Should You Use A Pen Name For Every Genre That You Write?

For writers, there are pros and cons to using a pen name or pseudonym. In this post, we ask and answer the question: Should you use a pen name for every genre that you write?

For writers, there are pros and cons to using a pen name or pseudonym. Using one name is easier for everyone in your team – agent, publisher, cover designer, and marketing team. But using one or more pseudonyms for each genre in which you write means never disappointing your audience. You will build a separate audience for each genre. Not every romance reader wants to read a book about desperate men fighting off a hoard of zombies on Mars.

Should You Use A Pen Name For Every Genre That You Write?

The choice of using a pen name or pseudonym when writing in different genres, is a personal choice for every writer. Many famous writers use a pen name for each genre in which they write, and just as many write every book using only one name despite the genre.

Using Only One Pen Name Across Many Genres

1. You can use the email address and banking details.
2. There’s no confusion in your production and marketing team. It makes life easier. And who doesn’t want a reputation as a great storyteller, rather than just a good (insert genre) writer?
3. You don’t have to find a new audience for every genre, you just add to the audience you already have.

To pull it off though, you have to be an exceptionally good writer, able to switch with ease between genres with no diminution in skill, readability, persuasiveness, and believability. Whether you’re writing romance, or the afore-mentioned attack of Martian zombies, your work must be as enthralling, and as well-written in every genre so you don’t lose the readers you have and gain more.

• Take William Shakespeare for example. He wrote tragedies, romance, comedy, family drama, and historical epics, all under the same name. Granted, he was the greatest writer in the English language. And despite writing in Elizabethan English and, just to be clever, often in iambic pentameter, his plays are still drawing crowds. And he hasn’t written anything new for four hundred years!
• C S Lewis, while nearly all his works had the same philosophical underpinning, also write in different genres and for different audiences. Since he first wrote the Narnia series, every new generation of children are discovering him for themselves.
• Mary Stewart never had a pseudonym, and she wrote very successfully in different genres, winning loyal audiences for each. And yet, always using her real name was the one thing she regretted.

The Cons Of Only Using One Name

1. Unless that one name is itself a pseudonym, your anonymity is gone. If you want to be a ‘famous anonymous’, the very thing Mary Stewart wanted, then that one name should be a pseudonym. If anonymity is the furthest thing from your mind, then by all means, go all Shakespeare and use your real name for every genre.
2. If you started out as a writer whose books are filled with light, fluffy, ‘everyone’s a darling’ romance, your audience may lose all trust in you if your next book is the Martian Zombie attack. Audiences, after all, want to be able to buy any book with your name on it and know exactly what they’re getting.
3. You will need to careful to ensure that you are rotating your writing. In other words, if you have two pen names, you will need to be writing in both simultaneously, or your audience will die from neglect.

The Pros Of Using Multiple Pseudonyms Across Multiple Genres

1. If you’re trying a new genre, it may be worthwhile experimenting with a new pen name.
2. If your Martian Zombie isn’t selling under the same pen name as the first genre you wrote in, then change it up. A new cover and a new pen name. You might also want to look at the categories you listed it under on Amazon.
3. Having a different pen name for each genre means you need to build a whole new audience for each genre. It also means you are unlikely to lose any of your already garnered readers.
4. There’s an added bonus. If a die-hard fan discovers your other pen names and is happy to read great stories, irrespective of genre, you’ll sell more books.

Like we said at the beginning, it’s entirely up to you. There is no hard and fast rule. And you can change your mind at any point in your writing career. The most important thing to remember is to have fun. Playing around with genre can be productive:

1. You discover a genre you prefer writing in than the one with which you began.
2. One of your new genres may sell better than any of the others. That means you can spend less time writing contemporary thrillers and more time writing Regency romance.
3. You can fail in one genre without affecting the sales of books in your successful genres.

Short stories are a good place to start when it comes to experimenting with genres. It’s also a good place to work out ideas for different plots!

The Last Word

If you’d like to write for children, young adults, or adults, why not sign up for one of the rich and in-depth courses that Writers Write offers to learn how to write the best book you possibly can.

by Elaine Dodge. Author of The Harcourts of Canada series and The Device Hunter, Elaine trained as a graphic designer, then worked in design, advertising, and broadcast television. She now creates content, mostly in written form, including ghost writing business books, for clients across the globe, but would much rather be drafting her books and short stories.

More Posts From Elaine

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5. 6 Of Our Favourite Children’s Writers
6. What To Gift Your Favourite Bookworm For Valentine’s Day
7. Why Chapters & Their Lengths Matter
8. 5 Netflix Shows That Will Make You A Better Writer
9. 6 Of The Oldest First-Time Authors
10. The Fourth Person Viewpoint

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