(Repost)
Is it too late to be “anonymous”???
Yup, I killed the anonymous option a very long time ago.
When I started this blog years ago, it was ONLY to participate in the WordPress Writing 101 course.
I didn’t know anything about the world of blogging but I FELL IN LOVE with the exchanges with fellow writers and the creative writing itself reignited my love for what I had buried six feet under for almost 2 decades due to OPOs (Other People’s Opinions).
But I’m still here, still writing and still wanting to publish the stories rolling around in my head if I can get over my procrastination due to..fear?
Yeah, I said it but I digress…
In looking around at other indie authors, I realize that lots of them use pen names or initials as part of their published names.
Maybe it’s because these internet streets can get crazy weird and keeping your true identity anonymous is the smart thing to do.
Maybe it’s because an author can reinvent themselves and pick a name that’s crazy sexy and cool (I like that idea).
Or maybe it’s because lots of female authors use initials to have more street credibility, like JK Rowling and many others.
So…
I’m thinking that even though YOU already know who I am, maybe I’ll still follow suit with a different name or initials when I actually do publish something.
But it will likely be difficult to choose something that rolls off my tongue or that I really, really like.
Do you have a pen name? And if so, how did you choose it?
Bisous,
M
Marquessa 
I’m still working on the pen name that I want to stick with. I have a name that is pretty similar to a NYT bestseller, and the dot com domain name for it isn’t available. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I ran into someone who has the same name I’ve been using on my blog, and who ALSO is a successful author. **grumble.** So, back to the drawing board.
So far, what’s been working for me is the idea of branding my blog as if it were a small magazine, at least until I come up with THE pen name. I get to build a presence, but I’m not tied to a name that might not work out. (Plus, if I wind up using more than one pen name, the website will work for all of them.)
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Whoa! What are the odds that the pen names you want are already being used??? I’m leaninh towards initials based on my name but what combination? I like your idea of the magazine though. Quite cool!
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So, I used K E because I was tired of people misspelling my first name. I wanted to make it easier for the people lol
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Well, your decision but you ahead of the game with the initials! 🙂
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I have a unique pen name.🤓
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…that you will keep a secret because, of course, it is a pen name 😁
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I wonder how long I should keep it a secret!😌😁
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🙂
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Some time ago I was discussing a wine label produced by a friend of mine and couldn’t get my head around where the branding of this particular line came from. “Oh,” a mutual friend informed me, “that’s his porn name. Everybody knows that.”
I really wasn’t ready to understand why he actually needed a ‘porn name’ (I’m still not) or why it was that I was the last to know, but I was reliably informed that a ‘porn name’ is derived from the name of your first pet and the street that you were born in.
I was born on Richmond Road and spent the first 10 years of my life with a ginger feline that my father referred to (in numerous letters to me) as ‘that fat cat, Brutus’.
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So that’s where your name comes from? What’s even more interesting is that you decided to use your porn name. 😁😂
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Yes, well …. I’d just as soon that you didn’t focus too much on that. I’m not the most talented guy on the planet, in any respect, but being brutally honest about any talents that I may have, I think I can say, without any risk of contradiction, that I have absolutely no future as a porn star.
But I did love my old fat cat.
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🤣😃🤣
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Very interesting post there. Of course, I’m an artist with multiple disciplines in recording, fiction, and reviewing. My fiction name involves initials and I’m a guy. Certainly worked for J. R. R. Tolkien and W. E. B. DuBois, am I right? Of course, being anonymous is really hard with the lack of privacy in this digital age. If you copyright under a pen name that doesn’t sound like your real name, you still have to put your real name on the registration and it’s on the record, so even that’s tough. I do hope you publish something though.
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Very true about your government name still being accessible and in this day and age, anyone with internet skills can find anyone.
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Exactly. Not just with copyright receipts, but with other places which can be crazy. Even certain places of employment will put the names (sometimes pictures) of the employees, too.
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Pictures? Yikes!
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Granted, not all businesses, but I’ve seen it with different institutions like when I was job hunting for example.
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It is not too late to becoming anonymous xD
Granted you can’t change your website address.. or can you now?
But honestly, i dont think it matters so much.. a pen name that is. For privacy.. yes.. But since your instagram is private, I dont think there is any other site apart from your blog, that people actually know you/ can know you!
My pen name came out because my name means Dream.. and well I write xD
So it was a no brainer and very on top of my head!
But i did google tdg and found out that there is another account.. just dream girl writes… so the only thing separating me is the The xD
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