When I first started self publishing I made a decision to publish everything under my own name. It was a declaration for me— a chance to take ownership of my life. After years of hiding from who I was – a writer, or half hearted attempts because I was worried about what people would think, or that I would fail – I decided it was time to let my proverbial freak flag fly and just own who I was. I’m okay with whatever the outcome. It’s not about anyone’s recognition, but my own. It’s about doing my work.
In that vein, I’ve written pulp science fiction, like Carrie Starr and the Rings of Death, short horror flashes like Moon Dog Went Surfing, trippy almost-literary science fiction like Make Me Famous and Transcending the Electric Bardo, and of course essays on weight loss.
Every one of these stories is mine and they represent me and my journey as a writer. It was a great idea. The only problem with it is Amazon’s algorithm doesn’t like it. It likes writers who write one thing and one thing only. That’s how it knows what to recommend. “Fuck the AI Hellspawn algorithms,” I thought.
Unknown to me when I started, that meant fuck my readers, and consequently, fuck my book sales.
My readers, or my potential readers, need that algorithm. It helps them know what to read. Amazon is filled with billions of writers trying to get their stories in front of the right readers and the readers are trying to find the right books.
Not everyone who likes pulp fiction likes literary fiction. Not everyone who likes weight loss stories and tips needs or wants to read zombie tales.
I still think my decision to take ownership of my writing is one of the best I’ve ever made. It’s right up there with marrying my wife, starting my yoga practice, and deciding to eat healthy.
Taking ownership of my writing doesn’t mean I have to publish everything under my own name. Starting today I’m using pen names. My pulp stories will be published under Ray B. Burroughs and the literary-ish stuff will be under Phillip G. Heinlein. These names not only should help the Amazon algorithms to figure out where the stories fit, but also pay tribute to the authors who shaped me as a writer
As much as I like to think my stories are mine, they really are a continuation of the worlds Ray Bradbury , Pierre Boulez, and Edgar rice Burroughs took me to as a child. My edgy literaryish science fiction are as much my own creation as they are te creations of Phillip K. Dick, George Saunders, and Robert Heinlein.
I’ve decided I need to own my writning, pay tribute to my teachers, and of course serve our algorithm overlords.
I’ll let you know how it all works out.
