And a whole new personality is spawned...

[jl_merrow]

On the urgings of a friend, I wrote something that can only be described as mainstream. A gentle romance between two persons of pensionable age and of different genders. There is not the merest whiff of sex, although there are cricket, children, a dog and cooking.

Somehow, it didn't seem appropriate to submit it to a magazine under the name of JL Merrow, purveyor of gay porn to the discerning reader.

And thus was Cathie Culver born. But now I have a quandary; on submitting to a new market, normally I'd do everything I could to big myself up by mentioning previous publications. But... Cathie Culver hasn't done anything!

Soooo... should I mention her relatively racy alter ego? Or would it be better just to sweep all that under the figurative carpet, as far as this new market is concerned?

Comments

[minervasolo.livejournal.com]

I tend to go with "this is the first time I have submitted as (a) but I have previously been publishing under another pseudonym/the name of (b)" depending on how the market in question is likely to feel about the other name's writing. It shows you've been published - hence, you can string sentences together - but doesn't draw too much attention to what you've published, since as far as they're concerned just because you can write one genre doesn't mean you'll be a shoo in for another.

[jl_merrow]

Mmm, I eventually went with giving my pseudonym, as really, anyone could say they'd been published if they didn't give a name, couldn't they? Plus the email addy sort of gave the game away anyway! ;D

But yeah, this particular market is likely to throw up its hands in horror at my more usual fare!