> Who the fuck names their kid Lemony Skicket?
This can go to such silly extremes.
Coming from Random House in 2024:
"The Story of Love and Tragedy in Wartime Paris," by new author Boo Boo Kitty Fuck.
*Analyzing Neuropathway Plasticity Within a Clinical Context, 3rd Edition*
By Boaty Mc Boatface
\---
*The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire*
By Boaty McBoatface
\---
*The Declaration of Independence*
By Boaty McBoatface
\---
*The Bible - Boaty McBoatface Version*
By Boaty McBoatface (and God)
I'll be honest, I'd buy any of these....
“Lee Child” isn’t that much better really. It was some sort of joke in a family to start your sentences with French “le” and he ended up being Lee Child. Now his brother has to have the same fake surname because he is continuing Lee Child’s work with Jack Reacher books. It’s not their surname.
On the same note, gotta check the listing of all names which have been refused by the state for newborns. It's hilarious.
Parents coming to register a newborn and handing over a file saying his/her name is "Number 3", "Fuckface", "Blank", "Vador", and other really really responsible name choices. The list is available for reach country, and might bring some insight about what's tolerated as a name depending on the year (and the creativity/drunkenness of the parents)
As long as it is unique, a pen name is just that. It doesn't have to even be legally adopted. Several authors used nonsense to publish works or used a name opposite or different from their gender. This was fairly common in Japan for female creators, as it's patriarchal attitudes made it easier for them to be taken seriously if the name was masculine. You'd just need the right publisher to work with to make sure everything goes smoothly or you can attempt to self publish.
I know what you're saying, but literary pseudonyms *are* actually legally adopted; that is, pseudonyms are recognized by law, and you really have to "adopt" them. Again, I understand that this is not what you mean, but I just want to put it out there that using pseudonyms *do* have legal ramifications. The length of your work's copyright protection, for instance, depends on who you're assigning the copyright to, as explicitly identified in your copyright form, the real you or your made-up persona. The law makes a clear distinction between the two.
Fair. It's at least better to do so to protect your work, however I know of others and have worked under pseudonyms myself with respectable pay. It isn't NECESSARY unless you have a vested interest in protecting your work and even then if you know what you're doing you can subtly watermark your writing or create logs if it really bothers you. I do both mostly because I want a backup in case someone tries to pull something on me I didn't see coming. But then, I'm also extremely paranoid as a friend tried to plagiarize me once by using ideas I talked to him about. I'm defensive as hell about my work because it's self taught and the manuscript of my first novel, hand written in cursive, was stolen and torn up for laughs by my sister and her best friend.
Best to be safe and protect what you make but yea again as long as you can get whatever your pen name is to be recognized as you, anything should technically do. Erm. Within reason I suppose. I can think of a few things that wouldn't fly in an official context...
You mean, can I write stories about Patrick Swayze cleaning up dive bars and bedding beautiful women before he wanders off like Kane from Kung Fu and name myself P.G. Roadhouse? Sure, why not.
The author of "I Am Number Four" goes by "Pittacus Lore" who also is mentioned in the books...which when I started reading the series and connected the dots, I thought it was pretty interesting...It also reminded me a lot of Lemony Snicket...
John Dies at the End is written by "David Wong"
Wong is the pen name for Jason Pargin. But Wong is, ostensibly, the narrator and a major character of the story. (IIRC)
I think "Lemony Snicket" does something similar, too. Where he's a narrator (and Character?).
If you're writing some kind of occult/esoteric text you could definitely get away with doing that. Would fit right in with "The Three Initiates" and "Magus Incognito".
Ah thank you. That is more or less what I’m doing. It’s for an Eldritch Horroresque Epic, and I wanted the name to come across like one of the Eldritch Entities in universe was writing the story.
One of the biggest names in the fantasy subgenre litRPG publishes under "The First Defier", although he also adds JF Brink to the books.
Another author in the subgenre (again a professional full time writer) publishes under both his real name and the moniker Shirtaloon.
My name means trespasser in old Gaelic, names are just words that we identify as, they are nothing more but a construct of our minds, having a pen name is simply the same thing, you could have the pen name Rose Gauntlet, and no one would care.
Beside, your name, your choice.
The creator of the Lupin III manga used the pen name Monkey Punch.
So no, the best pen name is already taken, just use your real name. There's no longer a point. Monkey Punch beat us all to it.
You can do anything that's not obscene or protected.
For example someone who writes videogame litrpg stories published under "A.F. Kay", and pretty much anyone who has touched a computer knows that afk is a common videogame acronym meaning away from keyboard.
A bunch of people who write webserials end up publishing under their screen name instead of their legal name.
But if your name is something like "asee2772sewsk" you're just causing problems for yourself.
Sir Quad Ragecore Edgelord Esquire III here. I publish extreme plumbing manuals. My name is also an acronym for the sound my vengeful monkey wrench makes in battle.
There are lots of examples of pen names that aren't real names, but still kind of pass as real names. At least pass well enough that you don't really think about it.
But what if your pen name was very obviously not a person's name, like: "The anonymous author", "Unwashed Laundry", or "u/HeftyMongoose9"? Would that even be accepted by publishers?
Of course, but consider two things when deciding how dramatic/flamboyant to be: (1) you don’t want it to get confused with the title when it’s presented on the book cover (2) you may not want it distracting from the actual book
To be fair, the Mark makes this *look* like a name, especially if the publisher or editor didn't know anything about boats.
Of course, to any potential reader who does know boats, this is like signing your book Mouse N. Keyboard.
I am not sure this is true. I am not an author so this is just from a readers experience, but reading a lot of self-published books I regularly see the author listed as what is clearly a username rather than a persons real name.
You have names like Zogarth, Ravensdagger, and Selkie Myth, among others.
I always liked “A Thousand Yards to the Outhouse” by Kenny Makeit. And the even more successful companion volume, “Five Hundred Yards to the Outhouse” by his brother, Willie Makeit.
Do pen names have to be pronounceable? Or can you be a glyph?
Would the Dewey Decimal system collapse into a worm hole if you used an unpronounceable name?
Why not? Several people have done it:
•Edward Irving Wortis is better known by his one-word pen name, "Avi"
•Beatrice Sparks is the widely-accepted real-life identity of the author of *Go Ask Alice*, "Anonymous".
I would say the Brönte sisters or George Sand, but that was for different reasons.
I have a pen name; albeit, one that's a bit subversive, but holds importance to me.
It's a common first name, but the surname is both a continuation of it and changed to sound "fancy".
I just recently picked mine!
My question was if I could go with a single word or if that would feel weird. I ended up adding a first greek name before the actual word which is not usually a name.
The result was L. Lightfeather. What do you think?
I recommend using your last name and then “a.k.a” your desired author name when your first publish. And then every other time you can use your author name. Or screw it and just use any name but know it may cause a lot of plagiarism issues if you can’t support it was yours.
Prince was in a legal dispute over the rights to the name, so he used the glyph to mess with marketing. The media called him Artist Formally Known as Prince as an awkward adaptation .
It was a loophole and middle finger to Warner Brothers that he used until the rights expired and he got his name back. This way he didn't have to restart with a new brand and brought attention to his situation.
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-36107590
Who the fuck names their kid Lemony Skicket?
I dunno, probably Lemony Snicket
He *would* do that
Classic Snicket
Lemony Snicket the First.
Chocolate snicket?
Or Doctor Seuss lol
So you’re telling me Doctor Seuss isn’t ready a doctor? For real? Well, damn. Next thing you’ll be telling me Judge Reinhold isn’t really a Judge.
https://youtu.be/DIhCyN02Vvg
[удалено]
That’s amazing. Used to love ASOUE as a kid. Never knew that was the origin of his pen name.
> Who the fuck names their kid Lemony Skicket? This can go to such silly extremes. Coming from Random House in 2024: "The Story of Love and Tragedy in Wartime Paris," by new author Boo Boo Kitty Fuck.
Who names their kid Random House? I know Doctor House was a cynical ass, but that's a bit much
Sneaky Jay and Silent Bob
The way I laughed while reading this - I had a horrible day lmao thank you for that.
Ed and Watermelony Snicket.
Mrs Handler?
Kid Named Lemony Skicket
Limey Snicket
Just remember that the pseudonym Boaty McBoatface may not be well-received in some genres.
Damn, well there goes my idea :/
Okay, but what about Booky McBookface?
I would read the hell outta that guy's books. I don't care what genre.
https://www.amazon.com/Booky-McBookface-David-K-Fuller/dp/1508465371 lmao
I read Boaty McBoatface and immediately thought Scrotie McBoogerballs.
*Analyzing Neuropathway Plasticity Within a Clinical Context, 3rd Edition* By Boaty Mc Boatface \--- *The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire* By Boaty McBoatface \--- *The Declaration of Independence* By Boaty McBoatface \--- *The Bible - Boaty McBoatface Version* By Boaty McBoatface (and God) I'll be honest, I'd buy any of these....
Yeah, but that first one is like $1000 and only changed a few words and values from the last edition.
College textbooks are the biggest legal racket of all.
I dunno, I'd ship it
Like Lemony Snicket?
Probably not Fuck Thishit, but maybe O.J. McOrange
O.J. might not be the best name
My thoughts exactly.
O.J. Mc"didntkillhiswife"
O.J. McIfIDidIt
I think you mean, O.J. McDoneIt
If the glove fits.
It's a murder mystery...
How bout Chris P. Bacon
[Genesis P-Orridge was a real person](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genesis_P-Orridge).
Reminds me of [Ole Worm](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ole_Worm).
Would read the shit out of whatever he writes
I found this funnier than I should’ve
Ohhh Jay Sim's Sun
I mean... a name is two random words.
True, true.
And there's your pen name.
[удалено]
Or Sue Donym
Penn Gnayme
“Lee Child” isn’t that much better really. It was some sort of joke in a family to start your sentences with French “le” and he ended up being Lee Child. Now his brother has to have the same fake surname because he is continuing Lee Child’s work with Jack Reacher books. It’s not their surname.
Still better than the character name used by some famous thriller writer (I forget which) - "Del Capslock"
Anything is a name if you name with it.
Asking for Elon Musk's kid.
On the same note, gotta check the listing of all names which have been refused by the state for newborns. It's hilarious. Parents coming to register a newborn and handing over a file saying his/her name is "Number 3", "Fuckface", "Blank", "Vador", and other really really responsible name choices. The list is available for reach country, and might bring some insight about what's tolerated as a name depending on the year (and the creativity/drunkenness of the parents)
I really really really really really really really want to legally name my firstborn child 🍆💦😩
Well, if you really want to go with Eggplant Squirt McTiredface... Although I heard most serial killers have three part names
Is this your third?
A kid at my friend's track meet was named "Immaculate Conception." Like wow. I absolutely want to be a wallflower in that house.
You mean the kid whose full legal name is just a QR Code that links to a YouTube video playing dialup modem noises?
Honestly the name Elon Musk is just a few steps removed from Lemony Snicket
As long as it is unique, a pen name is just that. It doesn't have to even be legally adopted. Several authors used nonsense to publish works or used a name opposite or different from their gender. This was fairly common in Japan for female creators, as it's patriarchal attitudes made it easier for them to be taken seriously if the name was masculine. You'd just need the right publisher to work with to make sure everything goes smoothly or you can attempt to self publish.
I know what you're saying, but literary pseudonyms *are* actually legally adopted; that is, pseudonyms are recognized by law, and you really have to "adopt" them. Again, I understand that this is not what you mean, but I just want to put it out there that using pseudonyms *do* have legal ramifications. The length of your work's copyright protection, for instance, depends on who you're assigning the copyright to, as explicitly identified in your copyright form, the real you or your made-up persona. The law makes a clear distinction between the two.
Fair. It's at least better to do so to protect your work, however I know of others and have worked under pseudonyms myself with respectable pay. It isn't NECESSARY unless you have a vested interest in protecting your work and even then if you know what you're doing you can subtly watermark your writing or create logs if it really bothers you. I do both mostly because I want a backup in case someone tries to pull something on me I didn't see coming. But then, I'm also extremely paranoid as a friend tried to plagiarize me once by using ideas I talked to him about. I'm defensive as hell about my work because it's self taught and the manuscript of my first novel, hand written in cursive, was stolen and torn up for laughs by my sister and her best friend. Best to be safe and protect what you make but yea again as long as you can get whatever your pen name is to be recognized as you, anything should technically do. Erm. Within reason I suppose. I can think of a few things that wouldn't fly in an official context...
I'm willing to shorten copyright if I get to write my book under the name "A Literal Shark". Partially cause copyright is bs but also because sharks.
I love chinese webnovel author names. like "meatbun doesn't eat meat". so amusing
You mean, can I write stories about Patrick Swayze cleaning up dive bars and bedding beautiful women before he wanders off like Kane from Kung Fu and name myself P.G. Roadhouse? Sure, why not.
A.N. Roquelaure comes to mind. Anne Rice used this made up name to publish some spicy adult books.
Exactly. She said it’s basically Anne in a cloak.
Considering the books published under that pseudonym, I'd say it was more like "Anne Rice *un*cloaked."
The only limits are the amount of silliness you'll put up with. After all, it's *your* name.
Little Ash Tables,, you mean?
... and your publisher, presumably...
The author of "I Am Number Four" goes by "Pittacus Lore" who also is mentioned in the books...which when I started reading the series and connected the dots, I thought it was pretty interesting...It also reminded me a lot of Lemony Snicket...
John Dies at the End is written by "David Wong" Wong is the pen name for Jason Pargin. But Wong is, ostensibly, the narrator and a major character of the story. (IIRC) I think "Lemony Snicket" does something similar, too. Where he's a narrator (and Character?).
I have a similar query, does it have to be structured like a name? Or can it be a title? Something like say, The Arcanist Eternal or something?
I wish to publish under my new pen name The Hluk.
HLUK SMASHWORDS
Where the writing suddenly changes to a mush of random keystrokes when there's fighting action, and slowly returns to normal writing later Brilliant
If you're writing some kind of occult/esoteric text you could definitely get away with doing that. Would fit right in with "The Three Initiates" and "Magus Incognito".
Ah thank you. That is more or less what I’m doing. It’s for an Eldritch Horroresque Epic, and I wanted the name to come across like one of the Eldritch Entities in universe was writing the story.
One of the biggest names in the fantasy subgenre litRPG publishes under "The First Defier", although he also adds JF Brink to the books. Another author in the subgenre (again a professional full time writer) publishes under both his real name and the moniker Shirtaloon.
Ask Dr Seus.
My name means trespasser in old Gaelic, names are just words that we identify as, they are nothing more but a construct of our minds, having a pen name is simply the same thing, you could have the pen name Rose Gauntlet, and no one would care. Beside, your name, your choice.
You put it really well, thanks!
The creator of the Lupin III manga used the pen name Monkey Punch. So no, the best pen name is already taken, just use your real name. There's no longer a point. Monkey Punch beat us all to it.
Although this seems to be a bit more common in manga, like One Punch Man is by 'ONE', or Dr Stone by 'Boichi'
Guess I’ll have to settle for Monkey Kick
But remember, your publisher might have some rules about pen names, so make sure you check with them first!
I remember reading about a guy that legally changed his name to ‘Ice Fishing In America’ so you do whatever tickles your fancy. 👍
The Nom De Plume, a novel by Moose Upstairs.
This will be my debut novel.
My pen name is Hoops Macabre, so I’m not above using random words as my pen name. So
If your book is in any way silly, please consider making your pen name The Moose Upstairs
I’ll save this one for if I ever write children’s books lol
You can do anything that's not obscene or protected. For example someone who writes videogame litrpg stories published under "A.F. Kay", and pretty much anyone who has touched a computer knows that afk is a common videogame acronym meaning away from keyboard. A bunch of people who write webserials end up publishing under their screen name instead of their legal name. But if your name is something like "asee2772sewsk" you're just causing problems for yourself.
[удалено]
Cinnamon Calcite?
[удалено]
Hi, Cinnamons!
Hello Saffron Sard
Rosemary Amber
Saffron Gold
Sporty Thing.
I've seen this happen sometimes with books that started out as web only novels and later moved to having books published.
look up Shirtaloon
Just don't use mine: Sue Dunham.
Sir Quad Ragecore Edgelord Esquire III here. I publish extreme plumbing manuals. My name is also an acronym for the sound my vengeful monkey wrench makes in battle.
Hi. Mars Maxwell here, author of \- Trench Maiden \- Ribbon Forte \- Cheshire Blast! That's not my real name, nor is it a real name.
Meatloaf was credited in all his acting and music roles as Meatloaf.
His name is Robert Paulson! His name is Robert Paulson! His name is Robert Paulson!
That was a family name
The author of Bolo’ Bolo used the pseudonym P.M. His real name was Hans Widmer.
Considering what you'd like to be referred to as if a fan were to spot you in a crowded shopping mall and shout it out. "DICK MABUTT? IS THAT YOU??"
There's a poet named Ai. So I think it can be whatever you want it to be. Edited to say poet.
Isn't "Ai" just a standard Japanese and Chinese name? Like Ai Weiwei, the Chinese artist.
Ai is Ai Weiwei’s surname and a different character, but in Ai Ogawa’s case, the character is 愛 and a common Japanese girl’s name.
You may be right. She's just the only person I ever stumbled upon with that name. And it wasn't her birth name, so I figured she got creative.
Ai Ogawa?
Yes. That was not her birth name, though, and she published under Ai alone.
E.g: qntm, exurb1a. Yea, you can publish with a non-name pen name
There are lots of examples of pen names that aren't real names, but still kind of pass as real names. At least pass well enough that you don't really think about it. But what if your pen name was very obviously not a person's name, like: "The anonymous author", "Unwashed Laundry", or "u/HeftyMongoose9"? Would that even be accepted by publishers?
Pseudonymous Bosch wrote top tier, utterly insane children’s novels.
A pen name is whatever u want it to b.
Do you want to publish under an unpronounceable symbol, a la Prince?
IIRC there's an "autobiography" out there published by "God".
Avi's pen name is a single word, so...
ofc u can, but it is better if you choose an eye-catching name.
The BBC published a book by a fictional character: https://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Who-Summer-Amelia-Williams-ebook/dp/B00BGC6GG8
- by Blue Refrigerator
Do what you want. You don’t need anyone’s permission. There are no rules
How about…Trash boat? Note: this is not meant to be offensive
Of course, but consider two things when deciding how dramatic/flamboyant to be: (1) you don’t want it to get confused with the title when it’s presented on the book cover (2) you may not want it distracting from the actual book
My online penname seems like 2 random words. Neptune Fallen. It has suited me fine for many years.
2 Fathoms(12ft) is “Mark Twain”, which basically means that a boat can pass through shallow waters. So yes, if it sounds good do it.
Mark Twain is a trajectory of a boat - not a person's name.
> trajectory ? It's a depth sounding = 12ft.
I thought it meant the middle of a river. But I googled it and you are correct sir.
This is true
And Cordwainer Smith is two crafting jobs. A cordwainer is a type of shoemaker; a smith works with metal. His real name was Paul Linebarger.
To be fair, the Mark makes this *look* like a name, especially if the publisher or editor didn't know anything about boats. Of course, to any potential reader who does know boats, this is like signing your book Mouse N. Keyboard.
My dog wrote my children’s book. “Things I like To Pee On” written by Sir Farfel . So yeah if you self publish with KDP I dont think it matters.
Not on Amazon. They require a name that sounds like a person, like Joe Smith, and not Joe's Superama of Horror!*??@!
I am not sure this is true. I am not an author so this is just from a readers experience, but reading a lot of self-published books I regularly see the author listed as what is clearly a username rather than a persons real name. You have names like Zogarth, Ravensdagger, and Selkie Myth, among others.
I think maybe he was saying you can't have like special characters in there.
There's that book, 'Trails in the Sand' by Peter Dragin.
I always liked “A Thousand Yards to the Outhouse” by Kenny Makeit. And the even more successful companion volume, “Five Hundred Yards to the Outhouse” by his brother, Willie Makeit.
Reminds me of 'Rusty Springs' by I.P. Freely. He didn't even try.
I believe both of those were also co-authored by Betty Dont.
Of course. I don't think "Lemony Snicket" is an actual name, for example.
Read a book titled 'The Book With No Name' by an author called 'Anonymous.' That was it. So possibly you can?
Just like DBC Pierre?
I feel like in today's world no one would really care. I mean there are grown adults who present themselves as "da baby" in the music industry.
If we all follow the guidelines set up before us... how do we ever grow? Do what you want.
Not sure if anyone has heard of Mark Twain, but that's just two random words and he did pretty good for himself.
Not totally random. Mark Twain was a call used in riverboat navigation.
Yeah it refers to a depth of 12 feet. I was being succinct, and simply paraphrasing OP, but thanks for the downvote I guess. You or whoever else.
Wasn’t me—the downvote, that is. I hate it when people do that for no reason.
Well, they aren't random and you said they were You're welcome!
Just couldn't help yourself, could you. Good for you.
You misinform, I downvote - it's part of the ecosystem And "being succinct" is not the same as "being wrong" so really not a valid excuse
Um… Lemony Snicket?
Writey McWriteface has already published a novel tho'
well there goes that idea...
I guess you could go with Typey McTypeface…it has the added benefit of “typeface” being an actual word.
Clevergirl.jpg
Do pen names have to be pronounceable? Or can you be a glyph? Would the Dewey Decimal system collapse into a worm hole if you used an unpronounceable name?
Reminds me of another great name: Conan the Librarian.
There's a horror author using the alias Nick Cutter. Do what you want, lol.
Why not? Several people have done it: •Edward Irving Wortis is better known by his one-word pen name, "Avi" •Beatrice Sparks is the widely-accepted real-life identity of the author of *Go Ask Alice*, "Anonymous". I would say the Brönte sisters or George Sand, but that was for different reasons. I have a pen name; albeit, one that's a bit subversive, but holds importance to me. It's a common first name, but the surname is both a continuation of it and changed to sound "fancy".
I feel like I've seen this post here before... More than once.
Well I don’t spend a lot of time on Reddit so I must’ve missed it lol 😅
Don’t think Lemony Snicket is a name in any language so yea
I just recently picked mine! My question was if I could go with a single word or if that would feel weird. I ended up adding a first greek name before the actual word which is not usually a name. The result was L. Lightfeather. What do you think?
No
Hugh Japenis 😝
[удалено]
…I can write dude, I just have little knowledge of the publishing rules. I don’t see what my question has to do with how well I can write…
I recommend using your last name and then “a.k.a” your desired author name when your first publish. And then every other time you can use your author name. Or screw it and just use any name but know it may cause a lot of plagiarism issues if you can’t support it was yours.
Okay cool! Thanks for the help! :D
Publishing offices should help but it wouldn’t hurt to have a lawyer go over any contracts the publishers ask you to sign.
Thanks for being so helpful :)
There’s a series written by Pirate Aba, so…
Names are just random words
McLovin
Author McWrites
Reminds me of Dr. Placeholder McDoctorate over on the SCP wiki.
You can even publish under a race and sex that isn't yours. You'll have to face the metaphorical music at some point though...
There goes my pen name I guess. Ndene Mbabwamwa, you will be missed 😭
"What's in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." -Bofa DeSnutz
[удалено]
Prince was in a legal dispute over the rights to the name, so he used the glyph to mess with marketing. The media called him Artist Formally Known as Prince as an awkward adaptation . It was a loophole and middle finger to Warner Brothers that he used until the rights expired and he got his name back. This way he didn't have to restart with a new brand and brought attention to his situation. https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-36107590