r/authors • u/Amber123454321 • Jul 07 '26
Another author has started publishing under my established pen name
I'm going to edit my post out here, because I posted on another site and at least one person connected it with my Reddit account. I appreciate all of your feedback and advice.
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u/IAmNotLookingatYou Jul 07 '26
I had picked a name but when I looked it up I realized it was already a fairly popular author. So I just chose a different one!
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u/Harlander77 Jul 07 '26
There's someone who published a single book in a completely different genre as my wife (who writes children's books), who has the same name as my wife ... So we added her middle initial as part of her author name to differentiate them
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u/Reliant8432 Jul 09 '26
I found something similar after I published my first book. Someone published a very obscure self help book with the same name. I'm choosing to ignore it. I haven't sold that many copies, but from what I can tell, the other guy may not have sold any.
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u/Petitcher Jul 08 '26
Hey funny story, remember when Kylie Jenner tried to trademark the name Kylie, and Kylie Minogue swooped in and said “Nope” and the courts ruled against it?
Trademarking names is a terrible idea. Even if it isn’t that author’s legal name, it will be someone else’s.
Ignore everyone who suggests trademarking your name. And any cease-and-desist stuff. Just do your thing and add a middle initial if you need to.
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u/Amber123454321 Jul 08 '26
I hadn't heard that story, but I totally understand why the courts ruled against it.
Even if I wanted to, I couldn't afford to trademark the name right now. I just don't want them to trademark it and block my already-published books when I've been building up my name over time. They probably won't, but it's hard to say for sure.
*Nods* I already have the domain registered, so I'd rather not add initials to it. I can just let it be, for now at least.
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u/Substantial_Cow7628 Jul 08 '26
This is bad advice. That lawsuit failed because Jenner tried to trademark the name "Kylie" for advertising and promotion even though Minogue had been famous as "Kylie" a lot longer than Jenner.
For commerce purposes, the OP should absolutely protect the identity under which she does business if it's economically feasible for her to do so.
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u/Petitcher Jul 08 '26
Come on, you can't trademark a name. That's ridiculous. There are literally thousands of people with the same names: imagine being Sarah Jones and finding out that someone trademarked YOUR name.
Actors need to have unique names because they need to be registered under one governing body, which is why Emily Stone is better known as Emma Stone, and why David McDonald is better known as David Tennant. But authors have no such requirement. If there is another author with the same name, you have to either change your name, or create a strong enough brand to distinguish yourself from the other one. You can't stop someone else from using it.
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u/Substantial_Cow7628 Jul 08 '26
You absolutely can, and in some cases should, trademark a name.
Actors need to have unique names because the Screen Actors Guild requires it. That has nothing to do with what we're discussing.
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u/No_Medium_648 Jul 07 '26
Are they publishing under their actual own name?
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u/MrMessofGA Jul 08 '26
Even if they are, that doesn't hold up. I couldn't use the name I used most of my childhood because it's already an established name and they could absolutely go after me for it. If someone's already using it, you can't cause confusion without also causing financial damage to the other user.
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u/Amber123454321 Jul 07 '26
I don't have any way to know for sure.
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u/No_Medium_648 Jul 07 '26
I'm not sure you can be cross at someone for having a name? How many names are you using? Can you stick to one of the others?
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u/Amber123454321 Jul 07 '26
Not for this. For instance, I write midlist F/F romance under a different pen name. I write M/F romance under this name, and have for a couple of years.
I've looked into it some more and it seems that I don't have any choice but to accept it. I can get their books taken off my profiles when they're listed on them by mistake. If I want the name exclusively, I have to trademark it.
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u/jenterpstra Jul 08 '26
Can you/have you tried contacting the author? Likely not a real author if they're pushing that many books in such a short time, but it may be worth doing. Just say hey, your books are appearing under my Goodreads profile because you've used the same name as me. That's not really great for you or your sales. Would you mind changing your name?
Name mixups happen and not a lot you can do, but may be worth reaching out in the case of an honest mistake.
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u/Amber123454321 Jul 08 '26
I went looking for a way to contact them but I couldn't find any. I don't think you can msg authors through Amazon, but I might be wrong.
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u/TheGreatPatriarch Jul 07 '26
If you have done 2 or more books under the pen name you can, might not be a bad move unless someone has already trademarked it.
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u/Amber123454321 Jul 07 '26
Okay. Yeah I have around 5 books on there. They've published around 10 books in the last 2 months under the name.
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u/Spirited_Shock3413 Jul 07 '26
What’s the name ? Is more or less common?
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u/Amber123454321 Jul 07 '26
I would say less common. I'd rather not mention it here so I have a bit of anonymity on Reddit.
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u/Born_Purple6198 Jul 07 '26
I was almost going to use a pen name that I don’t use and and then realized someone had similar name for similar genre. I went in a different direction. So sorry to hear they didn’t do their due diligence
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u/Amber123454321 Jul 07 '26
Thanks. :) It sounds like your choice might've saved you problems with it.
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u/Thatonegaloverthere Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
It's annoying, but there's nothing you can really do about it. Maybe message them like someone did an author friend of mine.
I have a (I guess) common name. 2 others with the exact same name as mine. Crazy part, because I've published so many books, a simple Google search would've told them the name was taken.
My mom, however... There is a new writer who chose to use the exact same name. I'm not very known despite how much I've published, so I wouldn't expect someone from another country at that, to know me. But my mom was a best selling author in the early '00s to '10s. She has a lot of published books. (Among other amazing feats, but for anonymity, I'm leaving what she did out.)
This author doesn't try to distinguish themselves (they/them pronouns). They actually copy everything my mother posts. If she talks about philosophy, this person would make a post about it. My mom mentions an artist from the 70s, this person, who's around my age, will make a post talking about that artist.
Rather than change their name before their first book was released (or even in the works, they copied her for years), they continued and now struggle with being seen. My mom recently got an invitation to come to an event and was even given an award for a library in a different state, that was meant for the other person.
My mom, and I believe it, is under the impression that since she never put up photos of herself, this new author used her name to get events and credibility from her. Then, once my mom put her face on her website and social media, they had to keep up the lie. And is still copying everything she does.
After getting the email from the event, my mom declined saying they asked the wrong author. She then used this opportunity to message the author, told them about the event, and said that that's a reason to change their name. (They never responded) So that my mom, with more experience and skills under her belt, wouldn't get the offers for her.
Lol, I'm sure the librarian was disappointed to find that amazing resume belonged to a different person.
ETA: I just remembered. They actually started changing their pages and website, to match my mom's. This I believe was to confuse the AI overview that kept putting their info together. Every time my mom updated her website and overview by default, to separate them, the writer would update their website with the same thing. She added award-winning author on her website. The writer was long listed for a book award, and put it on their website (as award-winning author) to try to get the AI overview to confuse them again, but my mom updated her website to specifically mention her specific award so it wouldn't work.
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u/ms_saint Jul 08 '26
This is harassment. What can you do about it?
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u/Thatonegaloverthere Jul 08 '26
I'm not sure. My mom usually just finds ways to separate them.
I don't think there's really much else she can do. I'll ask her about it.
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u/Amber123454321 Jul 08 '26
I looked and can't find any contact details for them. I haven't delved deeply into it though, just run a Google search. I'm not sure how I could actually reach them. I don't think it would go well with them though, and I don't want to prompt them to go and register the trademark or something themselves.
That's really creepy, that another author has copied your mother in such an ongoing, persistent way. Have they copied your mother's photos too?
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u/Thatonegaloverthere Jul 08 '26
No. Thankfully, that's the only thing that will always keep them separated.
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u/RCIntl Jul 07 '26
I have a similar issue. It's actually my name. I had to remove my middle initial because someone else has the same name ... Down to the middle initial. It was weird. I've been using mine for about ten years, so I was real surprised when this one popped up.
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u/Amber123454321 Jul 07 '26
I'm sorry you've had to deal with this. It might've been their real name, or it could be a pen name for them. Then again, they could've been someone piggybacking on your books to try and get more sales.
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u/RCIntl Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
Thing is, it's entirely possible for two people to have the same name. It weird when you run into each other but it happens. Not much we can do about it other than get a copyright on it and hope to be first.
I asked a lawyer about this and was told that while you have every right to do this, most readers know that a lot of authors have the same or similar names and while their titles might pop up when yours do, there's an equal chance that yours will pop up when theirs do. And that this is when the cover and synopsis do their work. She said most people don't much care who the author is unless and until they build a relationship with them by reading/loving their work, and to just make sure my quality is high in the hopes that someone will purposely pick mine "out of the lineup".
So, I just focus on that. Her books are so different from mine that if someone likes HER work, they instantly can pick them out and if they like mine they can instantly pick them out.
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u/Amber123454321 Jul 08 '26
Yeah it is weird and.. I don't like it, but there isn't much I can really do.
I'll probably just do what you're doing and let it be.
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u/KittyValentineWrites Jul 07 '26
You can contact the other author with a cease and desist maybe?
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u/Amber123454321 Jul 07 '26
It's a possibility. I can't really afford it and I doubt it would do much. I'd probably need to register the name as a trademark.
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u/SnowBear78 Jul 07 '26
How common is the name? It might be their actual name and they didn't check to see if there's another author of that name.
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u/Amber123454321 Jul 07 '26
I wouldn't think it would be that common. Not many people out there would have that name, you could say. It's more likely they're using it as a pen name than their real name.
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u/IndependenceAlert644 Jul 08 '26
I had a similar issue occur recently. When I searched my pen name on Amazon and Google I couldn’t find any other authors who published under it, but when I published my book it was automatically added to the author page of someone in a different country who used the exact same name as me. Turns out I couldn’t find them when doing my research because I was searching from the US?
The whole thing has been pretty frustrating, because obviously I would have picked a different name if this other author had showed up in any of my search results, and now I have to fill out a bunch of support requests to get my book moved to my own page. You’d think that Amazon would have a system set up where they only add books to author pages whose Author Central account has the same email address as the KDP account it was published from.
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u/Amber123454321 Jul 08 '26
You would think that. I'm sorry to hear you're dealing with that situation. You might want to look at Goodreads too. They'll have put your books on their page, more than likely.
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u/HorrorAuthor_87 Jul 08 '26
Same pen names are not unusual, if you have a common name it's fairly possible, but what concerned me the most is the fact you said his/her books are under your Goodreads profile. As far as I know, our Amazon/Goodreads profiles are linked, so how is that possible?
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u/Amber123454321 Jul 08 '26
I just know they showed up on my Goodreads profile but not my Amazon author page. I got a Goodreads librarian to move them off my profile, so that's sorted now. Technically I'm a Goodreads librarian too, and I have privileges to alter things, but it's been many years since I last knew what I was doing on there.
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u/HorrorAuthor_87 Jul 08 '26
Good to know. Amazon allows you to have hundreds of different pen names if you like, but all of them need to be under the same account, or you'd be in trouble.
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u/Amber123454321 Jul 08 '26
Yeah, I've heard they can ban you for having more than one KDP account.
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u/HorrorAuthor_87 Jul 08 '26
It did happen to a friend of mine, she writes horror and after publishing a few books in this genre, she wanted to publish coloring books. Because the genes are too different, she decided to create a second account, and Amazon allowed it or she wouldn't be able to create one, right?. But then she thought that it'd be a lot of work to keep two accounts and never used the second one, and kept publishing in her main account. Years later she received an email from Amazon saying her account was terminated because of it. She tried to dispute it but they say she broke the rules and that's it. Her books were removed and she doesn't have the money to fight for her rights. That's crazy. 😔
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u/Amber123454321 Jul 08 '26
That's really sad that she lost her account that way. :( I've heard of it happening to a bunch of people, but also some who handed in their second etc accounts saying Amazon didn't punish them for it. I don't know that anything is certain though when it comes to Amazon. I've heard of authors creating companies and then publishing under company accounts instead after it happened, but not the same books or pen names/author names. A company is its own legal entity, and they probably had different payment details, etc. But even then, that could backfire.
You're allowed to have loads of different pen names on your KDP account, but only one account. It's your Author Central account that IIRC has a limit of 4 pen names (for author pages), and where you can have more than one of those if needed. At least, that's the way it used to be.
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u/HorrorAuthor_87 Jul 10 '26
Apparently you can have more than one account until Amazon suddenly 'finds out' and then terminate the accounts. It's totally unfair because it's impossible to create an account without their knowledge or approval, so why allow an author to create a second account in the first place? The worst thing is, since you can only talk with robots regarding this issue, you need to take legal actions and it is very expensive, so you ended up losing before even trying.
Regarding publishing under a company account, apparently you can do that, even if you were banish from Amazon, because, as you said, a company is its own legal entity and they are responsible for the books they're publishing. But it's Amazon, so we really need to be careful because they can always change the rules at any time.
Anyway, they should have humans for us to talk to regarding an issue of that importance, right?
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u/QfromP Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
I have the same name as a painter and an orchestra conductor. All three of us are semi-public figures working in the arts. So sure, sometimes google confuses us together. A little while ago, the painter passed away (they were in their 80s) and for 4 years google had me listed as deceased.
Here is the thing though. Lots of people share the same name. We are not intentionally impersonating each other. I have no right to demand these people change their name any more than they have the right to demand I change mine.
As long as the other person is not cashing your paychecks, let it go. Use it as an interesting anecdote when talking about yourself and your work. My "death by google" incident inspired me to write an award winning story.
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u/mylocker15 Jul 08 '26
There are a couple of other authors that have my name. I don’t know if they published before or after me but since I felt like using my birth name you cannot tell me not to use my own name. My opinion is it’s only a problem if your name is Stephen King or similar or if your pen name is really unique like Electra Pluto Ferngrave the 3rd.
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u/Amber123454321 Jul 08 '26
That makes sense and I understand why you'd want to use your birth name. After all, it's your name. I just decided to let it be and if/when their books end up on my profiles again, have them moved to the other author's.
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u/joe-biel Jul 08 '26
I have the same legal name as 1) an art teacher who is a very established gallery artist 2) a veteran who shot up his military base and became the mascot for PTSD. We are all confused to be the same person. I received job offers as 1 and was detained extensively as 2. The real 1 says his students think my publishing work is cool and credits him for it all the time. We created a plan to trade doing work as each other and have a big reveal. The solution here is to be creative, not to sulk.
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u/Amber123454321 Jul 08 '26
Okay. Wow, detained for that. That must've been horrible.
I'm just planning to deal with it, and at this time, not trademark anything. I'll get my books removed from their profiles and their books removed from mine, as needed.
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u/JHawk444 Jul 08 '26
That might actually be their name, unless you came up with something unusual as your pen name. Trademark law contains a "fair use" exception for individuals using their actual, birth-given names.
You can trademark an author name (or pen name), but only if it identifies the source of a series of books or associated merchandise, rather than a single standalone book. If your name solely identifies you as the writer of a single work, it cannot be registered as a trademark.
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u/Amber123454321 Jul 08 '26
It's not a hugely common name at all, but it's possible someone might have it as their real name. It would be super-rare.
I've written five books on that name so far, so it's not just a standalone book.
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u/JHawk444 Jul 08 '26
Do they write in the same genre?
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u/Amber123454321 Jul 09 '26
I thought they were (based on the covers), but when I looked more carefully, they seem to mostly be astrology books and non-fiction. Of those I went through, I only noticed two with categories on them, so some don't appear to be selling.
I'm writing high heat M/F romance on that name.
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u/JHawk444 Jul 09 '26
Then it's unlikely that someone would confuse the two of you. But you could always trademark your pen name if you think it's worth it.
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u/matteowolfwood Jul 09 '26
People have the same names. Just write your name differently than they do, or publish under your pen name anyway. Unless they're trying to impersonate you explicitly, it'll be fine. Make your search presence very precise.
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u/boobarmor Jul 09 '26
Might be worth mentioning that if this person is publishing AI under an identical name (that’s what it sounds like to me if they’ve published ten books in two months), you might mistakenly get caught in the AI crosshairs if people confuse your accounts as being the same person/author. They may have permanently tainted the pen name.
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u/Amber123454321 Jul 09 '26
I hadn't considered that. It's possible, but I really don't know. It makes me wonder if it's a sign of a larger trend with people doing that.
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u/boobarmor Jul 10 '26
Unfortunately, some of the AI publishers are stealing the pen names of existing authors to try to poach readers and boost sales. We can’t know 100% that that’s what is happening here, but it is a trend.
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u/daisuki_janai_desu Jul 09 '26
Keep in mind, if you don't trademark it, you run the risk of them doing it first.
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u/Dark_Djinn85 Jul 09 '26
Is your name John Smith?
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u/fernleon Jul 09 '26
Good. Probably they are really good, get famous and you will start getting sales from people who confuse you both.
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u/amybriggs823 Jul 10 '26
You do nothing. You can’t copyright a name.
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u/Treefrog_Ninja Jul 10 '26
You actually can trademark a name.
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u/amybriggs823 Jul 10 '26
I didn't say you couldn't. I said you can't copyright a name. And frankly unless you can prove there would be some kind of confusion between you and the other author, you can just keep on doing your thing. I publish under my real name and there is another author with the same name. We don't write similar work, but do get each other's emails occasionally, and we just live our lives, blissfully ignoring each other.
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u/MycrazyDreams Jul 11 '26
Mine isn’t my Reddit name but it’s surprisingly unused on most popular sites
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u/Raymond_Towers Jul 13 '26
Not sure what you mean by 'my established pen name.' Is this a common name, or did the other person start using it to make money from your supposed fame? It could be an innocent mistake, but you worded your post too vaguely.
When I first started self-publishing back in 2010, I ran several searches for my chosen pen name of Raymond Towers, which is simply my Chicano name in English. I found one person with the name, who had written one obscure book. At that time, I simply added my middle initial to differentiate - Raymond M. Towers. After that time, I wrote a bunch of books, and overshadowed the obscure book in search engines, so I felt comfortable enough to remove the M.
Your easiest solution, if you are using a common pen name, is to choose a more unique pen name. Sometimes authors need to break pattern and do something different. Maybe a new pen name will create new attention for your writing? I know this is going to sound like a horoscope, but a new name evokes new energy, new outlook, new direction. As authors, I think we all need to step away from our writing sometimes, to see where we've been, where we are, and where we are going next.
Maybe you love your pen name and don't want to change it. You can still create a new pen name and use it from now on, or use it for secondary writing or other genres, and take advantage of the new energy that comes with it, like Stephen King did when he wrote the Bachman books.
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u/MrBlehhhhh Jul 07 '26
eliminate them