This blog topic was suggested by Maura Yzmore. Specifically, she asked what I felt the pros and cons were of publishing everything under my real name, if I felt it interfered with my professional life?
Pro: My Day Job is Not Tied to Name Recognition
I’m a computer programmer. I suppose it would be different for other professions, particularly if you were a business owner/single operator who would want to advertise business with your real name, but for me, it has never impacted work-work. In fact, I still will have co-workers say, “You’re a writer? That’s great! Have you ever published anything?” when I let it slip that I’m working on something.
There’s security in obscurity -a mantra of mine when I was a network tech- though as I face my first Big Award Nomination and having a Wikipedia page of all crazy things, I realize my obscurity is not as secure as it once was. So I keep the passwords up to date and I separate work and pleasure under different computer profiles. (I do hope to buy a personal laptop again someday soon so I can separate them completely, but it hasn’t been financially feasible lately.)
Pro: My Legal Name Works
Another factor in using my real name – aside from vanity- is I was blessed with a name that is easy to spell and pronounce – if you’re American – and is also unusual – if you’re American. (I realize this is culture-specific, and I’m also lucky to be American, because Hegemony.)
There are only five distinct Vibert/Vibbert families in the US! (If the unsolicited letter I got once urging me to sign up for a genealogy study can be credited.) It’s not even that popular a surname in France, where it originated. (I googled.)
And everyone has Marie as a middle name or knows the name because of Marie Curie or Marie Antoinette, but the only other Maries I’ve met have all been… oh dear … fellow writers? 😀 Hi gals!
When I did my study of male and female seeming names in science fiction magazine credits, it struck me that the incidence of unusual names was higher than random. (I should do another study to confirm this!) I believe that, in a business where you are, most of the time, a by-line, a name that stands out definitely helps. “Oh I remember her!”
And I’ve heard laments from friends with common names – or worse, the same name as a more popular writer!
Con: Touchy Subjects Will Stay With Me
I have two fears around using my real name in publishing: One is that I will attract hatred for my (massively leftist) political opinions and someone will care enough to threaten me or my family physically. So far, so good?
My other fear is much smaller: moral condemnation and judgement for my use of smutty or kinky or other “objectionable” material. Or just … judge me. They say he who writes appears voluntarily nude in public, and they aren’t wrong. I’ve written some very personal things.
Also, I like sex. My characters like sex. I’m going to write some sex.
In fact, I do have a pseudonym that I use exclusively for publishing erotica. I have not published that much, and no I won’t tell you the name.
