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Topic: Would you use a pen name in this situation?
| Author | Message |
| Ilike2right | Posted – 8/20/2008 5:44:44 AM | show profile | email poster I?m a staffer at one publication and would like to freelance for another publication that could be considered a competitor. In this situation would you consider adopting a pen name? Do people still use those? Does that mean I have to get a whole new fake e-mail address? Sorry if this sounds silly, but I could really use the freelancing money and I wanted to know if this was a feasible avenue. |
| Lula | Posted – 8/20/2008 10:25:41 AM | show profile Pen names are for the public, not your editors. It would be pretty unethical to try and pull the wool over this competing pub's eyes by claiming to be someone you're not (how would you cash the checks, anyway, when they're not made out to you?). If there might be a conflict of interest, I'd think you have an obligation to disclose your relationships to both mags and hope both will be okay with it. |
| Ilike2right | Posted – 8/20/2008 10:46:23 AM | show profile Sorry, let me rephrase.... Sorry, let me rephrase the question. The publication I?d like to freelance for is interested, but my fear is that the publication I?m on staff with will find out. My publication expressed that they do not want staffers working for this other title. Is this an ideal situation for a pen name? |
| snappiness | Posted – 8/20/2008 11:08:40 AM | show profile Is the second publication okay with the pen name idea? I know when I freelance, part of what the publication is paying for is my name and bio. Will you want to use those clips at some point? I always wondered if clips with a pen name would be useful at all -- I mean, I could be making it up. Also, if you use those it raises some questions -- why the pen name? Makes you look sneaky when you explain it. Not sure that would impress a future editor. The money is tempting. Maybe your second mag could set the whole thing up with you as some sort of mysterious expert, telling readers you are using a pen name, but you're an industry "insider" or something. I could see that working for a columnist, for example. |
| Ilike2right | Posted – 8/20/2008 11:21:07 AM | show profile The proposing publication knows that the powers that be my current publication historically do not approve of writing for this other pub?it?s a sentiment that has not changed. I have not asked if the proposing publication would be okay with me using a pen name. |
| Louisewasnothalfbad | Posted – 8/20/2008 1:03:28 PM | show profile Do you really think no one will find out at your staff job? I think people are pretty chatty, and at some point, someone at your pub. will find out, and then you're screwed. Why not get someone to be your front, and pose as the real writer? Hijinks can ensue. |
| cynthia.mccloud | Posted – 8/20/2008 1:19:57 PM | show profile I wouldn't do it. If you have to ask, then you know the answer. It's wrong. Be true to your employer and its wishes. You could wind up without a job at all. You can't have your cake and eat it, too. You're looking to us for permission and we're not the ones who hold your livelihood. |
| abqwriter | Posted – 8/20/2008 1:32:53 PM | show profile | email poster Whatever the short term gains you may envision from trying to pull this off without being discovered, the chances of it coming back around to bite you are very good. You agreed to the conditions set out by your current employer when you signed on. Is it really worth not only risking getting fired in a very tough market but also sullying your reputation in the industry. People talk, and it will get back around. Definitely not worth it. And if the other publication is willing to help you violate your contract, you've got to wonder about that as well. Pen names are still very common in fiction, but even when I was writing a humor column and would have preferred to by anonymous, my editor insisted on appropriate identification. |
| Ilike2right | Posted – 8/20/2008 2:58:24 PM | show profile Thanks for the advice. |
| JDC | Posted – 8/20/2008 3:22:12 PM | show profile Don't do it This is a small industry. People talk. Also, how do you know that the editor of the pub you want to write for won't be offered a job at your present place of employment in the near future? This could ruin your reputation. If you need the money badly, start pitching other story ideas around. To pubs that are not in direct competition with your current one. |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 8/20/2008 3:31:24 PM | show profile There are lots of publications to freelance for. I'd find another one if you need the money. |
