Apparently Pen Names Are Controversial Now

I posted on my Instagram a few weeks ago (wow, has it been that long??) about how I am debating making a new pen name. I decided in those intervening weeks that I am definitely making a new pen name. My reasoning behind this decision is manifold, but I haven’t actually executed it yet for another set of reasons. I thought I’d share both sets here, beginning with why I haven’t made the changeover yet.

However, before I get into my reasoning, I wanted to address an ongoing conversation in the bookish community about authors' use of pseudonyms. I saw this debate happening over on Threads, and while I haven't weighed in over there...hooooo boy is it easy to get canceled via Threads...I decided to share my thoughts here.

On the one side are the authors who have built their audience and writing careers around pen names instead of their legal ones. Sometimes a single author will even have more than one (i.e. different pen names for different genres they write in, especially if those genres are for different age groups). Technically, Melissa Ivanco-Murray is a pseudonym...I kept my last name when I got married, so it’s only hyphenated in my public profiles. And now you know! My big secret is out.

There are many different reasons authors use pen names, and those reasons vary from author to author. I’m going to be focusing on fiction authors here, because nonfiction authors are more likely to use their legal names since they’re credentials are tied to their real lives. But in general, authors of fiction use pen names to separate their real-world identities (and jobs) from their published works. This separation, depending on what they write and what they do for a day-job, can be a matter of not just job security, but their own safety—and that of their families.

I know of at least one writer of erotica and adult romance who works as an elementary school teacher in real life, was doxed by one of the parents, who then got her fired. She even received death threats. And that’s just one example; being “outed” as a writer (and this is especially true of romance, but it applies to other genres as well if there is any kind of sensitive content) can also have negative career consequences for those who work for the government, military, or any other public-facing position.

As I mentioned, safety is another issue. Again, this applies doubly to romance authors, but authors regardless of genre are at risk. In the age of the internet and social media and the rise of parasocial behavior, stalking is a very real concern. An author’s (or any celebrity/public figure, really) fans—not everyone, obviously, but enough—feel entitled to creators’ lives. Every aspect of it. That can lead to dangerous outcomes. Showing up at their work or home, even, demanding access to their families. Social media creates a false sense of closeness between a public figure and their followers, and not everyone respects that that closeness really only goes one-way.

However, along with that sense of entitlement (again, by some, not all) to accessing an author’s personal life, there’s another factor at work here. Some fans want to know an author’s true identity because—and we have silicon valley tech bros to thank for this one, ugh—they want to make sure they are REAL people, not purveyors of AI slop. I completely understand this concern, because I myself am committed to supporting HUMAN authors and artists and musicians and other creatives. Every day, it’s getting harder and harder to tell the difference, because these large language models are training off human work. With each flaw or “tell” we publicize about them, they course correct. However, I don’t believe that genuine concern outweighs author’s concerns for their own safety and livelihoods.

Thus, I have decided, for multiple reasons (including the above) to publish my fiction work going forward under a pen name. Any nonfiction publications will continue to make use of my real name—or one adjacent to it—because that work is tied to my academic credentials. However, this next book I publish, and all others, will make use of a pen name.

1. I haven’t actually settled on which pen name I want to use for my fiction work going forward. It’s a big decision, after all.

2. Actually transferring everything over to that new pen name will be a HUGE effort, and I simply don’t have the time right now to dedicate to building a new web site, making new social profiles, updating my mailing list, updating all my promos and graphics and SEO...it will be an absolutely colossal undertaking, for which I have neither the time nor energy at the moment.

3. I have a few outstanding queries with agents and small press publishers, who have my current socials and website. If I were to suddenly change everything over, they wouldn’t be able to find me and verify that I am, in fact, a real person.

All for now. I’ll be back in a few days with the next installment in my Slavic Warrior Women series—some of that nonfiction I was talking about. Until then!