› ›
Welcome to Writers Talkback. If you are a new user, your account will have to be approved manually to prevent spam. Please bear with us in the meantime

By Any Other Name

Emma BEmma B
edited April 2008 in - Writing Problems
What do you think is the most effective letter (as in A, B, C etc.) for a surname?

It was a just a thought about how your surname could maybe have an impact on how a novel is noticed and how well it sells.

If you are an 'A' then surely your at the start so you are more likely to be noticed. 'W' you may be at the back of a bookshop with less chance. There are a lot of sucessful authors with the initial 'M' so are you putting yourself against more difficult competition.

Any thoughts?

Those who have pen names, did you take this into consideration?

Comments

  • CarolCarol
    (I know we've talked about this before. Jay may remember what it was under.)
    I think being around the middle range of names is important, or perhaps having a surname that will on the shelf bring you close to popular authors in the same genre.
    I dislike looking on the bottom shelves for a book, so unless I know my favourite author is on that shelf it will only get a cursory glance.
  • dorothyddorothyd
    never thought of that. The pen names I used came about through coincidence and using family names. it happens that they began with S (two of them) and M.
  • davaarisdavaaris
    Thats a good point Emma. I hadn't thought about it either. Had my granddaughter been a boy his first names were going to be William Alexander in which case I intended to use the nom de plume 'W.A. Hardie'. It sounded good to me but I'm not so sure now.
  • Emma BEmma B
    I think it sound's very posh (in a good way)

    I opened this thread because I've been thinking about my own name....

    It would be a B, if I use my current (thus I am Emma B) or a P if I use my married name. But then I don't know because I'm not married yet, nearly but not yet.

    Decisions....
  • lexialexia
    I have not thought of using another name apart from my own on my writing - no my REAL name is not Lexia !

    If you have a look at my website you will see that my real surname does begin with A and it's so unusual that there are not likely to be many others on any book shelf, not in UK anyway.
    Mind you, so few people can pronounce it that it might not help me on the "promotion" front ! Then again, a local paper has just offered me a regular column - the editor says he could hardly forget my name, after I wrote a letter to the said paper, a few months back. It works both ways, I suppose.

    www.write-place.co.uk (any excuse to advertise yourself always a good idea :) )
  • CarolCarol
    :D
  • scratchscratch
    S + M , Dorothy! ;)

    I reckon A must be good, because unless I'm looking for a particular author, I get bored by the time I get to B
  • Stan2Stan2
    Bored so soon? ;)
  • scratchscratch
    I think it must be ADHD
  • HisanoXelaxHisanoXelax
    Emma, my pseudonym begins with an A and is only one name but that's coincedence, nothing to do with being closer to the front of a bookshop.

    Can you actually be published without a last name? (In erotic fiction)
  • Jay MandalJay Mandal
    There's Erastes and Radclyffe (not 100% sure of spelling), but maybe they're just gay/lesbian and not erotic.
  • CarolCarol
    It would be a novel selling point.
Sign In or Register to comment.