Author Topic: should I use a pen name?  (Read 2416 times)

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on: April 14, 2011, 09:23:45 PM
I finally finished editing my second novel.

(The first shall not be named -- it was really That Bad. But I bet I could make it good with a rewrite. Anyway.)

The thing is, the second novel is most definitely For Adults. There is no possible way you could think it belongs on any shelf except, you know, *ahem ahem* that one. It has plot, and characterization, and my beta readers (both published authors -- one romance, one erotica) said they believed I should try to sell it.

The question is: do I publish it under my real name?

I personally don't care all that much if people know I write adult books as well as genre fiction. It doesn't bother me. But would there be a negative effect on my genre fiction, especially as a writer just starting out (publishing-wise), if the book is published and, say, Strange Horizons publishes something that says "...also has written a novel for adults only entitled..."? Would it negatively impact an editor's opinion if they google the book title, find out what it is, and are all "hmm, I don't know if I want that in my magazine"?

Obviously if I was doing anything YA I wouldn't even mention it, but might it also impact any future YA I write (I have a YA novel about 40% written)?

I realize this is very much cart-before-horse, but since I'm about to send the book off to a publisher, I figured I'd ask.

Thanks.

"Farts are a hug you can smell." -Wil Wheaton

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