PSHHHT!: "Alexa Papa Giuseppe's, please come to the main office"

I changed my Echo Dot to respond to _"computer"_ versus _"Alexa."_

I loved hearing your story of how and why you use a pen name! 😄 Marie Garwood is my pen name! Marie is my mom’s middle name, and Garwood is my dad’s middle name. It actually sounds like a real name to me, and it’s a tribute to both of my parents simultaneously. 😊

Just subscribed and binge-watching your channel now.

I use a fake name for all of my social media, but would also use a pen name in the future. Protection of privacy is very important.

I love the sound of your voice. I’m trying to get things done while listening to different author channels and you are the only one with a voice that keeps me engaged with just audio. You’re also engaging to watch. I’m loving hearing about your writing experiences. Thank you for sharing.

I think I'm going to use a pen name in case if i want to write about more sensitive topics like sexual abuse or my experiences and i don't want my past abuser to see. But i also don't want him to take that from me.

I have a full pen name I'm using since... recently. Because I actually don't want people I know (wink wink : my family) to stumble upon some of my writing pieces and go "woah, that's what's going on in this nugget of hers??" and then hate me or look at me differently (I write mostly horror). Is it weird? That, and also, my real name is long, and awful to pronounce (even though i love my name), and I hate having to spell it every damn time.

I feel you. My name is Benedetta and I’m Italian, but now I’m living in New Zealand. It’s really funny when they try to pronounce it but also a bit frustrating.

I choose my pen name because I didn't think my name would look aesthetically pleasing on a book.

I have two last names, so I use one of them exclusively for work, the other exclusively for creative stuff, and both together for official documents :)

I use a pen name for the same reason! My last name is Polish and no one knows how to say it or spell it.

I’m getting married soon, and my plan is to publish under my maiden name. It’s much more author-y, and easy to pronounce. We both have German names, but mine is easy and his is a train wreck haha (also I have some poetry under my current name and I want to keep it all the same.

Hi, from GA! (waves) I had agonized about a possible pen name for a while because I am incredibly indecisive about things like that. But then it just kind of dropped into my mind out of nowhere- at least, the first name did. I loved it so much and it was just such a solid "yes" from the second it appeared. And then my best friend provided the perfect last name to go with it. So, it's a complete departure from my own name. My first book comes out mid-Jan and I'm using my own name for it because it's a different genre than what I usually write and, as I mentioned, it is my first book. (I was invited to take part in a series that features several authors.) We'll see how this goes. lol

this has nothing to do with the topic of the video but i love it when her cat walks past during the video .

Is your last name DiGiorno? I'm bad with naming things in general. my brother also wants to be a writer and on one of his creative writing assignments he signed with a whole list of possible pen names. I saw one that I liked and was like "that one's perfect, you should go with that" but he wasn't into it. Years later I thought that if I liked the name so much and if my brother was going to toss it aside anyway, I should snatch it up for myself.

I have a pen name for similar professional reasons. My IRl self is for professional science and education circles, but I want my fiction writing to be something different. I simply chose my mother's maiden name as my last, and shortened my first name to my nickname. Similar to you...keeps it still "me" but is able to not carry all that extra weight.

Excellent points all, and they're part of the reason I chose to use pen names - the idea of separating fiction from journalism and non-fiction also rings true to me (although I've ended up writing very little of the latter). Two points I'd add: 1) I write different books in very different genres, so I use a variety of pen names that match each genre and that are also supplied with a biography that is also logical and (I think) appealling. For me, the pen name and the convincing biography are part of the narrative. 2) A drawback to using a pen name is that family, friends, acquaintances, neighbors etc. will never know you wrote a book unless you hit them over the head with it, thus closing off a potential market for your works. While this might represent a small proportion of potential readers, it's a start and it could mushroom into something bigger. With a pseudonym, you're stuck with raw marketing, and that's a pretty tough thing to be stuck with!

Thank you for the video! I appreciate the time and effort. Listen, I considered using a Pen Name. I'm bilingual and was concerned about short-minded people not being in tune, with the fact, that I prefer writing in English instead of my language of origin. Anyhow, I still use my real name... I'm sure other Authors had considered using Pen Names...

I would imagine that lots of people would have trouble with Donne, too. I can just hear them going, "DAWN?" "Dawn EE?" "Dunn EE?"

Also Donne means ‘Women’ in Italian, so I thought it was on purpose lol.

I’ve always used pen names online and I like finding new ones for different stories and genres.

Very good point about personal branding! I am a journalist and have always thought I wanted my real name on my book one day. Now I'm wondering whether that's such a good idea after all. I write YA fantasy as well which is very different from journalism.

anybody noticed the cat tail that was swaying in the background throughout the video?? XDD So CUTE!!

You just set my Echo off too XD

I am thinking of using a pen name - Kavisha Marris - which is an anagram of my real name. Kavisha means poet in Hindi which works. Marris means of the sea in Latin. I think it’s easier to pronounce and catchier than my actual name.

Hey Alexa! Thank you for all of the effort and heart you put into educating aspiring writers. You offer some really great insight 😊💕 For my part, my pen name/online name comes from what my dad had wanted to name me and a family name on his side of the family. We lost him too young to brain cancer so it's important to me to try and keep that connection. The name is a bit unusual so I'm not entirely sure what the response will be as I develop content and expand my online footprint, but we'll see what happens 🙄 🤞

I chose to use a penname for three reasons. The main one is to distinguish my writing output from my pre-existing career which is also in a creative field. The second is to bump my surname a couple of letters higher up the alphabet so my work might appear a bit earlier on in lists and in the sorting order on bookshelves. The third is because it seems these days a lot of people have a habit of preferring either male or female authors, so I decided I wanted to use initials so that people with such biases could happily assume I tick their preferred box either way. I chose my name in a way that if you say the penname's surname first followed by the initials, it will sound very similar to my legal name.

Could you do a video on how to choose a pen name? I don't know...I'm having trouble coming up with ideas, It could be a short video.

I would like this 60 times for what you said about being proud of your name if that is how you feel. Right on, Alexa!

I am glad that Alexa Donne shares some details via the detailed youtube feature of Why I Chose To Use A Pen Name via the Alexa Donne youtube channel to help a writer more carefully decide about utilizing pennames in writing.

If I ever get around to actually finishing/writing my fantasy novel, I will probably use a pen name because I don't think my name is very interesting and there are a lot of people with the same first and second name as me (there are even those with the same first, second and middle name!) Yea, my name is super common, it seems.

I write hard science fiction. We''re talking diamond-hard with no faster-than-light, etc. I also write fantasy, with magic that works basically on abject system-free dream logic. These works attract different audiences and I'd prefer not to confuse them too much.

As a fellow Italian American whose first AND last names are routinely butchered... I get you! And also-screw ‘em! I totally agree, make them learn to spell and pronounce it correctly, it’s the least they could do after mangling our names for so long haha. I am considering a pen name, but for different reasons. I think I’ll go the initials route and use my first and middle initial and full last name because I think my fantasy might be more adult rather than YA and, as I’ve heard, there’s some pretty blatant sexism in adult fantasy and I really want to avoid that if possible. Great video, thanks for posting. As always, looking forward to the next one!

Pen Name Club all the way! I'm in school for pharmacy and I feel it will be odd if when I graduate I have a YA book linked to my name. My concern is it affecting my impressions to possible employers. I have a traditional Indian name so I'm doing the same as you and looking in my family tree to try and maintain my heritage/personal connections but detach those two sides of myself :)

Alexa thank you so much for this video! The thought of writing under a pen name has really helped me to put pen to paper. I have so much that I want to write but I just felt like well... Let me just explain a little bit: I've decided to self publish (I haven't yet but....) and my mother's reaction was exactly that! "Don't you want to see your name on your book?" Hm, not really. lol For me, it's not that I don't love my name.. I do but I am considering writing fiction loosely based on personal experiences. There are a few questions that I'd love to ask someone before I officially decide on the pen name idea but I am definitely going that way. As nice as it would be to see my name on my books it's just not as important to me as getting what I have to share out and I just don't feel like I can do that under my name even if it's fiction and loosely based on life events.

John Donne is one of your forefathers? That's an incredible thing to know and I am so happy, excited for you! I also wish to use a pen name because my name is long. I really enjoy your videos and learn lots of new info. ❤💐

My first name is blessedly long with a myriad of short forms for me to use with my less professional writing. Though depending on which way I go for my own writing, I am considering a pen name. Similar to V. E. Schwab, I might like to use my initials and last name, or perhaps use a slightly different version of my last name.

I definitely relate to this so much. I’m extra confused because I’ve been married 10+ years now and wonder if I should take any of that history into consideration … or if I should just stick with Deanna Christine - I use Deanna Christine on KZfaq because regardless of my surname I’ve always been Deanna Christine

So her name is Alexa Dominos?

Haha, I feel you about the last name thing. My maiden name is Polish. It's only two syllables, and it's basically spelled phonetically, even in English (ie you don't need any familiarity with Polish language at all to pronounce it right). Theoretically it should be extremely easy to pronounce, but *so many people* would mess it up and get visibly nervous trying to say it lol. I was like, it's not hard, just read it the way you think it would be! But they'd mispronounce it half the time anyway, sometimes being puzzlingly off the mark lol. Now, I'm trying to become a pro artist, just getting things started, and I'm running into the opposite problem - my married last name is a little plain, and it kind of feels too plain for the art I make, so I'm considering switching to a more interesting one, haha.

My name combination is quite uncommon and it would work with my genre, but my first name is easy to miss pronounce so I use a childhood nickname. My last name is fairly common but an odd spelling so I chose a family name as my last name

I love my real first & middle name, which is Dylan Thomas. But I can't use that for obvious reasons. I have the same issue that I can't see my surname on the cover of a book. I have used the name Arcturus Dean for fanfiction works, and has been an online pen name of mine for many years.

Thank you for making this video. It is super interesting and I appreciate your sharing the story. Other authors on youtube tend to talk about the pros and cons but very little about their personal story! (Some don't even share if it's they are using a pen name or real name...which I understand.) I want to use a pen name. Honestly, my last name already sounds like a pen name. It is only 3 letters long and with the first name Kat it actually sounds funny. Back during college track my coach constantly had to repeat that yes, it's my real name, and as a freelance writer sometimes I get emails back saying 'we don't accept pseudonames'... The issue is that when you search my name irl, you not only come find stuff from me, but also some weird things (uhm, like naked women etc...totally NOT me and NOT YA), and my name is taken for url too. Also, despite having a super short last name, it is still constantly misprounced...which is no big deal, sometimes I purposely misprounce it to help out customer service reps etc. I am also not sure if I want to mix my YA stuff with my other current and former professional life... I like the name of Kat di Sorrento, because when I was young we've lived in a town called Meta di Sorrento (in Italy)... But since I am not Italian this may be weird. This may also not be a good last name for YA... What do you think (about Kat di Sorrento)? I am still considering other options. (I don't have a middle name and other last names in my family are hard to spell and look ridiculous with my first name.) My only concern is with using a pen name is that I wonder if it will feel 'real' seeing my pen name on a book or not?! Does seeing Alexa Donne on your books makes you feel the same 'fuzzy' and proud as seeing your name irl? Maybe it's a dumb question. You are proud of writing a book AND getting published, not the name on the cover...still...

As bad as that is, one time the administrator of my school mispronounced my name, Elisha, as Alesha during an awards chapel in front of the school. What's worse is that it was a Christian school and the administrator had gone to Sunday school with my mom for a long time so she had to know how to say the name properly. (It's Elisha, like the prophet that came after Elijah and had a similar name. There is no version of the name Alesha that is spelled the same, I know, I checked. Elisha is a boys name.)

I’m on the issue of legally changing my last name that’s involved on my mother’s side, but I can’t directly use her maiden name because with my family’s name on my father’s side is still obvious…however I could use a pen name for more practical uses but I have a hard time which last name to use. I could go by I.W (Indigo Waters) if all else fails

Most people can't spell or pronounce Puddephatt, but it's good for SEO rankings. I wanted to switch to Paula Michelle, my first and middle name, but really, there are many others out there going by Paula Michelle, way more than I would have guessed. Alexa is a cool name, even if you are an "Alexa ranking" nowadays. I knew someone with a daughter called Alexia. I like that, too. Good video. Great about the John Donne connection. 😃

I was a lurker, not a subscriber, until I watched this video. Good stuff here.

As a person that barely uses their real name or face online. I can understand a lot of those reasons. Keeping the lives separate is my reasoning. Though I don't technically have it on a book that is widely available. Thankfully. It was one I wrote in school and was/still is in the school library. It was horrible and made no sense but was pretty fun to make. It was more of a shits and giggles type of thing. I'm more of a half-assed crappy fanfic/short story writer than an actual writer. I still suck but creating adventures that are enjoyable to me is the best part. It's like having a lunch break at work but having no clue what you're having or the things you will see until it is over.

I’m choosing to use a pen name primarily for privacy reasons, after discussing it with my parents. I was on the fence though, until a few weeks ago when literally five people asked me to spell my short, simple(I thought) Germanic last name. And the truth is, in my part of the country there were a lot of German immigrants, but in the rest of the country the Americanized version is probably more common. I’m pleased with the name I chose - My mother’s middle name, which I’ve always thought is beautiful + a simple British last name. It made my mom really happy, and it does reflect my genetic/ethnic background just as much as my real last name. AND it fits in perfectly with my genre. Like you, I googled and searched key websites before securing domain and social media accounts.

I’m actually thinking of using a pen name for similar reasons to what you stated. My last name is very Slavic and eminently impossible for people to pronounce (including teachers when I was in high school). My family is also mostly Anglo/Irish, and I’ve always identified more with my Irish heritage, so I was going to go through my family tree and pick a couple different names, because I also want to write in different genres where using the same name as a YA author name probably won’t be a benefit.

Yay Italian! 💪👍🇮🇹 I, on the other hand, am 100% Italian and my name doesn't sound Italian whatsoever. 😂

Just starting to write, but I think I will probably use a pen name. I’ll be keeping my first name and changing my last name as well. I made the decision for similar reasons as the ones you outlined, and funnily enough, mine is also a family name that starts with the same letter as my irl last name :)

I'm going to use a pen name because I'm a high school teacher and I'm writing a M/M romance novel (hopefully more) and it will not go over well if I published under my real name. Now, my last name is Portuguese, and no one could pronounce it until Nelly Furtado became popular. I love my middle name but need a last name. So, that's what I'm working on. :)

I use a pen name because I feel like my artist and writer self are separate people sometimes. I was brought up thinking that I should focus on one career goal. So for years, I had a lot of back and forth of whether I wanted to be a artist or a writer until I figured out that what I wanted was to tell stories and both things do that. But I still feel like art and writing are separate and to reflect that I came up with a pen name. My user name here is my given first name but my writer name 'Avionne' are a combination of letters from my middle and last name. So that, in a way, it's still me.

If you ever come to England, be sure to visit Shaw's Corner, the former home of George Bernard Shaw. It's just north of London and is now owned by the National Trust.

Great Video. I also like your down to earth approach.

Choosing an old family name as a pen name is actually a very cool option! I'm not really a writer (just a beginner actually) and I don't use my pen/online full name that much, but right now it's Wurth, which was the last name of my grand granddad, who was from Germany :D Though I might change it someday since I don't really feel that much German in myself (even tho my irl first name is also German lmao) and also I'm not exactly sure if I'm spelling that last name right xD I'm not even sure how to pronounce it sooo yeah, things are complicated

I find this so intriguing. My name is super distinctive but thankfully rare & I did consider a pen name briefly but I figured I had already been published as a journalist, I worked in radio as a newsreader for bit, also my dad was kind of well known so Google sort of had a track on me from about age 16 onward anyway so it seemed pointless. Although, apprently, there is (very strangely since I'm Irish with a very Irish name) an American with the same first and last name as me, who - from what I can see off Google - is a satanist, apparently. So THAT'S weird but.... uh, interesting! XD

I feel like my dad will understand me using a pen name due to the fact that he always tells the school to leave me out of pictures when possible and really values privacy

Got to 3:12 and my brain went "yeah, I should probably use a pen name" 😂I think my last name is really easy to pronounce, but it go butchered in front of a couple thousand people at my high school graduation. Plus my name is attached to my parent's business, so I think some separation between that and my fiction work would be a good idea.

I love this video- also, seen your cat in the background!! It looks like a floofy cat!

I had some real trouble coming up with a pen name. Like you, I tried to mine the family tree, but I happen to be blessed with ancestors bearing either incredibly common OR incredibly difficult names, so no luck there. Then I tried to come up with a genre name, and specifically wanted a friendly sounding name (think Summerfield, or such), but 1. those were all taken already in some form, and 2. what if I decide to write a horror story later on? That would never take off with a name like that. In the end I came up with an anagram of my first and last name, that actually looks like it could be a real name. IRL I go by my middle name, so even people who know both names don't catch on that it is a respelling of my actual name.

You're such a beautiful person. Thank you for sharing this video! It was enjoyable to watch!

My real name is a perfect American pen name for romance or YA, however, I am currently working on a historical romance novel, that plays in Germany (I am German and write German). I could use my German maiden name, but NOBODY ever spells it right. But using my real or my maiden name would help me sell books, because both my father and my husband are widely known people (not famous, but they have their connections). If I ever publish, it is going to be a tough decision.

_four years later_ I've been fiddling with the idea of a pen name because my real name has letters and sounds that simply don't exist in the English language, and English speakers can never get it right.

My first name is often confused with Christina and Christy Johnson is really freaking common. The first name I picked as one I liked and easy to spell and pronounce and the last name is the last name of one of my favorite Robins (DC comics) and a Disney animal creature. Googled that and bought the domain and set up a website

"The reasonable [wo]man adapts [her]self to the world!" --GBShaw

My first name is the one of a recognized author, only with a slight spelling difference, and my last name is the one of another author from my country, and people have asked me if he was my ancestor, so I decided (for now at least, since I haven't published anything with trad or indie pub) to use a pen name. I did choose a name that shared the initial of my first name, and my last name I chose just sounded good.

I know this video is 3 yrs old but I’m gonna comment anyways. I picked my pen name by using my middle name and my mother’s maiden name. Ive always had a deep connection with my Portuguese roots and the meaning of my name is super stellar too. 😊

I'm also in the long-Italian-last-name-nobody-can-spell-or-pronounce club! It's made worse by the fact somebody lost a "c" en route to Ellis Island and it isn't even spelled correctly in Italian to begin with. Since I'm in academia, and the novel I'm working on is related to my discipline, in the perfect future in which I manage to get it published, it needs to be under my legal name so that I can list it on my CV with no drama. (There'll surely be enough drama for including a piece of urban fantasy fiction, but whatevs.) I do think that if I were to write in a different genre, particularly explicit romance and/or erotica, I'd use a pen name, also because academia. It was cool hearing your process. I'd also gone back a couple of generations looking at surnames, and I think I know what I'd use. If not, it'll end up as a character name, because I really like it.

luv ur vids!!!! can u do one on brainstorming ideas or a Q and A?

Someday I plan to be a full time writer but today I have a career as an attorney. When I realize my writing dream, I want to be able to keep my writing career distinguished from my legal career. (I also have a very unwieldy last name...couple that with my first name and forgetaboutit.)

My last name is also Italian, but it's like an Ellis island-type misspelling, so it has a Spanish spelling. I'm considering a pen-name so I don't take support away from writers of color.

Your idea of how to create a pen name is a good one, but as someone who is adopted, it's hard to feel connected to the family I know. Any other tips for creating one?

I'm phonetically respelling my surname. If it's going to be misspelled, it will be by my own hand. :) Alternatively, leave my surname the initial T (or Tea, which is conveniently related to the occupation of origin). Single syllable first, middle, and last. Simply sounds damn good, eh. Bonus: clean search results.

How do you go about telling your literary agent/publisher that you’re using a pen name?

My story is somewhat similar. Since my real last name is Smith and I go by Sam, I knew I wouldn't be able to use it. It's way too common; there's already a singer and a sports writer with the same name. It also didn't seem very 'horror writer' to me. I thought of family names, but none of the other surnames in my family started with an S. Since I wanted that similarity, I went on a search on google for surnames ending in S, wrote down my favorites, then googled them. Schill is the one that won cleanest record.

I use a pen name actually for one of the reasons you chose yours. - I'm related to and share a surname with an extremely well known classical author. Said author was very religious, which doesn't bother me in the slightest, but it might bother potential readers/viewers. In part I also feel like it's a big name to live up to and I kind of want my work to stand by itself rather than riding on any coat tails.

If I ever publish I won't use a pen name but will do the initials of my irst and second name then just do my last name purely because people can't pronounce my name and I kinda wanted to do the j.k.rowling thing so also people wouldn't rlly know my gender and discriminate my poor old book for that

I went through my family tree for names too. It didn’t work out thought. Higgins is too popular in the book world and one of my other options was Buffenbarger....

The worst part is when you come up with the most amazingest pen name and it’s TAKEN

Even though I have basically no contact with my dad's family (except for my great-grandmother), I feel like seeing my real name on the cover would be something special, so I don't want to use a pen name. Of course, that's just my opinion and it might change in the future, but right now, I want to use my own name (even though it's also not English, so, we'll see how it's going to go :)).

You are distantly related to John Donne?! Wow! I love his "The good Morrow" so so much :-)

I write under AK Stein in honor of my great grandmother. I was named after her and I loved her.

I have many names (5 to be exact), so ofc I never even considered using them all 😂 I considered many combinations (some of them being to use initials etc), until I decided to go with my second first name (yea I have two) and my stepdad’s last name, because it simply felt perfect 👌🏻

I am planning to use a pen name, but not to separate myself from my author-self (as so many authors seem to do). I had a small child after I divorced and I kept my married last name so we would be the same. I will be using my original last name as my pen name because it represents more the real me (and my son is now an adult and has been for years, so he won't care).

I have the professional/writer split reason too, I'm a public servant with a LinkedIn profile which isn't going to fit well with the sci-fi I'm writing. Also my name is super common and the same as a semi famous British soldier - making topping search results an uphill battle. I chose a name which turned up nothing competitive upon googling :)

I will use a pen name because my last name is 1: Always getting butchered 2: So unique and uncommon that I'd easily be tracked down on Google I think there's only one or two people on the entire planet that share my name...while that's cool and unique, nobody has every pronounced it correctly on their first try, and people regularly spell it wrong.

I use a pen name because my real name combination is so common, even among writers. I didn't want to add my middle name or initial for publishing, as i think it makes it clunky. People would have a hard time finding me if i used my real name. Thanks for the video!

I have an unusual first name that has gotten popular with the rise of a certain furniture store and a certain car make, and my last name has been butchered all my life and is almost always put me at the end of every list, line, and queue. Also, I’ve written LOTS of fan fiction that i would rather people not associate with my public face. I will almost certainly be using a pen name if and when I get published.

I'm having trouble deciding. People screw up my last name a whole lot and have trouble spelling it. I've been called Pritchard and Bridget. My first name is technically a male name and I also don't want people screwing that up either by thinking I'm a male or calling me Autumn. At the same time, though, I have an unique name and I know a lot of people I've known in the past would buy my book just because it's on the cover. I have a lot of reasons to use a penname and a lot of reasons not to.

6:30 I’m of French heritage and where I live we mostly are. But when I lived in Vancouver nobody wanted to pronounce my second last name. It was annoying because yes I get it it is intimidating when you haven’t heard it before. Now with bullet journal every body is pronouncing it likes it’s no big deal: BuJo (my last name is Bujold, but I don’t pronounce the last two letters, ) 😩

thanks Alexa! I appreciate your videos! When signing books does is it ok for an author to sign with their pen name, or are they legally bound to sign with their birth name? Thanks so much!

My birth name is super common. I found eight book authors on Amazon with the same name. I picked my gran's maiden name after an extensive Google search for other users. I also made sure the domain name was available.

omg i'm italian and i just found out you are too that's sooo cool

This is a year late, but my actual name is just too common. Not just first and last, but together as well! It's so frustrating to hear my name and it's meant for someone else

Haha. Never really thought of the troubles that Alexas would have when they owned an Echo 😅

"Fuck 'em!" Awesome!

Man, beware: You may end up opening up ancestry account mid video and getting sucked into a vortex for a number of untold hours to find a cool family name ! lol... Love it Alexa!