Why I Use Pen Names
As the year 2022 came to a close, I’d published 25 books and counting. There will be at least two more coming out in the next year. Of those existing 25, about half are published under my name, Dom Testa. The others are spread across three other fake names—what we call pen names.
I’m frequently asked: Why do you do that? Why do you write some books under different names?
As confusing as the practice may seem, the reason is actually to reduce confusion. Many people are die-hard loyalists to only certain genres and specific authors. When that author turns around and writes something completely different, they get disgusted—and might never come back to that author again. Sad, but very true.
So, for instance, when I write the Eric Swan series under Dom Testa, those books appeal to people who like adult thrillers/spy books. When I turn around and write bizarre stories for middle grade students, it would confuse the hell out of Swan readers. So I write those middle grade books under the name Buster Blank. If someone likes those for their kids, and later sees another Buster Blank title, they’ll know exactly what they’re getting.
My six-book series of young adult science fiction novels (the Galahad series) USED to be published under Dom Testa, but I’ve repackaged and relaunched them under a name (Tyber North) that defines them from now on as YA titles. Likewise, a young adult mystery series (the Cooper James series) that I have serialized on the Kindle Vella platform is published under Tyber North, too. All the YA stuff goes in that bucket.
I’ve recently written some “fun fact/trivia” books, because that’s a genre that has a very distinct and loyal audience. When those are published beginning in 2022, they’ll be found under the name Billy B. Good.
And I have one collection of dark, creepy short fiction (for adults only) that fall under the umbrella of my Harlan Plumber persona. Whenever I write new dark, creepy fiction, it’ll be found under that same name.
So that’s I why I publish under different names. It just makes things easier for fans of particular genres. Unfortunately, my five (and counting) Mindbender books mess up this system, but since they’re an offshoot of the radio feature I do as Dom Testa, I have no choice but to publish them under that name.
Which means somewhere in Australia or India, someone has discovered the Eric Swan series by Dom Testa and can’t understand why this same author has Mindbender books.
C’est la vie.
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