New Pen Names Coming for the Combined Universe!

[PS Power]

The issue is one of scope, scale and identification. New books need a new name, I think. One related enough so that everyone who wants to give them a chance the ability to find them.

I'm seeing things shape up here. Please keep commenting if you have ideas. This is useful!

[David]

I think it has its ups and downs, I would do it.

Personally, finding an author with 80 plus books is rather daunting. A separation like that, with a new multiverse or whatever, might more easily bring in more new readers.

You also might want to consider splitting up by genre, which your already doing to an extent.

It's hard for me to be objective, since I'm a rabid fan so to speak, I will keep reading whatever you write no matter what name you use. I have a feeling most of the people here are like that, and keep track of things here on the boards. Not sure if I can put myself in the shoes of a mainstream fan that just does an amazon check occasionally, you know?

[PS Power]

On the good side, if I use a similar name, for different books, I think I can link them together.

P.S. Power can be linked directly to Phillip S. Power for instance. Then you will see both sets of books in a search, but will also be able to tell if there is a difference between the subject matter at a glance.

The harder ones would be books that aren't an intuitive link. (Phillip S. Power and P.S. Power... People will get the connection if they are side by side. P.S. Power and Nicole Lawson... Not so much!)

So, if I do books with totally different genres anyway, then I should have a new pen name for that? (For instance, if I start to write detective novels, or romance, they could each get a new, appropriate name on the cover, since P.S. Power readers might not be that interested anyway. The same with Literary Fiction, though I have no interest in writing that at the moment. Non-fiction... That will probably go under Dale Power Jr.)

I'll be starting on the first three books for Phillip S. Power next week, most likely. (After I do the first edits on the new Gwen Farris novel.) Not that I have a clue what I'm going to be writing. I want something pretty different though, with enough presence to jump start a new name. (Hence three books, in a new Universe.)

[Ronald Dukarski]

In the mystery/detective genre, you already have one series going. Greasepaint Chronicles. It really IS a well done detective novel. It doesn't nessesarily HAVE to be about clowns. Maybe re-release the first book under a pseudonym to set up the series and run with it.

[David]

Yeah, not sure how true it is, but I've heard crossing genres can hurt an author, they lose readers. Not quite sure why, but I read a good crossection of them so it doesn't bother me.

One of those "they" say things...

[Korwin]

[PS Power]

Easy: The current books are all loosely linked to one another.

By using a new name, people can start in, knowing that the new books have nothing at all to do with the old ones. At the same time, I can link the names, so that people who find my books through an Amazon name search can do that and notice that there are new books, if they want to look at them.

By that same token, if I'm doing something very different, such as non-fiction, or that kind of thing, being very different in name might help. Or not? The current issue is that people need to know what books are at least possibly linked so far. There are over eighty of them right now, I think. It isn't about "people being scared of all the books" as much as people getting lost as far as what order things come in, or which things link up.

Now, if I can basically start over, with a name that is close enough for some people that have read P.S. power things to give a chance, that will really help start a new name.

Why would I do that? Mainly because the early P.S. Power books aren't all that well written. Even having been polished, a few of them need complete rewrites, which won't actually increase sales much, given their age, so it would be a lot of work for not so much reward.

Doing new things, but in a separate fashion, means that people finding the new name will start out seeing a (hopefully) more skilled writer and storyteller crafting things, which may aid in growth.

It can be hard to get started, coming in as an unknown. Look at J.K. Rowling and her pen name books. They didn't take off until her publisher leaked that she wrote them. I can't do that kind of thing however, since it takes a certain fame to pull that off. (Now, Stephen King could totally do that... So could George R. R. Martin. Most would get far lesser effects from that, I think.)

[Ronald Dukarski]

Please don't undersell your early works. They were good. More than good enough to garner my interest. I don't consider myself, or the other posters here, so naive to like substandard work. They may have had some errata that made them less than perfect, but your style over shone that to have kept at least me totally addicted to your books. I think others would agree that if so many followed those 80 some books for about five years they concur that your work has gotten better, but had to start off really good to begin with. Don't dismiss your early work so easily. We don't.

[qHnED7SnYgQs]

I fully agree with Ronald. I greatly enjoyed your early books, or I wouldn't have kept reading everything that followed.

[MarciaA]