My guest this month is a prolific author who’s published award-winning fiction (over 80 titles!) in four very different genres using four different names. I’ve read several of her historical romances and have a contemporary romance waiting patiently on my tablet and they’re full of action and adventure as well as heart-tugging emotion. Nancy Gideon (the name I know her by) is a fellow member of one of my local writing groups, and she attended a writing weekend I hosted. It’s fascinating to see her juggle the writing and marketing for four different names. I asked to explain how and why that happened, and she kindly shared that with us.
By Any Other Name(s)
by Nancy Gideon
When I started out in the ‘80s, publishers wanted as much exclusivity in regards to their authors as possible, hence boilerplate contracts and pen names. Since they couldn’t ‘own’ an author’s real name, they pushed for writers to take a pseudonym that stayed with their house. When I sold to Kensington/Zebra, with my first two books coming out in the same month (!), they insisted on two separate pen names, one for my Regency romances and one for my historicals. I was given all of a half hour to come up with Lauren Giddings, a name I liked and a common junk mail twist to my last name. Dana and Ransom were both favorite family names. When I sold to Avon, again the name game to separate my new historicals from the ones I’d written for Zebra. Rosalyn West was a group effort between me and my editors.
I used my own name for the first time when writing paranormal vampire/shapeshifter books for Kensington, ImaJinn, and Pocket. The thrill of seeing MY name on those covers is indescribable!
The author benefits of using a pseudonym range from avoiding saturation if you’re prolific so you can get more books out a year, connecting a certain name to different genres (i.e. Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb), to career rebuilding after a bad sales experience.
The cons to using a pseudonym range from creating separate social media platforms to getting readers to find you under a different name/brand. I put all my writing identities under one web site umbrella as “Nancy Gideon—Romance By Any Other Name.” Placing a bio page in your books that links you to your other alter egos is another easy way to connect the dots – if the publisher allows you to do so. Some are hesitant to hype titles for another house but I view it as expanding the opportunity to increase your readership. And that’s what it’s all about. That, and writing the very best book you can! Happy reading!
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Bio:
With over 80 sales since her first publication in 1987, Lansing, Michigan author Nancy Gideon’s writing encompasses romance genres from historicals and regencies to contemporary suspense and the paranormal.
Under her own name, she’s a bestseller for Silhouette Romantic Suspense, has written an award-winning vampire romance series and a 15-book shape-shifter series. Also listed on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB), she collaborated on Indie horror films In the Woods and Savage with screenwriting and ADR script credits, and even played a small role.
Writing historical romance as Dana Ransom, she’s a “Career Achievement for Historical Adventure” and “K.I.S.S.” award winner with books published in Romanian, Italian, Russian, Danish, Dutch, Portuguese, French, German, Icelandic and Chinese.
As Rosalyn West, she’s a HOLT Medallion winner with nominations for “Best North American Historical Romance” and “Best Historical Book in a Series.”
A prolific writer, Gideon attributes her creative output, which once peaked at seven novels in one year, to her love of history, research, and a gift for storytelling. She also credits the discipline learned through a background in journalism and OCD. The due date for her third book and her second son were on the same day . . . and both were early! When on deadline, she turns on the laptop between 4:30 and 5:00 a.m. to get a jump on the day.
You can find Nancy at her website and on Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, and BookBub.
Bonus: One of Nancy’s contemporary romances is on sale through the end of this month for only 99 cents! Buy it at Amazon, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, Google, or Apple Books.
Angela Schroeder
Patricia Kiyono
Elaine Cantrell
Jeff Salter
Joselyn
Tonette Joyce
Four Foxes, One Hound 
Welcome, Nancy, to 4F1H.
Wow… I’m sincerely impressed by your output, your awards, your sales, and your ability to satisfy editors’ deadlines with multiple imprints.
Moreover, I’m amazed you can keep straight your various pseudonyms and your writing style in different genres (at the same time).
I recall seeing a clip of an author colleague who was being interviewed — a sort of red-carpet thing — as she entered the main exhibit area of a conference. At that time she had a real name, an author name, and a publisher name. When the person holding that camera asked her to identify herself, she had to look down at her name tag to remember which “persona” she was at that point. [I think she was the publisher at that moment.]
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LOL! We do tend to have split personalities when it comes to pseudonyms. But when it comes down to it, they’re all that same person in sweatpants with a cup of cold coffee at their elbow gritting their way through a scene with a deadline breathing down their neck.
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Whoops! Not anonymous – Nancy Gideon
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Welcome, Nancy!
When I find a writer whose style I like,I seek out more of their works. It makes it hard to know that they have works in other names. That having been said, with your catalog(s), I suppose your niche-readers would be satisfied!
It’s always good to see your namein print!
I was introduced to your work in romance collections and I hope that you continue… In whatever name!
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That’s why I always did all my promotions as “Nancy Gideon . . . by any other name” and mentioned my pen names. I’m always hearing from fans who never realized I was three other “people”.
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What a great post!
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Thanks, Michelle!!
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Fantastic, Nancy.
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Hope you found something to inspire you!
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It’s great to touch base with you, Nancy. Are you still doing WEWRIWA? Sorry, but I may have misspelled that. I always loved the excerpts you chose to share.
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Very nice post, Nancy. It was great to see you at retreat!
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Haha, Zeke Chronicles is aka Lucy. I put my name in, but it came up with my blog name instead.
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