Melbourne Romance Writers Guild Blog

Pen Names by Georgiana Louis

2/2/2014

Pen names are a funny topic amongst some authors. For many, like myself, they are a necessity, for others, they are not needed at all.

I have two pen names. One for my sweet/sexy romances that I openly tell friends and family about. Another for my erotic works.

This is mainly for two reasons.

One: The branding. I want people who read my books to know what sort of story they will be getting and also to associate my pen name with my ‘voice.’ I also wouldn’t want one of my readers who has enjoyed my Regency sweet romance to buy one of my Regency vampire ménage books and assume they are of a similar thread. It just makes things easier on this front.

Two: The stigma attached to erotic writing.

I’m a professional in real life and my husband especially didn’t think it was appropriate for my patients to know about my erotic writings.

Personally I don’t particularly care, and have told lots of people in my life about my ‘other’ pen name, but I have seen a lot of bias and bigotry attached to the writing of erotic romance and completely understand where he was coming from.

Writing romance in itself seems to be viewed by most of the writing community as being the lowest form of expression, and writing erotic romance just means you like to write about sex.

I don’t believe either statement of course. I believe writing good romantic fiction, no matter the sub genre, and being successful at it, is one of the hardest things to do within writing fiction.

So really, what ever floats your boat - go for it! One pen name for every different genre, or using your own name every time, it’s totally your choice, but at the moment I’m completely happy with mine!

Kindest Regards

Fiona

Aka. Georgiana Louis and …………….

7 Comments

Lauren James link

2/2/2014 02:10:48 pm

Great post, Georgiana. It can be such an important decision for a writer, and one that must be thought through very carefully. Thanks for sharing your experience and insights.

Margaret Tanner link

2/2/2014 03:16:19 pm

Great post, I completley understand the reason why you would need 2 different author names, when you are writing across gneres. Saves a lot of confusion. I don't mind using my name for my books. but then I only write historical romance.

Regards

Margaret

Margaret Midwood link

2/2/2014 04:43:15 pm

Interesting post and an issue I never considered when I started writing.

Love the new book!!

Cheers,
Margaret

Louise

2/2/2014 10:49:10 pm

Interesting, Fiona. I've heard some people say that a pen name is easier to manage if its 'given name' component is close to your own - eg Louisa rather than Louise. It helps you to remember that it's 'you' being addressed in social gatherings of your readers and other writers. Do you have any self-identity problems with Georgiana instead of Fiona?

Dora Bramden

3/2/2014 01:52:53 am

Hi Fiona, Thanks for sharing your comments about using a pen name. It's an important decision every writer makes at some point, to use one's own name or not. Movie stars often adopt a professional name also. I think your point about branding is important. Letting readers know what kind of book they can expect from each author name seems to work for other authors too. I'm thinking of an interview I watched featuring Nora Roberts who talked about her pen names. She uses different names for the different genres she writes.

Andra Ashe link

3/2/2014 10:31:36 am

It definitely makes sense to keep names and different genres separate. Like you, I'm proud of what I write (erotic romance) but my 'real' name is very distinctive so I chose not to use it just to save any difficulties with family who mightn't be too impressed. The people who know me well know about my 'double identity'. I think your Regency name suits the genre perfectly.

Stefanie link

4/2/2014 10:59:00 am

I definitely understand the need to keep writing and professional life separate, that's exactly why I have a pen name too! Really interesting post and love the cover of your new book :)

Pen Names by Georgiana Louis

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