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How Do You Choose Your Author Identity?
More than 10 years in, I still struggle with this.
In 2011, I was invited to submit and publish my first-ever piece. It was a short story about magic and pirates called A Treacherous Stone. You can read it in the Rum and Runestones Anthology. A year later, I was invited to create a second pirate and magic story for the Spells and Swashbucklers Anthology. That story, The Vapor Rogues, would be the prelude to my incomplete Steampunk series.
This, even though it was through a small press, sparked my interest in self-publishing. That led me to where I am now, with 20 novels of sci-fi and fantasy available on Amazon and for wider distribution.
Somewhere in 2019 or so, I reached the conclusion that I needed to separate my identities. Thus, I became MJ Blehart for my works of fiction and Murray “MJ” Blehart for all my nonfiction.
While on the one hand, this removes confusion about the intent of the author, on the other hand, it potentially creates a complication for distribution and representation.
I know that many authors have more than 1 author identity. But how do you choose yours?
The pros and cons of your author identity
Why did I choose MJ rather than Murray to publish fiction? Part of it involved the notion in my head that people might be less interested in reading sci-fi and fantasy from a guy with an antiquated name like “Murray.” Is that reasonable or rational? Probably not. But I decided I liked the pen name and started going with it.
At first, I applied that author identity to everything I wrote. This didn’t just include my nonfiction blogs; I was also being published in a couple of magazines (sadly, this was just exposure and no pay). I liked the idea of having this persona.
But then, when I started to work with a marketing expert, she questioned whether having all my work under one author identity was serving me. She made a very persuasive argument that having both fiction and nonfiction on the same page could be confusing and cause issues for discovery.
If, for example, you’re looking for sci-fi and/or fantasy, what happens when you come across a book that covers nonfiction ideas like mindfulness and philosophy? That could be unnecessarily confusing.
Weighing the pros and cons, I decided to create the second author identity. Now, you can find my nonfiction works under Murray “MJ” Blehart.
However, 7 years later, I’m considering whether this was worthwhile or not.
It’s not unusual for authors to do fiction and nonfiction
It turns out that there are many authors, under a single author identity, who produce both fiction and nonfiction.
Two in particular come to mind. Chuck Wendig and Steven Pressfield.
Not long ago, my wife got me Chuck Wendig’s Gentle Writing Advice. It’s funny, thoughtful, and frankly, brilliant. Many weeks’ worth of my ongoing process essays here were inspired by what I’ve been reading there.
Additionally, Chuck’s website – Terrible Minds – covers a huge range of topics. He’s a prolific writer, and if you’re not familiar, I invite you to become so.
Steven Pressfield wrote a nonfiction masterpiece called The War of Art. I cannot stress enough how brilliant this book is. If you’re any stripe of artist, you should take the time to read this (or listen to the audiobook).
Further, Mr. Pressfield has published numerous other nonfiction books about the aspects of the writing process, dealing with the bugaboo he calls “Resistance” and its sabotaging effect, and more. All of these are inspirational, funny, and clever.
I’ve never read any of Mr. Pressfield’s fiction, but understand that much of it is considered utterly brilliant literary fiction. Still, I have huge respect for him.
(For the record, I’ve met and conversed with Chuck Wendig, but not Steven Pressfield. Hence why the former is referred to as Chuck and the latter as Mr. Pressfield. But I digress.)
These are not the only authors who publish both fiction and nonfiction under a single author identity. So, how do you choose if you should use more than one?
Your author identity is wholly yours
I know that for some people, they use a different author identity to create separation and demarcation for the genres they write in. Sometimes, I can see this clearly. Particularly if you write smut, literary fiction, sci-fi, and nonfiction. Does it work to put them all under only a single author identity?
The answer is maybe. That’s because author identity is very much a choose-your-own-adventure option. If you desire to keep separate your different styles because that makes sense to you, go for it.
More than 1 author chose a name that didn’t represent gender. I know another author who desires anonymity and applies that to their author identity. Maybe it has served me to separate my fiction and nonfiction author identity. But I’m not sure.
In theory, I can change it back. Or, going forward, I can publish future nonfiction works under whatever author identity I prefer. If I go forward with this romantasy idea I have in my head, that might go under another pen name. My wife will soon be joining the world of published authors with her new author identity.
The choice is yours. I decided to separate my identities, for good or ill, and that’s where I am today. Your mileage may vary, but that’s your decision to make.
Thanks for reading. As I share my creative journey with you every week, please consider this: How are you inspired and empowered to be your own authentic creator, whatever form that takes?
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