How do do authors choose a pen name?
There are no rules for choosing a pen name. Some people choose a variation of their real name or use a family name. Other people use names that have always appealed to them. Romance and erotica writers may use pen names that they feel work well for the genre. Here are a couple of suggestions to help with the process. Choose a name that you’ll remember to answer to at conferences and book signings. You don’t want to accidentally offend an event coordinator or potential reader by ignoring them because you forgot your name. Do a web search on potential names. A search in Google will let you know if the name you’re considering is too common or perhaps associated with activities you don’t want to be known for. A follow up search on Amazon.com can turn up any uses of the name by other authors. Do authors use different pen names for different genres? Some authors use two or more pen names to establish identities for genres with widely separate audiences, such as young adult fantasy and erotic
