An Annabeth by Any Other Name . . .
 |
| Annabeth Albert |
First I sold Return to
Sender, an erotic romantic comedy, to Ellora’s Cave. Then a few weeks
later, I sold a m/m romance Swimming the
Distance to MLR’s Going for Gold anthology.
Suddenly, I faced a decision—one pen
name or two? I think every writer who writes in multiple genres faces this
dilemma at more than one point over a career.
And I think the answer to this is evolving—as developing a brand
requires more attention to social media, multiple pen names are more work. Readers
and publishing houses seem to be growing more tolerant of writers writing in
different genres. However, with e-readers, readers often impulse purchase more
and may get confused by vastly different genres.
In researching the question, I found many different
answers—hang out in any writing forum and you’ll find the topic of multiple
genres and multiple pen names comes up regularly. Everyone has a different
opinion—some people wait until they sell to adopt a pen name at all. Some
manage multiple pen names from the outset, submitting and entering contests
under different names. Some writers know from the beginning that they only want
to publish as their real name and don’t want to do a pen name at all.
Because one of my sales was for a m/m, I also had to
consider that many m/m writers do a more masculine sounding name or do the
initial thing like L.A. Witt and K.A. Mitchell. But other bestselling m/m
authors like Marie Sexton and Heidi Cullinan use feminine names. On the other
hand, erotic romance authors sometimes do very “sexy” sounding names to embody
their genre. Annabeth Albert doesn’t
exactly scream “smexy times aplenty.” But these provocative names don’t translate
well when writers want to venture outside of the erotic romance arena. My own
erotic romances are fun and spicy, but they’re not as explicit as some—a
deliberately erotic or “fun” name didn’t make sense given my voice.
In the end, I focused
on a few factors when I decided to keep the same name for both genres. I’d
spent the prior year putting a lot of time into building my brand as Annabeth
Albert. I’d always said that whichever genre sold first—category Romance, YA,
erotica, or m/m—would have “dibs” on Annabeth. But then I sold back-to-back,
which was awesome. However, I wasn’t
sure I wanted to split my attention right as I finally had sales between two
identities. Establishing a brand is a fair amount of work—twitter, facebook,
website etc. I knew I’d have two release dates within a month of each other.
And for me, deciding whether to split also came down to how
important backlist is right now. If I split and did different names, each name
would show a single title for quite some time—no cross-over sales beyond a
small circle of friends. I spent some time thinking about myself as a reader—I
read many different genres from Regency to Erotica and sweet m/f to spicy m/m
and other alternative pairings. I’d never be able to limit myself to just one
genre as a reader—why would I want to as a writer? I’ve happily followed many
writers into new genres.
At some point, I may have to split—obviously if I sell a YA
or a sweet romance, the publisher may well ask me to change or I might want to
just to manage reader expectations. I
decided to publish under one name right now in part because I didn’t want to
end up managing four or more names in the future.
Finally, I thought about my voice—the essential heart of
every story I’ve ever written, both sold and those that shall forever live
under my bed. My voice for erotic
romance and m/m romance is very similar—angsty, touches of comedy, realistic
situations, slightly neurotic characters, and deep emotions. I joke that my
tagline should be “heartwarming smut.” But that’s really the core of my
writing—family values wrapped up in a sexy little package.
So after all these hours obsessing over pen names and brands
and identities, I want to hear from you. Are you currently managing different
pen names? Do you write multiple genres under one name? How did you decide what
to do? What do you see as some of the challenges of multiple names? Single
names?
Jack Donovan and Bree
Hendricks have been in hot competition since their school days, whether it’s
tussling over the best apartment or bickering over local leash laws. Bree never
turns down a challenge, so when her new toy in its brown paper packaging is
delivered to Jack’s doorstep by mistake, he seizes this perfect opportunity to
make her act on the long-simmering attraction between them.
Bree is determined to
set a good example for her teenage daughter, and that means no flirting, no
flings and definitely no one-night stands. But a bout of saucy cybersex
demonstrating her new dildo? There’s no danger in that. Unless Bree allows her
heart to become involved…
Buy RETURN TO SENDER from your favorite e-retailer—out now
with Amazon, Nook, and other sellers. Buy links here: http://annabethalbert.com/books/return-to-sender/
About Annabeth:
Annabeth Albert has
been hooked on romance ever since Laura gave Almanzo permission to kiss her
goodnight. It wasn’t too long after that Annabeth started sneaking romances
where a whole lot more than kissing happens. Now, she devours all subgenres of
romance out in the open—no flashlights required! When she’s not adding to her
keeper shelf, she’s a multi-published Pacific Northwest romance writer in a
variety of subgenres. A long-time member of Romance Writers of America, she is
also active in the Rainbow Romance Writers chapter.
Emotionally complex,
sexy, and funny stories are her favorites both to read and to write. In between
searching out dark heroes to redeem, she works a rewarding day job and wrangles
two toddlers.
She often tweets about
her latest online bargain finds, newest keeper shelf books, and other random
tidbits and loves chatting. @AnnabethAlbert
http://www.twitter.com/AnnabethAlbert
You can also find her
at http://www.annabethalbert.com
and http://www.facebook.com/annabethalbert.com
