I'm Writing A Book

[CanWeJust]

... and I'm quite embarrassed to tell anyone so I'm thinking of self publishing in a pen name, rather than my RL name. Does anyone know of any drawbacks to this? (Mainly copyright etc?)

I'd publish in my own name but it contains sex scenes that I'm not sure I want friends / family reading

[MrsFionaCharming]

I’m definitely thinking of doing this too.

Interested to see answers.

[Humpsfor20yards]

I am using a pen-name - the publisher recommended it, because my real name is a bit...I dunno...not right. :)

Haven't seen any downsides yet, only its a pita to start twitter/FB all over again and to run many accounts simultaneously.

Are you thinking of self-publishing as a first option? It's quite hard to market your own book.

[aromo]

I'm in process of setting up an online community for those who enjoy writing as a hobby. There will be a section of resources and helps, covering this issue amongst others. In the meantime, you may find this link helpful: Amazon Self-Publishing in Print & via Kindle

[faithinthesound]

I have something of a unique situation which I won't go into here - suffice to say I'd like to publish under the name I go by, which is what 95% of my friends and acquaintances call me - and not my legal name, which is what my family still calls me.

Not sure how I'll explain it but also not willing to compromise lol.

[CanWeJust]

I suppose my biggest worry is publishing under a pen name and having issues with copyright and being unable to prove I am the author, as it's a pen name on the content and not my real name? Has anyone faced issues like this without a publisher behind them? Do people who self publish under pen names still have similar rights?

@aromo I'd be happy to join this community. I write as a hobby which means when I'm not working and when DS is in bed I can normally found with my laptop typing away

@Humpsfor20yards I'm self publishing as a way to see the feedback my book gathers. It's a sort of 0.5 of my main novel, which I would hope to put forward to publishers if 0.5 goes well and if I feel the content is well perceived, if that makes sense?

[Humpsfor20yards]

I can't help thinking its a non-issue, but I suppose that doesn't help much!

Would you consider joining the society of authors? Apparently they offer good legal/contract/payment advice.

[BurningTheToast]

CanWeJust - I'm not an expert on contract law (I'm thinking of first rights etc) but publishers might not be as interested in a book that's already been self-published as a draft. The authors who've moved from self-publishing to trad and had their book reissued under the new publishers aegis have generally been selling very well under their own steam. I would be wary of putting anything out there that's not as polished as you can possibly make it, hiring a professional freelance editor if necessary.

[BabloHoney]

I don’t know about book publishing as such but I know about music publishing.. it’s very common for artists and song writers to not use their real names but aliases are linked so collection societies should know who you are. It’s rarely a problem. Are you looking for a publisher or are you self publishing?

To be safe.. before you publish, print a copy of the book and mail it to yourself postmarked, dated and signed for. You’ll always have an original sealed copy you can prove was dated from before it was published.

[Zazzyb]

CanWeJust wouldn't qualify to join the Society of Authors at this stage.

How you deal with the finance issue depends on how you're self-publishing- using Amazon you'll be able to arrange it so payments for your book under the pseudonym are paid to your real name account.

It doesn't matter whether you use a pseudonym or not, you still have the same rights, it's your copyright- unless you sign it away forever.

Humpsfor20yards- If it's part of a bigger novel that you intend to submit to publishers then get on with that. Unless you have the time to put into marketing your 0.5, the sales/reviews are going to be limited, and you'd still need that part edited, and to get a good cover design.

Useful organisation is Alli (Alliance of Independent Authors) selfpublishingadvice.org/about/