using a pseudonym?

[icxcnika]

Hi mamas,
Do any of you use a pseudonym in any of your writing venues? What are some of the pros and cons? Is it too complex in terms of legalities and copyright to be worth the effort? And how did you settle on a pseudonym?

I would like to use one, mainly for privacy's sake (to have my "business name" distinct from my real name), but I'm wondering what hoops I will have to jump through to make it work, and if it will be worth the jumping.

Thanks for your help, mamas!

[Twocoolboys]

I use one on some on-line writing sites, but not on others and not for print.

I chose to use it for privacy reasons when I first started writing on-line. And, now I'm really glad I did. As I started to write, I was just learning the ropes and some of my articles are not what I would put out there now. I'm happy that they are under my pen name - lol. Basically, any on-line site that allows a pen name, I choose to do it.

As far as copyright goes, it means that I cannot submit the same article to different places where I use a different name. For instance, I can't put an aritlce on AC under my pen name as non-exclusive and then put the same thing up on Constant Content under my real name. I am ok with that though.

As far as legal issues go, I have no idea. I've always thought of it as using an internet name. My real name is not Twocoolboys - lol. I don't see it any different than that.

[icxcnika]

Thanks for the reply. That's just what I was thinking of--online writing like for Suite101 or similar sites.

Have you had any difficulty with people paying you? How do you set it up so that you are writing under your pseudonym but being paid to your real name??

[Twocoolboys]

Suite does not allow pen names, so I use my real name there. But, I have a pen name at AC and at Demand Studios. And, I believe when I signed up for Helium, I used my pen name, though I never wrote anything for them.

All of these on-line sites have forms to fill out when you sign up. If they allow pen names, it will be a field in the form. They also all pay through paypal, so I just give them the e-mail address that I use for paypal. I haven't had any problems at all.

Incidently, I don't mind using my real name at Suite. I feel like the writing I do there is very professional and I have used it as a sample of my work when sending out the few articles and queries to print magazines that I have done.