A Rose by Any Other Name

by Calista Taylor

Choosing a pen name is often a choice dictated by a variety of factors, but like most decisions that deal with building a platform and a brand, it's not only personal but business.

I first decided that I would need a pen name when I started writing steampunk. My real name has more of a chick lit feel to it, but worse, there's a porn star with the same name. As a result, the chances of googling my name and finding ME instead of the popular G-string starlet would be slim to none. Not a great way to be easily accessible to readers.

With the decision made to choose a pen name, I quickly came up with a checklist.

• Google Hits—When choosing a name, put the first and last name in quotes and google it. I like the number to be under 1000 hits (or close to it). That guarantees that by the time you're well into your platform building, you'll have taken over that name, so that when someone googles it, they'll primarily get your website, your Twitter/Facebook account, or your blog.
• An Available Domain—You'll likely want to put up a website to help promote yourself, and since it's likely you'll write more than one book, it's best if you put your website in your name, rather than your book title. Having that domain be available is a huge plus, though there are ways around it, like adding "author" to your name. Not great, but still an option, if you have your heart set on a particular name.
• How easy is the name to remember? Pronounce? Spell?—This is HUGE. If no one will be able to remember it, say it, spell it, then it's probably not a great choice.
• Does it suit the genre you'll be writing?—This deals with not only the feel of the name (sounding too modern when you write historicals, etc), but also with whether the name sounds too male/female when it's a genre that's dominated by a particular sex. For example, writing romance with a name that sounds male may turn off some readers.
• Does the name sound like a joke?—Picking a name that sounds too fake (often done to fit the genre to an extreme) can be a turn off. Remember—this is still a business venture so naming yourself Luscious Fantastique just because you write erotica or Vampira Nightshade because you write paranormals probably isn't a wise move.
• Is the name already being used by someone else?—A porn star (lol)? An actor/actress? Another author? Is it too close in the way it sounds to another author?

Whatever name you choose, I highly recommend using it for your Twitter account (both the user name and the @name), because each tweet gives that name another hit on Google. This means that before long, when someone googles your pen name, they will get you, or one of your tweets. This will of course lead to your Twitter account, which should also have a link to your website, blog or books, making it fairly simple for any readers to find you.

My favorite place to look for names is, hands down, the Baby Names section on Parents Connect (though the recent addition of video to the site is making me crazy). They offer a cool feature that allows you to find names with a similar feel to a particular name, or names that sound similar. This becomes useful if you really like a name but can't use it because it has high hits on Google, or doesn't meet one of the other criteria. Now you can easily find a different one that "feels" the same.

I hope this list will help, if you're considering pen names. Have you already chosen a pen name or plan on using one? What were your criteria?

The Non-Fiction World

by Darke Conteur

Most of the posts on this blog deal with genre fiction, but I wanted to take a moment and talk about non-fiction.

Memoirs, self-help, academic, there are so many types of non-fiction; it’s as varied as genre fiction, but unlike genre fiction, the main thing you need to sell your book is a platform. Some kind of credentials that says you know—or are qualified—to write this particular book. This is most evident with self-help or any academic novels. Here are several key things I found very interesting.

Platform is EVERYTHING in non-fiction. That notion was driven home at a recent writing seminar I attended, and the main thing they suggested for new authors to use to build their platform? Self-publishing. According to the speakers, the best way for non-fiction publishers to sign you on is to have a certain number of books already sold. If the number is high, they see it as testament that your book is good, and they are willing to RE-PRINT that book and distribute it to a wider audience. Yeah, floored me too.

Now, memoirs are a different read. While they still follow the same path as self-help and academic, you better have one Hell of a story to tell. Sorry, just surviving a horrible disease doesn’t cut it anymore, but surviving a horrible disease by administrating your own biopsy skills while living on a frozen tundra where the next shipment of supplies aren’t due for another six months, is gold. (HINT: Think researcher in Antarctica).

Children’s books are another big seller, but I was astonished to learn that they suggested you market your story to the PARENTS, and not the child. After all, it’s the parents who are buying and reading the story, not the children.

One thing that genre fiction has over non-fiction is numbers in the digital market. From what I could gather, non-fiction is slower than Big Publishing to delve into eBooks. Perhaps that’s because genre fiction is written by more people, I don’t know, even the speakers couldn’t explain that one, but they are gathering more interest.

With the digital tsunami rolling through the publishing industry it will certainly be interesting to see what the future holds for this branch of the publishing world.

Twitter 101 For Writers

by Calista Taylor

As writers, one of the most important things we can do to ensure our success is to build a platform. And since these things take time, I recommend starting as soon as you're able, rather than the month before your publication date.

There are many ways to go about getting followers, but I have found the easiest way, hands down, is Twitter. Not only is it easy to get followers, but each of your tweets (if you've used your name/pen name) will add another hit for YOU when someone searches for your name on Google. Personally, I think that's HUGE, because if someone's trying to find me or my books, I want to give them the most avenues to me and my sites.

I cannot recommend Twitter enough, and when I do recommend it, I usually get the same response—"But I have nothing to tweet about, and I don't want to keep talking about what I had for lunch." Trust me when I tell you, we don't want to hear about it either. BUT that's not really what Twitter is about, and it's certainly not the way to use Twitter for effectively building a platform. Instead, why not tweet about a great blog post you just read, or tweet a snippet about what you're currently working on? Still too difficult? Then you can just retweet (RT) someone else's tweet. Best of all, it takes up very little time to build a following—15 minutes every few days is plenty—and at just 140 characters per tweet, it's quick.

Easy, right? Here's some information to make it even easier and to help you find your way around.

• Though Twitter is fantastic, I find it far easier to use a program designed to maximize ease of use. Here's a quick rundown of all the available Twitter clients, so you can find something that will work best for you. I personally like TweetDeck not only for ease of use, but because it allows you to add as many columns (for searches) as you'd like. Recent rumors also have Twitter in talks to purchase TweetDeck.
• In order to address someone in Twitter, just put an @ in front of their twitter name.
• The way to maximize the amount of people your posts will reach is to include hashtags (#) with your tweets. Hashtags are similar to category tags, so if someone does a search that includes the hashtag you've included, they'll see your post. There are several hashtags for writers. Here's a list from Daily Writing Tips. Hashtags are also used to conduct live chats, and Debbie Ohi has a current schedule at her blog (not to mention all sorts of other great Twitter related posts). The hashtags I use most often are #writetip, #pubtip and #amwriting. You will also see a lot of #WW and #FF. These are short for Writer Wednesday and Follow Friday, which are shout-outs to let others know the people in the list are worth following.
• I briefly mentioned RT's. Retweeting is a great way to pass on information you've found useful, and if you found it useful, then it's good to spread the love. It's ok to trim the tweet, as long as you don't alter the meaning of it. Just remember to keep the original poster's name in the tweet so they get credit. Also, if someone RT's something you tweeted, it's polite to thank them.
• Unlike Facebook, where someone friends/follows you only if they know you, that's not the case with Twitter. People will follow you if they like your tweet, your bio, or because of a #WW or #FF. They'll also follow you to try and promote themselves. Do you need to follow back? Not always. Also, you may suddenly lose a follower or two. Don't let it bother you. It's nothing personal.
• Make sure you complete your bio, and you add a link to your site or blog (if you have one). A picture or avatar is also a good idea, and remember, the picture that turns up is TINY, so make sure the picture you use can be easily identified and is a clear image. Also, I highly advise using your name or pen name, rather than something completely unrelated to your writing identity.
• A great way to get followers is to follow other people who you find interesting. For the most part, if you follow someone, they'll likely follow you back. Also, participating in the live chats and using hashtags to join in discussions are great ways to get followers and find like people to follow. And by all means, comment on other people's tweets.

I hope this makes Twitter less intimidating. And an unexpected surprise to come about after tweeting a while? It makes you damn good at tightening up your writing. Who knew?

Have you recently ventured onto Twitter? Or are you a longtime fan? Has it helped you build your platform?