Help! I need a new name
I’m still an awkward adolescent in the adult world of blogging, but I thought I was doing just fine until I joined a social-media hop organized by Raimey Gallant. The hop had about 400 of us writers and artists agreeing to follow each other’s blogs, Facebook fan pages, Twitter accounts and the like to boost our online audiences and make connections.
As I started following these other blogs, though, I couldn’t help comparing mine to theirs. One thing I noticed right off the bat. Many of these blogs had clever and intriguing names. Okay, Raimey’s blog is her name, but she has a cool-sounding name!
I mean, “Updates from Pam McGaffin” wouldn’t be so bad if I had a different name like . . . Margaret Atwood.
Or maybe I cut the word “updates” because there isn’t much to update. I’ve got one and a half unpublished books if you count my very rough, two-thirds-done first draft of Novel 2. And I’m still waiting on at least one agent and one small press who have asked to read the full manuscript of “The Leaving Year.” So, yeah, still no news.
But . . . okay, here’s an announcement: THIS IS GOING TO BE MY YEAR! If I can’t find an agent and/or (traditional) publisher, I will go the indie, non-traditional route. This novel will fledge in 2017, meaning I’ll start the actual process toward publication. MARK MY WORDS.
Hm, that’s not a bad blog title.
I tried to come up with something better than “Updates from . . .” when I started my blog a year and a half ago. Since my first novel is about the daughter of a missing fisherman, I played around with combining nautical and writing terms. For reasons now lost to me, I also got caught up in some cooking/creativity symbolism.
The result of this brainstorming was the two notebook pages you see above. There are some good ideas in there, I think. Also some bad and ugly.
First the good, as in I kind of like them:
- IN OTHER WORDS
- GRIST
- HOOK AND LINE
- CATCH-ALL
- HUNT AND PECK
- LIFELINES
- TALESPINNING
- WRITE NOW
The bad, as in I can’t imagine what was going through my head:
- CLEANING THE FILTER
- CARP
- BLOGGY DOGGY
- MILD MUSE
- NOODLES
- WORD SWILL or is it WORDS WILL?
The ugly, as in gag:
- LET’S WRITE BOOKS
- DEEP THOUGHTS
Now I see that there are entire websites devoted to helping bloggers come up with unique names. Just Google “blog n” if you’re curious. I haven’t tried any of them yet, but that may be next.
What do you think? Do I need a name change? Do any of the ideas listed above make you want to read my blog and tell your friends? Lay it on me straight and/or cast your vote. And if you’re the author of one of the blogs I’m now following, share how you came up with your name. I’d love to hear from you.
How about “Pam’s Jams”?
or “Upon Further Review”
or “And Further More”
or “Word Knittings”
My vote goes to “Talespinning”
Oooh, I like ‘Pam’s Jams’ and that gets my real name in there. The others aren’t bad either. Maybe you should start a blog 😉 Thanks for reading mine!
Personally, I prefer to have the name of the author in the blog name. I have several instances where I forget that my writer friend – Joe Bloggs – is the author of ‘Hey I’m a great writer’. If I remembered, I’d visit more often. Especially when Joe’s Twitter and Facebook pages are in his name. Now, if it was ‘Joe Bloggs – Hey, I’m a great writer’, I’d stand a better chance.
I really hope this is making sense.
Or, maybe, next week Joe gets a short story published, and someone searches his name – but can’t find him because his name isn’t attached to his blog? Names, in this business, are very important. Perhaps, if you’re not happy with your name in this context, you could consider a pen name instead?
Hi, Annalisa (great name, BTW),
I agree with you on author names being very important. Maybe a combo like ‘Joe Bloggs — Hey, I’m a great writer’ is the ticket. Thanks for reading and commenting!
This would be a terrible name but I can’t resist suggesting it: “Gaffes from McGaffin”.
Which brings up (yet again) my father’s priceless writing advice: Whenever you write something you think is particularly cute..you’d better leave it out.
HA! That’s funny. Yeah, I’m guilty of writing cute word babies. Your father’s right. Leave them out.
Pam I Am! (Sort of stolen from Green Eggs and Ham)
Gina,
Love it! I may have to steal the stolen idea from you.
Hey, Pam! I went around and around on this over the last few years myself. I’ve finally invested in the advice of Mark Dawson and other high-selling indie novelists: pick your business model and stay focused on it.
Blogging is a very particular business model, and requires time, energy, and focus to build into a viable platform. If you intend on making a living from blogging (which many do) then branding your blog makes sense.
If your business model is selling novels, short fiction, etc, then your website’s purpose is to highlight those products, make them easy to find and buy. Your blog is just one component of the site, in a supporting role. Your site should be your name (or pen name) and your blog is just one section, called “my blog.” Everything should be funnelling readers to your subscription list and your book sales page. No distractions, no confusion: easy.
You already have your domain name. If it really makes you happy to name your blog something snazzy, go for it. But there’s no shame – and indeed, an established precedent and advantage – in just letting it be “Pam J Mcgaffin, Author” and “Pam’s Blog.” I was very relieved to get validation and permission to put that energy back into my books instead.
Best wishes!
Thanks so much for your insights, Ellen. You’re right. I intend for my blog to play a supporting role to my main purpose, which is writing and selling books. Now I just need to get those books out there. HaHa. I guess I don’t feel like I can call myself “Author” yet, even though I’ve published short stories. Before I have a published book, I’ll probably give my whole website and social-media presence an overhaul. Will check out Mark Dawson. Good luck with your own writing, and thanks so much for reading and taking the time to comment!
Talespinning!
If you wrote scifi I’d say you could cheat and make it “Dispatches from Pam McGaffin”.
Good luck!
Thanks, Dianna. You’re the second vote for “talespinning.” I’m writing a novel now from the POV of crows. Does that count as scifi?
Thanks for the shout out Pam! I like your name, and more importantly, I recognize it. Isn’t that the point? If you change your brand to something else, people will be less likely to recognize your name on a book jacket and buy your books.
Thanks, Raimey. And you’re welcome. Now I’m thinking of combining my name with something, but not “Updates from.” Could just go with “author,” but would like to have a book to show for it 🙂
in Pam’s words (instead of ‘in other words’)
Not bad. Everybody is telling me that I have to get my real name in there to help sell my book(s). My name is my brand, in other words. Will keep you posted. Thanks for being such a faithful reader. You don’t know how much I appreciate that!
I like MARK MY WORDS. That has a nice ring to it. I also like Leila’s suggestions of IN PAM’S WORDS. I just use my name as the name of my blog, now you have me questioning myself! Although, especially since the hop added so many blogs for me to read, I like just knowing which author goes with which blog. So, I don’t mind Pam J. McGaffin either.
Thanks, Amy. I think I may do a combo of my name with something that reflects my first novel. I do want people to be able to recognize that the blog is coming from me. You have a pretty name. I wouldn’t change a thing.