I want to write under a pseudonym. Are there any guidelines for how you should pick one? I've heard a few like "pick an easily pronouncable name with a common origin" (which is really a lot of origins given all the names in America) and "don't pick a feminine first name unless you're only writing for a female audience". I think I want to be Morgan Liederbach but I'm not sure how people will react to that name.
Und so lang du das nicht hast Dieses: Stirb und Werde! Bist du nur ein trüber Gast Auf der dunklen Erde
(And as long as you don't have This: Die and become! You are only a gloomy guest On the dark Earth)
Personally, I don't think I'd pay much attention to the origin of the name, just so long as it's easily pronounceable and doesn't sound totally outlandish. Another thing to keep in mind is that you don't want it to be too hard to remember. One other thing to think about is that this is your name. In the end it doesn't matter how many rules or guidelines you follow, if you can't see yourself being called by it then it's not the right one.
One note: the "feminine name" does actually have some weight, but not for that reason— female authors are just taken less seriously.
People are kind of conditioned to devalue female names, and there are a lot of studies done about how there's a gender discrepancy. That's why both J.K Rowling and Hiromu Arakawa (Fullmetal Alchemist, one of the best animes of all time) took gender neutral or masculine pen names. "J.K" is neutral, while "Joanne" is feminine. "Hiromu" is the masculine version of the author's given name, Hiromi.
Now, of course, it's not a hard and fast rule— there are plenty of female authors who are incredibly successful under their own names, or under feminine pen names. But that rule does sadly have a grain of truth to it.
Do what you want, but make sure it's an informed choice. It's impossible to control for these variables (It's not like you can publish Harry Potter twice, once under "J. K." and once under "Joanne Kathleen") so it could be wrong, but there are other stories out there that prove feminine can and frequently is taken less seriously.
Personally, though, I tend to go "screw it" and do whatever I want, amount of femininity not relevant.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo
Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
Yes. Mostly I just don't want to become a public figure and I don't want people I know to read me and be like "what's going on in your head weirdo". Also, my real last name is extremely uncommon, and it's already taken by another writer... I'd like to have a last name that isn't already taken at the very least, and I have a nice list of those even if I can't figure out what first name I want (I don't want initials because those are too associated with adventure type stories: JK Rowling, JRR Tolkein, George RR Martin. Even if I used my real name I wouldn't use any initials with it).
Und so lang du das nicht hast Dieses: Stirb und Werde! Bist du nur ein trüber Gast Auf der dunklen Erde
(And as long as you don't have This: Die and become! You are only a gloomy guest On the dark Earth)
For me, my actual name is common but doesn't flow off the tongue at all. I had a lot of problems when I was younger because of a lisp. I definitely agree with Rosey about doing what you want; it is your work after all. However, if you want some tips, I would suggest basing your pseudonyms off of your actual first name, just tweaking it a bit to make it easier to pronounce/roll off the tongue better. With the last name, I would just do something that fits with the first name, both in ease of speaking and how it fits with the first name.
If you're extremely serious about publishing your book(s) and/or trying to make a profit off of your writings, the femininity of your name definitely has a role in the US, at least, but the Western world to an extent. I would suggest a neutral name. However, this is all about you focusing on making a profit. If you're doing this for a passion --like most of this site does-- then just do what feels best for you!
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