• Alex/Alexis
• Amari
• Angel
• Aubrey
• Avery
• Blair
• Cameron
• Carey
• Casey
• Dana
• Devin/Devon
• Drew
• Harper
• Hayden–it’s not just for awful actors and actresses!
• Hunter
• Jackie
• Jamie/Jaime
• Jean (hey, don’t laugh! Jean Claude Van Damme?)
• Jessie
• Jordon
• Kelly
• Kerry
• Kris
• Lee
• Leslie
• Marion
• Morgan
• Riley
• Robbie
• Robin
• Sydney
• Taylor/Tyler
• Terry
• Tracy
• Willie

Would you like to suggest any other names? (In particular, I think I’m short on names of Asian and African origins).

2. If you do use a pseudonym, please write something like “[YOUR REAL NAME], WRITING AS RODDY BARBER” on your title page. For tax reasons, the publisher has to know your real name. (Otherwise, the IRS will get surly and then everybody is screwed).

3. Do not assume that a pseudonym will keep you anonymous. For example, if you base your novel on people you know in real life, people may find out it’s you even though you used a pen name. For example, Joe Klein got outed as the author of Primary Colors even though he wrote as Anonymous. Additionally, pseudonyms will not give you ANY cover against lawsuits (for libel, copyright infringement or whatever). Remember, the IRS knows who you are.

4. Do you have a good reason to use a pseudonym?

• YES: You share a name with a celebrity, particularly an author. In fact, if you want to write a novel and you happen to be named something like Anne Rice or Joe Biden, your publisher will probably make you take a pseudonym or use your initials. For example, an author writing as A.D. Rice probably wouldn’t be confused with Anne Rice.
• YES: You’ve written in other genres and want to keep your audiences separate.
• SADLY, YES: You’re writing in a genre where readers are mostly of the other gender.  For example, if you’re a guy writing romance or chick lit or a lady writing action (particularly military action), few publishers would fault you for using your initials or a gender-neutral pseudonym.  According to Wikipedia, Joanne Rowling’s publisher asked her to write as “J.K. Rowling” to keep guys on board, even though the audience for fantasy is disproportionately female.  If you’re considering a genderless pseudonym, here’s a list of unisex names.
• PROBABLY: Your name doesn’t fit your work and/or target audience. If your name is Lexington Faraday III and you were writing a history of polo, your given name would be fine.  If you’re writing “Straight Up West Side: A Gangsta’s Knee-Capping Journey,” not so much.
• MAYBE: Your writing would conflict with your professional reputation. For example, if you’re trying to write comic books even though you’re an English professor up for tenure, you might not want your comic books to show up if somebody Googles your name. I understand that concern. One potential problem is that it may sound like you’re not proud of your fiction or that you look down on the publisher. Every publisher–even comic book houses–wants creators that are proud to be on the team.
• THINK IT THROUGH: You think your name doesn’t sound cool enough. A name meant to sound cool frequently ends up making the author sound like a goof.  Especially if you’ve always dreamed of being named Hunter McSlaughter.  If this is your main motivation for a name change, I’d recommend submitting under your given name and then speaking to your editor about using a pen name after you get published.

1.  Your writing could interfere with your day job. If you’re interested in working in a political science or government position and every Google search for your name points to your book about how to write superhero stories, that could be problematic.

2.  You’ve published in a different genre or field and want to distinguish your new work. Your readership might get confused if you’ve always written romance and suddenly you write a sci-fi thriller.  Using a pen-name will help keep those parts of your audience separate.

3.  You suspect that your name will make it harder for readers to relate to you. For example, if you’re a guy writing for women (or vice versa), you might find it helpful to use a gender-neutral name or your initial.  In particular, military action readers are more receptive to male authors and romance readers are more receptive to women.

4.  Your name doesn’t jibe with what you’re writing. I think there is a strong gender bias in some genres. If your name is something like Thaddeus Nottingham, that would probably work for a highbrow volume about the history of opera. However, if you’re writing How I Survived Compton, you’d probably want a name that’s more hip.

5.  Your name is too hard to remember. This will help people find your work after hearing your name just once. As a rule, I’d recommend limiting your pen-name to 2-3 words.

I’ll throw in two of my own.

6.  Your name is hard to pronounce and/or spell.  That will help people find you in bookstores and online.

7.  Your name is so common that it would be would be hard to rank on Google. When people type in your name, you really want to be the top result. If I wrote under my given name, I’d be competing with an anarchist radical, a basketball player, a young political science professor, a corporate VP, a model and a singer-songwriter.  In particular, I think that it readers might confuse me with the poli-sci professor.  Most of my readers know that I am young and really like political science.