Do you use a Pen-Name?

Certainly using a pen-name is a commonality amongst freelance writers for a variety of reasons; whether it’s because a writer wants to keep their writing persona separate from their personal life, because they simply don’t like their name or because they don’t want to confuse their readership by branching out into new genera’s (such as writing racy romance novels and then publishing a children’s book). Whatever the case may be, pen-names are commonly used by writers these days. The question remains, however, is the act of using a pen-name helpful for your writing business, or is it ultimately bad for your bottom line?

Personally, I’ve found it difficult to maintain the integrity of a pen-name, and I think that’s generally because of the way that I conduct business and the target market for my writing services. I am a web content writer; my primary function is providing content that is used on websites and for internet marketing, both fields in which I have an extensive background in. Taking this into consideration, currently 30%-40% of my one-time writing gigs result in a long-term business relationship that falls beyond the scope of providing writing services; I end up providing consultation and sometimes development or optimization services for a large portion of my writing clients, and it’s extremely difficult to maintain a pseudonym when I am in constant contact with a person on a weekly basis.

While I certainly endorse the use of pen-names, for me, this tactic hasn’t worked out so well. Because I use different emails for my personal correspondences and ghostwriting communications, there have been times when I’ve accidentally replied to a client’s email with the wrong email address. . . this is quite an embarrassing situation if you’ve ever been subject to it yourself; an awkward conversation ensues due to the confusion, and I’ve even lost a couple of clients because of it.

I know that other people have different experiences using pen-names, and I would love to hear your stories; whether it’s a good experience or a bad one, let me know what you think about this topic.