<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are a number of reasons to use a pen name for your writing, including anonymity, separating an author\u2019s personal and professional worlds, choosing something easier to pronounce, protection, or as a marketing technique.<br \/>\nWhen an author plans to pick a pen name, consider creating the author name with the reader&#8217;s perceptions and their ability to remember it in mind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":16919,"parent":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3887,31],"tags":[3878],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.9 (Yoast SEO v22.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Book Marketing Show: How to Choose a Pen Name<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Choosing the perfect pen name can be tricky. Learn how to choose a pen name in this Book Marketing Show episode.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/e28-how-to-choose-a-pen-name\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Choose a Pen Name\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Choosing the perfect pen name can be tricky. Learn how to choose a pen name in this Book Marketing Show episode.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/e28-how-to-choose-a-pen-name\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Kindlepreneur\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/kindlepreneur\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-06-29T14:45:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Podcast-28-01.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2917\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1525\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@DaveChesson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/e28-how-to-choose-a-pen-name\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/e28-how-to-choose-a-pen-name\/\",\"name\":\"Book Marketing Show: How to Choose a Pen Name\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/e28-how-to-choose-a-pen-name\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/e28-how-to-choose-a-pen-name\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Podcast-28-01.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-05-08T01:00:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-06-29T14:45:07+00:00\",\"description\":\"Choosing the perfect pen name can be tricky. Learn how to choose a pen name in this Book Marketing Show episode.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/e28-how-to-choose-a-pen-name\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/e28-how-to-choose-a-pen-name\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/e28-how-to-choose-a-pen-name\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Podcast-28-01.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Podcast-28-01.png\",\"width\":2917,\"height\":1525},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/e28-how-to-choose-a-pen-name\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Podcast\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/podcast\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Book Publishing\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/book-publishing\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"How to Choose a Pen Name\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/\",\"name\":\"Kindlepreneur\",\"description\":\"Book Marketing for Self-Publishing Authors\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Kindlepreneur\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/kindlepreneur_logo_white-copy.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/kindlepreneur_logo_white-copy.png\",\"width\":330,\"height\":61,\"caption\":\"Kindlepreneur\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/kindlepreneur\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/DaveChesson\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Book Marketing Show: How to Choose a Pen Name","description":"Choosing the perfect pen name can be tricky. Learn how to choose a pen name in this Book Marketing Show episode.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/e28-how-to-choose-a-pen-name\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Choose a Pen Name","og_description":"Choosing the perfect pen name can be tricky. Learn how to choose a pen name in this Book Marketing Show episode.","og_url":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/e28-how-to-choose-a-pen-name\/","og_site_name":"Kindlepreneur","article_publisher":"http:\/\/facebook.com\/kindlepreneur","article_modified_time":"2021-06-29T14:45:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2917,"height":1525,"url":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Podcast-28-01.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@DaveChesson","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/e28-how-to-choose-a-pen-name\/","url":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/e28-how-to-choose-a-pen-name\/","name":"Book Marketing Show: How to Choose a Pen Name","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/e28-how-to-choose-a-pen-name\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/e28-how-to-choose-a-pen-name\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Podcast-28-01.png","datePublished":"2018-05-08T01:00:26+00:00","dateModified":"2021-06-29T14:45:07+00:00","description":"Choosing the perfect pen name can be tricky. Learn how to choose a pen name in this Book Marketing Show episode.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/e28-how-to-choose-a-pen-name\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/e28-how-to-choose-a-pen-name\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/e28-how-to-choose-a-pen-name\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Podcast-28-01.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Podcast-28-01.png","width":2917,"height":1525},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/e28-how-to-choose-a-pen-name\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Podcast","item":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/podcast"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Book Publishing","item":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/book-publishing"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"How to Choose a Pen Name"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/","name":"Kindlepreneur","description":"Book Marketing for Self-Publishing Authors","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/#organization","name":"Kindlepreneur","url":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/kindlepreneur_logo_white-copy.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/kindlepreneur_logo_white-copy.png","width":330,"height":61,"caption":"Kindlepreneur"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/facebook.com\/kindlepreneur","https:\/\/x.com\/DaveChesson"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast\/11095"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/podcast"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11095"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast\/11095\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20817,"href":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast\/11095\/revisions\/20817"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}