Furry Writers' Guild Forum

Professional Appearances

General Writing Discussion
#1

Hey all,

So, I don’t quite know if this is the right place, but I wasn’t sure where else to post my question.

I’ve been in the community for some time now, but am only now taking my own appearance as a professional seriously. My handle on my pages (FA and SF mainly) are rather… awkward, and not quite something I’d really want to attach to, say an author blurb. Now most of the stuff I have on either site are commissions of art work, but, like the guild name suggests, I’m a writer – or at least I like to think of myself as one.

I plan to try to relaunch myself on those platforms (at least) under my professional name, but I’m not sure how I should quite go about it. I mean, should I delete my old accounts entirely? If so, should I repost the stories I had (all, like, five of them)? What about my art commissions that well outnumber my story submissions?

I want to be taken seriously as a writer and want to be able to create a following and I want my page to show that. Are there any recommendations one can give to someone trying to create a more professional page?

#2

If you really want to go a more professional route, you should consider posting stories to a personal website (generally www.authorname.com or something along those lines) rather than FA or SF. Or, at least, if you mention in a bio where to find your work, mention your website rather than your FA or SF, if you really want to have the stories there as well.

FA and SF are not what I’d call websites for a professional.

#3

I’ve long been an advocate of “owning your presence” on the web; even if you can’t get (or don’t want to get) a domain name that’s your name, paying the ~$15/yr for your own domain and connecting it up to a web site somewhere else – WordPress.com (which charges another $13/yr to hook up a custom domain), even Tumblr (which lets you use your own domain for free) – is a good idea.

I don’t think linking to FA and SF from your own site is necessarily bad, but I don’t think it’s necessary, either. I usually post stories to my own site and to FA, SF and FN. (I confess I’m not particularly good about keeping all of them in sync.) There will be some people who will keep following you on the archive sites, and that’s fine – just keep them up to date with your publication news.

As for awkward handles, well. If you want to change them and migrate accounts, letting followers know where you’ve “moved,” there’s precedent. I don’t remember whether SoFurry lets you just change account names, which would be easier, of course.

#4

Just a quick note from me, as I have done it- Yes, SoFurry specifically has a “Change Username” option in the Settings menu. FA sadly does not.

#5

You can also set something up on Goodreads as an author page, that way as your stuff gets published you can link those books to your name.

#6

Heh… I was thinking a lot smaller scale at this time. Though this is all great information! Don’t get me wrong.

Another question to go along with this, if I may. I have one main email address I use for, well, everything.

In regards to submissions for publication and communication within the community (writing or furry), would you recommend creating a new email address for my pen name? Do you think that has a more professional look? Or am I overthinking a hobby?

#7

Maybe that depends on your feel about your current email address. :slight_smile: I don’t know if it makes a significant difference in terms of outward appearance—I’d say it depends on how important keeping various identitiesseparate is to you personally. I have one email address that I usually only use for job-related things (separate from the email address at the actual job, I mean), and another email address which tends to be used for just about everything else, furry and otherwise. But, of course, I write most things under my real name, don’t really mind if coworkers or prospective employers find work that I publish under it, and I actually think creating pen names that separate “furry” vs. “non-furry” writing is potentially counterproductive. (N.B.: creating pen names that separate “erotica” from “non-erotica” is a different matter.)

#8

If you’re feeling anxious about venturing out of FA and SF, it’s also not unheard of to have an ‘art’ account and a ‘writing’ account. You can attach your writing account to your art account, but you won’t have to attach your art account to your writing account, if that makes sense. That way those who have followed you all this time can also watch your writing account if they also enjoy your stories, but those who are only there for your stories won’t really know of your writing account unless they actually take the time to look.