Multiple Pen Names?

[UncleJunior]

I've been considering using multiple pen names. Trying to publish illustrated erotica forced me to accept that I'm going to need to get behind a paywall and the wildly different terms of service on platforms that offer erotica mean that what gets me featured on one site gets me banned on another. My question is, since I'm going to need to write differently for different platforms, should I use multiple names to separate contemporary from taboo and smut from romance?

What? I can do romance. I just choose not to.

 

[Britva415]

should I

Hard to say. You haven’t stated what it is you’re worried about. So you might get different answers depending on what the concern specifically is.

 

[Belegon]

I used multiple Pen Names briefly in 2011-2012. Just as an experiment, to watch sales and see if they changed when I used a female pen name. I found that I did receive more immediate attention writing as Autumn Blade rather than Will Belegon, but that it fell off rather quickly to a more "normal" level. overall, it didn't amount to any great deal financially. Don't know how that will work now that so much of the market is self-publishing. I was writing both sets of stories for a traditional Electronic publisher.

 

[PeytonMirabelle]

There are several reasons to use multiple pen names. One is for marketing reasons, such as Belegon mentioned above. Another is to segregate your readership, since the last thing you want is a fan who reads your work from Genre A (say, regular romance) to pick up one of your works from Genre B (say, hardcore erotica) because they recognized your name, and then were totally put off by the subject matter.

I write traditional fantasy which, while not erotica, tends more towards Game of Thrones adult-style content than Harry Potter. I also have a few fantasies written for mid-grade readers. I write those under different names, because I don't want someone to buy one of the YA books for their kid, then think one of my adult fantasies would be suitable just because I wrote the first one they got. Neither of those names is the one I use for erotica and my steamy romance books. I don't hide that I write these things, it's just to fence off my readership from stuff they don't want.

Does any of that make sense? To me, the biggest problem is paying enough attention to make sure I sign the right name--like on a book versus a tax return--at the right time.

 

[RejectReality]

I don't know of any venue that would ban your account for material posted at another venue. If that's your only concern, use one pen name, post a story on sites where it meets the content guidelines, and don't post it on sites where it doesn't. These places aren't worried about what you're posting anywhere else. They're only worried about what you're posting on theirs. I've got some that are only available here, and some that are only available elsewhere, and some that are 2 out of the 3 sites where I post.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

3 sites, 3 names

8 sites, 8 names

 

[MillieDynamite]

I write under Millie Dynamite for all my stories, except specific erotica. I write both in erotica and outside of it as Millie Dynamite. But for more controversial stories, incest, pseudo incest, and rape stories, I use another pen name and don't publish under that pen name here. The alternate pen name is only used at ZBookStore and its free site. All my other stories are currently on Amazon, but my publisher is about to publish to a broader readership through IngramSpark. If I ever create and use another pen, it will only be for mainstream work.

 

[UncleJunior]

Thank you for your responses.

One of the things I was concerned with was turning readers away by not segregating genres that don't overlap. Even here, there's a difference between incest and step-cest and the readers that like one do not like the other. I recently received a request for a gay story. Wouldn't bother me, but I'm fully aware that the first time some of my current readers see cock-on-cock action, it's an unsubscribe.

Writing in any genre I get a request in, I also tend to paint the line when it comes to the TOS on a lot of platforms. Amazon and Patreon draw hard lines at any family-on-family action, step or closer. Other sites are willing to look the other way so long as they're not too related and some, like Smashwords, do not have lines to cross. What gets you featured on one gets your account banned on the other.

I was considering multiple pen names when it became obvious that there are times when you don't cross the streams. I don't want to lose my entire smut empire just because someone interprets minotaur on lamia action as bestiality and bans my account.

 

[BeautyInTheStruggle]

3 sites, 3 names

8 sites, 8 names

Hypothetically speaking, or is there 8 sites? In which case.... care to share?

I can't answer OP's question unfortunately and all mine kind of have the same themes, well, kinda. But I did debate a rather long time about the name to use here as my default username probably doesn't need to be connected to things on here.