Review: Handy overview of the pluses and minuses of using pen names
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 22, 2012
Before reading this book, I'd some some basic research on pseudonyms. After reading this book, it will be my go-to reference when I have a question about some aspect of pen names.Despite its being a quick read, the book covered a wide swath of information, examining subjects I hadn't even thought to explore, including pointing out many problems one might face whilst using a pen name. For example, it discusses times when women might want to write under a male pen name, in order to be taken more seriously. Sad, but true. It also touches on why a prolific writer might want to have multiple pen names.The book examined some possible legal ramifications I didn't even know existed, like differences in copyright expiration for books under a real name vs. books under a pen name, and provided links to the US Copyright Office for further information. I am grateful the author included so many helpful links to other useful resources. I had some fun playing around with the name generators!I got a kick out of the beginning and end of the book, too. At the beginning, the author lists a whole bunch of synonyms for pseudonym, I had no idea there were so many! And at the back of the book, he listed some prominent pen names and the authors' real names. For example, Ayn Rand's real name has about three times as many letters. One or two of the pen names were hilarious. I hadn't even realized that many of those well-known authors were really pseudonyms!I would strongly recommend this to anyone unsure about or considering publishing under a pen name, and to everyone else too, just because it was an interesting read!