To pen name or not to pen name

One reason I’ve been too busy to update my blog in the past six months is that I’m working on a kinda secret project. I’ve been writing in a category and genre completely different than I have for the past ten…um, twelve years.

It’s been fun to explore a new genre and to write for a new age category. Really fun. And I plan to work towards publication of this new project.

Hence the big question: to use a pen name or not?

Using my real name will make promotion so much easier. I can build on the base I’ve already created and I won’t have to fear someone finding out who I really am. I won’t have to duplicate social media efforts and have multiple web sites.

But, using a pen name means I can protect my real identity and my reputation as a children’s writer. And just because I’m experimenting with something new doesn’t mean I’m turning my back on my MG and YA projects, so I do need to protect my reputation. Someday, my novels for tweens and teens will be published and I wouldn’t want to confuse my readers.

If you’ve used a pen name, why? How have you handled the marketing and promotion piece? Would you do it differently if you could start over?

If you’ve chosen not to use a pen name, why not?

I’d love to hear from you so please leave a comment with your answer to the above questions or just some support. I wouldn’t have survived this long on the journey without my friends, so thanks to all of you!

Reasons to write YA

The end of the year is a good time to look back before looking forward.  So here is my list of reasons I’m glad to be a young adult writer.

• I read lots and lots of awesome YA books.
• I hang out on Twitter with lots and lots of awesome YA writers/authors.
• I learn about new awesome books before they are even published.
• I relive some awful, embarrassing, or wonderful, empowering moments of my life.
• I suffer teen-like angst about my writing abilities.
• I relive all the self-doubt I thought I had conquered more years ago than I plan to let on in this public forum.
• I have made awesome friends through writing, including (but not limited to) my critique partners.
• I have conversations about my favorite topic (books!) with my teenaged niece and nephew.
• I am the family YA book expert.
• I compile lists of books for my 7-year-old son to read now or in the future.
• I attend conferences with other writers and agents, editors, book publicists, etc. to learn more about childrens’ publishing, which has the added benefit of giving this Mama a very short break from being a Mama.
• I read any time of day and call it research.
• The manager of the café in our library knows me.
• I read my friends manuscripts and get to help them make them better.

Feel free to add your own reasons in the comments.

Yay YA!