Hey guys,

I need to chose a pen name. I always thought I'd use my own name for when I published my books and short stories, but having thought over things I changed my mind.

One of the main reasons is because when giving my name to people they never pronounce it right, and secondly they always, always misspell it. Which I find exceedingly annoying.

But I have a dilemma. Which is, I have absolutely no idea on how to go about choosing my pen name. I'd like to use my first name, Stephanie; but I am not sure what to use after that. Thoughts, ideas or prompts would be greatly appreciated. I write in Historical Fiction and Fantasy, so it has to be a pen name suitable for both.

Thank you!

I, too, understand the annoyance of a misspelled name.

Here are a few last names to consider:
Chase
Cooper
Gilbert
Williams

Well, I've never come right out and said this before, but Kay J. Fields, the name I write under, is not my real name. I have no problem with my name, I like it a good deal, but it's not one which just roles off the tongue and I decided long ago that I would use a pen name--also to help protect my privacy in the alien event that I ever find myself famous. XD

Here's some things to try:

Use combinations of your initials.
Use names from the town you live in/were born in/or are near to--in the distant future after you've become the modern Tolkien, readers who learn about your life will think it's awfully clever
Find a baby names book and look up variant forms of your name(s)
Use a baby names book (or internet source) to look up your name's meaning and find other names with the same meaning.
Go to your local library and find cool author names (first, last, and otherwise), write them down, cut the paper into slips, and draw randomly from a hat until you strike gold.

Hope that helps!

Many thanks for those suggestions, Elly. Gilbert would be my favourite I think, but anyway. I'll pop them on The List and see what I come up with.



I love your pen name, Caeli. I didn't realise it was a pen name.

Those are really helpful tips, thank you. I am going to have to get down to business with this!

Wow, Matthew! Awesome blog post, thank you. Hmm, I shall have to ponder for a while now and see what I come up with!

I'm going to use a pen name too, and one of the reasons is the same as yours: when we tell people our name, they never spell it right, and when we show them our name, they never pronounce it right.

It took a lot of playing around and thinking to get mine. I could have just changed my last name and used my first name, like you plan to, but there are connotations to my first name that I wasn't sure I wanted as an author. * grins * So I decided to use my middle name, Nicole – I think it's nice to use at least part of your original name, if you like it.

I took awhile on the last name, though. One thing I can suggest is – don't hurry.

One thing I kept in mind while picking was the length and cadence of the first and last names together. I didn't like the way some of them went.

Also, I tried to avoid any names that were too...abnormal or clever. Not that I mind them all that much, really – it's just that I usually don't feel like an author is as professional if their nom de plume is too made up, striking, or clever. So I wanted to avoid that with my own pen name.

Oh, and Stephanie, just don't choose 'Meyers' as your last name....

I think Autumn Frost would be a cool pen name. But I plan to give that name to a character.

Stephanie Evans?

I know, I've been chatting to my family, and trying different things. I can't decide at the moment though! Yea, I mean I don't mind if I end up not using the name Stephanie if I can work out something that I really like.

*Chuckles* Haha! I'd best remember that for certain!

That is definitely a memorable name, I think!



Ooh, that has a nice ring to it, Jon! I rather like that.

In my online writing I always used my initials... first initial, middle initial, maiden name. For my published works I plan on doing the same but with my married name. Sort of like JKRowling did. I feel like it's easy for people to remember, shorter for them to spell, but still easy to identify an author as.

It also tends to sounds somehow more professional. *shrug* Not sure why, but it looks nice.

The moment you chose a pen name and used it for a couple years, but aren't sure you want to go by that one anymore....but everyone knows you by it online. *writer problems*