Pen names, AWOL reviews, and book piracy…
One of the biggest mistakes I made as a writer is not to choose a nom de plume. I don’t know if Steven M. Moore is as common as Joe or John Smith, but it’s common enough that I recognize now the error of my ways. Here’s my original reasoning: I had nothing to hide! I knew my writing and name would be public, but I wasn’t writing porn, erotica, or steamy romances…as a guy (that Jack Nicholson character did in As Good as It Gets, but that’s Hollywood—not clear whether he used a pen name, though). My blog posts wouldn’t be advocating anything illegal or sketchy either (legality depends on the historical context, as Voltaire knew). So why not use my real name?
I even had a list of possibilities, long ago discarded, some quite clever and others too cute. I even thought about using a woman’s name because I fully intended to put smart, strong female characters into my stories. I’ve known a few and had no hesitations about portraying such characters, but I thought a woman’s name might avoid snide comments about how a male author shouldn’t pretend he can get into a woman’s head. I love and understand women probably better than most men and think the world would be a better place in general if they were in control (there are a few exceptions that couldn’t qualify—see yesterday’s post). I’m gender neutral—my choice of protagonist for a novel just depends on the story I’m writing.
Stephanie d’Amour might have made a good nom de plume if I were a writer of erotica and/or steamy romances. Esteban Mora might have worked for a writer of international and interstellar mysteries, thrillers, and sci-fi (a dear friend in Colombia called me that, so why not?). They were on the list. French- German- and Spanish-sounding names and oh-so-very-English-sounding names were also on the list. My first criterion was uniqueness; my second was a name that was easy to pronounce and spell (the first two pen names I mentioned were disqualified under both these criterions.) I also considered variations on the names of famous scientists (one author friend made such a choice).
While Steven M. Moore is easy to write and remember, it’s certainly not unique, but it was my default choice and the one I finally used for the reasons given above. It’s not as easy to remember as Lee Child, but it’s easier than J. K. Rowling (Joanne Rowling’s editors, though, wanted the initials—they thought tweenie boys who read fantasy might not read anything by a woman!). My final decision was made because I had the eternal hope every author has—my writing prowess would make THIS Steven M. Moore a household name. OK, I wasn’t really that naïve (I KNOW that’s like winning the lottery!). I just thought there was no particular reason to choose any other name beside the one my parents gave me, and that choice wouldn’t diminish all that storytelling fun.
Besides, choosing my own name, which is so common, makes Google searches for myself fun too. Why do I do that? For the most part, to see if any confusions with somebody else might affect me. There is another author Steven M. Moore, for example, and I’ve had email correspondence with him. Just before I wrote this post, I put “Steven M. Moore” in that famous Google search engine. Because I share my blog posts with Google+, my most recent post came up at the side of the Chrome page. I also learned that I had died (an obituary from the Rockland, MA Sullivan Funeral Home) and that I was now a disbarred Nashville lawyer. Previous searches showed I was also a felon and unearthed a Patriots football player sans the “M.” Some of my old scientific papers written when I was in Columbia popped up too—yeah, that’s really me!
One thing negative occurred—not a confusion, but a reference to one of my books, The Golden Years of Virginia Morgan, about one of those smart, strong female characters I mentioned earlier. It was on sale at Smashwords last month, but that wasn’t the reference. Instead, right there on Google, there was an offer of a free download, either PDF or ePub file, brought to you by myebooke.com. I guess fame but not fortune for me has finally arrived—I’ve been pirated! Somehow Google is involved in this scam. If I just put myebooke.com in my browser, nothing shows (dark web?). But if I follow the Google reference, google.com/fusiontables/bla-bla-bla, it takes me to a page where myebooke.com is a link to a page that allows the user to get the free download.
I tried to find some kind of customer service or complaint desk at Google. I googled “book piracy through Google” and got an eyeful. Apparently this has been going on for some time, and Google has done nothing about it! Pox on their house! Has anyone else had this experience? Because I don’t often google myself (I’m no narcissist), this could have been happening for some time—Golden Years was published in 2013, three years ago. The worst of this is that when I went to that myebooke.com page, readers comments appeared under the book listing; some gloated about how great this is that they can do all this reading absolutely free! Do these jerks think my writing requires no time or investment on my part? They’re nothing but common thieves.
They’re also cheap bastards. Golden Years is only $2.99, and it was on sale for $0.99! Even the full price is less than a McDonald’s meal. I can only wish all the bad karma in the world to befall these idiots. No wonder I have so few book sales! It also makes me wonder if all those reviewers who asked for freebies in exchange for an honest review but never wrote the review are participating in these scams—my case is apparently the rule and not the exception! (Of course, PDF and ePub files are also circulating because some PR and marketing book launch campaigns depend on them, but for later books, not Golden Years.) Some of those delinquent “reviewers” were in the UK, and all were taken from the Simon Royale site, so maybe that’s the connection? (I’m seeing how one can become paranoid with crap like this going on, but I recommend that writers eschew Simon Royale’s list.) In general, I guess I’m more in tune with Coelho’s attitude toward book piracy, but I don’t like to see jerks gloating about it!
Some positive surprises occurred too. One Google reference was to fantasticfiction.com, a legitimate UK site that contains a list of my books and featured my new sci-fi book, Rogue Planet, so it’s very up-to-date. I think many of my books would entertain readers worldwide (OK, they have to be able to read English), so getting more exposure in the UK is always a plus. I have no idea how my books got on fantasticfiction.com, though. I thank the good people in the UK who started this site. They’re reaching out to readers without cost to writers—one can’t ask for anything more (OK, how about some reviews?).
So, with my little exercise of googling my author name, I have discovered the good, the bad, and the ugly. Of course, most of the above has little to do with choosing or not choosing a pen name. The lack thereof didn’t cause most of these problems. In fact, they might have exacerbated them! Rather indirectly, of course. If you had asked me 10+ years ago when I started publishing my stories about pen names, I would have said, “Do what you’re comfortable with.” Now, I’d say choose a nom de plume if your name is as common as mine. In fact, if you write in different genres—say. non-fiction self-help AND erotica—I’d suggest a different pen name and website for each genre. At least your own name won’t identify you as a victim of book piracy that way!
***
“Clones and Mutants Trilogy” is on sale. Some authors bundle a series or part of a series. Here’s an alternative: from now until July 1, all three books in the “Clones and Mutants Trilogy” are on sale AT SMASHWORDS, $0.99 for each ebook, reduced from $2.99. The clones make their appearance in Full Medical (coupon code VJ44L) as part of a complex government conspiracy, they combine forces with the mutant in Evil Agenda (coupon code LE48D) to thwart another plot, and they save the world in No Amber Waves of Grain (coupon code PZ86X). These aren’t comic book characters like X-Men—they’re real people who work to halt an apocalyptic future. Use the links and go directly to Smashwords to enter the coupon codes and get hours of summer reading for only $3. (Amazon addicts, did you know Smashwords also does .mobi files for your Kindle? They handle all popular ebook formats.) Pass the word about this sale to your relatives and friends.
In libris libertas….
