Hi guys,

I was curious if using a pseudonym when marketing your products is legal? This is not for deceptive purposes so to speak, but, if you wanted to market a book that, for example, would appeal to more people if written by a female, then would it be illegal to use a female's "fake" name?

Thanks in advance.

Legal.

Think "Michael Masterson" (not a real guy)
"Rich Jerk" (Completely hiding behind the cartoon image)
And I go back to my old standby... Ronald McDonald.

And that all-time favorite... Mr. X.

Gender-bending occurs. For instance, to overcome prejudices, some female authors used male pseudonyms to write novels.

I've got one book in print under a pseudonym and the second edition of another is being contemplated.

Here's the fun part. The U.S. Copyright Office lets you hold the copyrights under a pseudonym.

As for deception, some things would cross the line. If I wrote a book as "Michelle" about how I lost 25 pounds through a special exercise plan after a pregnancy, my guess is that the FTC would be unhappy with me...not to mention the lawsuits from angry consumers who bought my book.

Regards,

-Mike

Those are some nice responses! Just what I wanted to hear Thanks you!

My buddy uses his mom's madien name because his real/legal last name is too difficult to pronounce and spell.

Is this really true about "Michael Masterson"?

I think I read this somewhere else.

Roscoe

Het Roscoe,
Here's something that might interest you.

Thanks, Stephen.

Quite interesting.

Roscoe

So true. There's a local scifi writer a lot of folks think is a dude, but isn't. She lives here in Santa Maria, CA of all places on earth to live.

I spent a couple hours picking her brain about fiction writing, using pseudonyms, and the like. Was very enlightening. Too bad she can't let everyone see who she really is. She's a real nice, down to earth person despite publishing several books (not big-headed).

Said she tried first writing under her own name and as a co-writer with someone else who's already well known in scifi world (she wrote the book but the two of them decided putting his name on it would help her)... it didn't. She is now successfully published using a man's name.

Go figure.

Talk about not judging a book by its cover. Weird that things are that way.

Anyhow, I'm so glad Anne Rice didn't have to go through that... I think I would have felt weird reading her sensual vampire series if a man had written them. Then again, maybe a man couldn't write like that... or maybe 'Anne Rice' is a pseudonym. crap.

Andre