I personally like just "Rose Williams", Azlyn. It sounds nice just like that.

I like the name Rose Williams, also. I also like 'P. Rose' because initials coming first doesn't happen a lot, unless you go by your middle name (Same here, I'm A. Andrew Joyce)

Andrew

I've thought of having more than one pen name. Twyla E. Brooks is the name I came up for as I was writing a historical novel. I think if I'm writing fantasy, suspense, mystery, ect. T.E. Brooks sounds better.

It's actual not uncommon for a writer to have separate names for the genres they write, I found.

What do you guys think?

~Calen

I think a single name is a better strategy. At least for newbies to publishing.

Ive noticed that some people have pen names, and others do not. I guess I don't understand why you could have a pen name? I have thought about one just because I thought It would be fun, but do or don't?

Whats your thoughts on pen names?
Do you think I should use one?

I know some people have pen names to keep their real names more private for protection/crowd control. I personally chose to use my real name instead of a pen name. If I ever get married, however, I will not be changing my author name. My author name will stay the same and my real last name will change.

I personally use my first name and half (for the flow of it, haha) of my middle name for my pen name. That way, if I do get married, I won't have an 'inaccurate' last name. XD I dunno, I think pen names really come down to preference.

My pen name is a nickname/thing that my sister helped me coin when I started posting writing on the internet and didn't want people knowing my actual name.

Since then, I use a pen name because I think it rolls of the tongue better than my actual name. It's really a matter of opinion. There are pros and cons to each.

I don't know enough to have a well formed opinion on the matter, but this might be of some interest to at least some of you: The Name on the Cover

(In case you're wondering, it's a blog post from an author about pen names and advantages and disadvantages of having one.)

Thank you Arien for that, I will decide soon what to do, I need to pray about it and see what I am to do then, (I don't do very well with decision making) and that's a bad bad thing.

Merged this topic with the pre-existing one in Herald's Hall about opinions on pen names.

She talked about a lot of reasons why people might want to use a pen name, but not all of them. I think it's still justified depending on the author and the case (and not just the list of circumstances she gave ). For instance, if you think your name might change in future (if you are thinking you might get married at some point for instance), using a pen name can actually be a good thing for the same reason that she gave for it being a possibly bad thing. If you change your name in the middle of your writing career, it's hard to transition your former following, sometimes impossible.

Yeah. Although having a pen name wouldn't be much different from just not changing your writing name (effectively ending up with a pen name) when you do get married. But I do think that at least once you get going, changing the name you write under is a bad idea, which means you need to be sure it's something you can live with, one way or another.

Mhm. However it went, you'd still end up with a pen name.

Exactly. That's the thing you have think about. That's one reason I shy from names that are a bit 'romantic' or... 'original'. I might like it now, but I might not in ten years. So I have to think that through.

I was just thinking about this for my books, and recently decided not to go with a pen name. it seems like a hassle, unless you need to have one for specific reasons or you are told to get one by the editor.

I've grown up in an unusual situation that has had a huge impact on me and my writing, and so I would love to be open about it as an author. But for various reasons it would be unwise to share these things under my real name, or even under the various handles I already use on the Internet. So it seems that if I ever want to be fully open about my background, I'll have to use a pseudonym...Rather a drag, but at least then I get to come up with a cool name.

As far as publishing goes, are there any complications associated with a pen name?