Time for a poll!

[annathepiper]

As y'all might have guessed from my entry from yesterday, the issue of whether to use a pen name in this here writing career I am trying to launch is very present on my mind. Foremost in this issue is the difficulty of spelling "Korra'ti" and how hard it might be for people to do Google searches to find out more about my books. There's also the annoying fact that if I used my actual name, I couldn't have it spelled properly in a domain name because you can't have apostrophes in a domain name. So I'm seriously considering whether I should use a pen name, and I'm interested in your all's thoughts!

I'm considering pulling in some combination of the following elements, if I do:

1) My first name vs. my traditional nickname vs. my original middle name: "Angela" vs. "Anna" vs. "Renée"
2) My maiden name, "Highland"
3) My mother's maiden name, "Sherer"
4) My maternal grandmother's maiden name, "Carey"
5) My paternal grandmother's maiden name, "Amerine"


[Poll #382690]

Comments

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

I think Anna Korra'ti is an excellent name, and I'd just suck up the inability to use a ' in a domain name. Lots of people searching for an author will have the book handy and will thus be able to spell it right anyway. Also, you can always put "Korra'ti" in the metatags, thus making it pretty certain they're going to find your page. annakorrati.com would be just fine. :)

That said, if you're going to use one, I'd go with Angela Highland, because it's a nice strong name. Your parents chose wisely. :)

[annathepiper]

Ooh, I hadn't thought of the metatags option. Thanks for the tip!

[solarbird]

I'm ambivalent about it; fandom always assumes Korra'ti is fake anyway. But on the other hand, people remember it strongly - it sticks in their heads for some reason - which is good. I find this commonly in business dealings - they _almost always_ remember that last name, which has to be good in this kind of business. (Unless you really, _really_ piss them off. ^_^ )

[annathepiper]

And oh yes: you like "Anna Korra'ti" better than "Angela Korra'ti"?

[solarbird]

I think Angela Korra'ti is better balanced than Anna Korra'ti.

[emmacrew.livejournal.com]

I think "Amerine" would be sort of a cool first name, myself.

[backrubbear.livejournal.com]

Much like my e-mails always say "Jeffrey", I'd say go for Angela. If people you don't know call you Angela, you know they don't know you.

Then again, if people who don't know you calling you Angela drives you batty, be careful what you use. :-)

[annathepiper]

Yeah, kinda! Though I have this reaction to it like it ought to be the name of an author of suspense or mystery, or something. ;)

[annathepiper]

I tend to go by "Angela" in a work environment, since that IS my first name, and it's how I sign checks and fill out paperwork and such, so I'm used to people I don't know calling me that. :)

[annathepiper]

Yeah, we do get that whole "that can't be your real name?" reaction a lot at skiffy cons. :)

And duly noted about that vote AGAINST 'Sherer'. ;)

[murson.livejournal.com]

I would agree on the meta-tags idea - would help Googlers, which probably wouldn't be a Bad Thing... :)

Going back to your earlier post on this subject, do you mind if I ask why you seem to have decided against the "Forename Initial Surname" construction for the pen name? Just curious...

[annathepiper]

I don't mind you asking that question at all. :) And I didn't consciously decide against it, it's just that I don't tend to think of that kind of construction because the majority of the authors I read don't use it. My favorites are all "first name, last name". Elizabeth Peters. Doranna Durgin. Sharon Shinn. Barbara Michaels. Stephanie Barron. Just to name a few. :)

Besides, I think "Angela S. Korra'ti" is kind of clunky, especially in comparison to "Angela Korra'ti", which is smoother to me. Both rhythmically and visually--possibly because that period after the S looks weird to me in the same name with an apostrophe.

I will definitely have to remember the point about meta tags, though--if I do go ahead and use "Korra'ti" I'll have to load up the professional site I make with some common spellings of "Korra'ti", because even if folks have the book right in front of 'em, doesn't guarantee they'd spell the name right. ;) Some people just can't type!

be careful about mother's maiden name

[wrog]

if you don't want random lunatic fans (or anti-fans) going through your bank accounts

Re: be careful about mother's maiden name

[annathepiper]

Hrmm, valid point. :)

[annathepiper]

I think "Amerine Korra'ti" only works if you pronounce it "am-er-in", rather than how my family actually pronounced it, which is "am-er-een". The rhythm to my ear is thrown off in the latter instance.

As for not sweating the web--can't. Not if I want to be able to think about actually promoting my novels. :) From what folks at Writer's Weekend have said, new writers especially have to think about how to promote themselves, because the publishers aren't going to put themselves out past a certain point for a brand new writer. One of the biggest messages I got from that conference was to be prepared to do what you're comfortable doing to promote your work! And in my case, that's the web. So it just feels important to me to make sure that whatever decision I finally make, it will be to my professional benefit.

Also, re: not sweating the apostrophe--well, the only problem with that is, my name ISN'T SPELLED RIGHT without it. And that personally vexes me, after spending years and years trying to tell banks and the like that "yes, you do have an apostrophe on your keyboard, please make sure the character appears after the a, and please make sure the t is lower case". "Accepting a misspelling of my name due to limitations of the Internet" just feels annoying. :)

[poetry-lady.livejournal.com]

Altho I vote for keeping your name "Angela Korra'ti", if you do decide to go the way of a pen name, I personally like "Angela Amerine". I love the allitteration, plus both words have 3 syllables, so it has a nice melliflous quality.

[annathepiper]

Hrmm. Interesting choice. :) The part that bugs me about it is ending the first name with a noun and also beginning the last name with it--but varying mileage, and all that.

Thanks for the input!

no poll for me...

[(Anonymous)]

I can't fill out the poll. I'm pretty sure you have to be a registered LiveJournal gal/guy and, since I blog at blogger.com I'm not sure I want to go through the hoorah at a place I'm not going to be using, I'll just put my $0.02 here.

If I can register without creating a journal that would be different. Is that possible?

In any event... I seem to be in agreement with the majority here. If you decide to go with a pen name, Angela Highland rolls trippingly of the tongue, isn't hard to remember and has a certain "solidity" (for lack of a better term) to it.

I hear ya about the apostrophe thing. I've been solidly "branding" myself (in the music realm) with Howlin' Hobbit for years now and there are all sorts of forums, etc. that won't let you use an apostrophe either. This is ludicrous. I mean, even passing over those of us with "stage names", what are all the O'Brians and O'Learys and so on supposed to do?

I can almost see the problem in domain names (www.howlinhobbit.com, anyone?), but the programmer in me just refuses to believe that forums, blog software, etc. shouldn have that much problem with them (or for that matter, spaces). ASCII be ASCII after all.

OK... I'll stop muttering and grumbling now.

~ Howlin' Hobbit

[shikyrie.livejournal.com]

I like the pen name idea, but also like your last name... kinda rolls off the tongue... I do agree with Dara as well that Angela Korra'ti has a nice flow to it... but it's your nomme-de-plume... choose what you think is best ;) (and no, I wasn't serious about Angela Anna Banna (that's the tired silliness rearing its ugly head- lol)

[syn.livejournal.com]

I'm not going to submit on the poll. Instead. I'm just going to place a comment.

1. I like your name. It has a pleasant ring to it and it is memorable. (At least the Kora'ti is exceedingly memorable to me.) I do, however, understand the annoyance at not being able to spell it correctly in the domain name.

2. If you feel that strongly about it, then perhaps a pen name would be best. You wouldn't have to keep your telephone number unlisted and you'd know beyond a doubt if someone walked up to you on the street if they knew 'you' or if they knew you through your writing.

3. If I were going to choose your pen name I would have a heck of a time deciding between two of the choices. I would suggest Angela Highland because it is does suggest a certain strength and solidity in the last name. However, what you are writing is fantasy. Which to me calls for something a little fanciful. Angela Amerine has a lovely sound to it (Yes, I have spoken them both aloud to hear the sounds roll.) as well as a certain surreal quality to the alliteration.

4. Don't use Carey. It makes me think of Jim Carey and, while he's really funny, you aren't going for funny. ;)

So, you now have my input. I hope it helps. :)

Re: no poll for me...

[annathepiper]

You do in fact need to be an LJ user in order to actually answer a poll, unfortunately. Sorry 'bout that! But as you know, you can leave comments without being an LJ user. :)

Something you might consider, though, is what my friend mizkit does--her primary web log is via Moveable Type, but she has an LJ account set up to syndicate the RSS feed so that those of us whose primary journal system is LJ can catch her posts on our Friends lists. That way you could expand your audience AND have a user ID to do things like answering polls, if you care. :) (I THINK you'd be able to do that even if you were using an LJ syndicated account.)

Thanks for the input, anyway! And yeah, I can't think of any programmatic reason why you shouldn't be able to use apostrophes in a domain, darn it. ;) It's not like ? or & which have actual delimiter usages.

[annathepiper]

I don't know what's best, that's the problem. That's the whole point of my asking the opinion of others. :) Opinions on the matter will help me make a more informed decision, including what I think is actually the right thing to do. :)

As for the joke, *smirk*, I didn't think you were serious. ;)

[annathepiper]

It's "Jim Carrey", actually. Two r's. ;) Point taken about the association, though I'm not necessarily certain that SF/fantasy fandom will immediately make that association. Especially anybody who's read any works by Jacqueline Carey. I'd actually be more worried about being mixed up with her. However, writersweekend did make a good point about how living next door to an established author on the shelves is not necessarily a BAD thing.

I'll give it a lot of thought. What I will be most likely to do, I think, will be to seek the advice of any editor or agent with whom I actually wind up working, once I sell a book. I do feel strongly about making the right decision--but I'm not sure yet where I will choose.

Maybe I'll do a list of Pros and Cons and evaluate them side by side. There are issues on both sides that I have strong opinions about, and it may help me to write them out.

Thanks for chiming in, though! :)

[annathepiper]

Hrmm. Tough call for me to make. There's something more interesting to my ear about the rhythm of the former, though. :)

[shikyrie.livejournal.com]

WEll, good luck on what you decide upon... ;) just don't let my silliness influence you

[chamois-shimi.livejournal.com]

I think Anna Korra'ti flows better- but then, I'm a big fan of non-matching numbers of syllables, I think that *always* flows better, but perhaps I'm biased because my own name is 3 syllables, 2 syllables. And my SO's name is 2 syllables, 4 syllables.

If your *only* reason for taking a pen name would be for less domain name trouble, then don't do it for that! A website domain based on a world name, a series name, a book name, a character name, just your first name, or who knows what, would work just fine.

It's a very distinctive name, and name recognition is generally good (unless you publish something that people hate, and then you might want to think about a pen name, I'm guessing...) - but if you do decide on a penname, Anna Highland is awful darn cool, even if they're both 2 syllables. It does sort of *sound* like a pen name, though. Hmm. Would that be a good thing or a bad thing?

[annathepiper]

The domain name isn't the only factor I'm considering, it's just one of several issues I'm juggling around in my head. :) As I have posted elsewhere on the thread, I think that when the time comes I'll probably write out a list of the pros and cons on each side, as well as seeking the advice of any editor or agent with whom I will (presumably, if I'm actually to the point of this seriously being an issue ;) ) be working.

I don't think I'd want to use a web site name tied to a specific book or series or world or character, though. Especially given that I absolutely plan to have a bunch of unrelated books!

[annathepiper]

Worry not. :) And thanks. It'll be a while before this actually becomes anything remotely resembling a question I'll have to answer.

Because, after all, I do actually have to SELL A BOOK first.