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@jenwriter17 You tagged me, so I shall come from the depths of my dragon den to answer. Also because I used to deal with this question myself.

So, at first I was thinking, hey D.G. Snapper isn’t so bad a pen name. In fact, it’s really cool and unique. And the letter S is smack dab in the middle of the library, so maybe they’ll see my book more. 😛 Obviously my logic was top notch. XD

But it came down to this. If you pick the pen name and put it on your book, then you’re going to have to stick with that for… a REALLY LONG TIME. Say, if I chose the name D.G. Snapper and put that on a book and published it, then I would be building my reader base completely based on that name. People would recognize the name D.G. Snapper and associate it with my stories, whether good or bad. Everything I did is carried in that name.

So the question: do I really want that to be my name, my fame name, for the rest of my life? If its your dream to have your name, your REAL name on a book, then I would go ahead and do it. Really, and build your real name as your base name. That way people don’t have to be split between two names.

Especially if you plan on traditional publishing ever. Then you say, “I self-published this book, just not under my real name,” and makes it slightly more difficult for the publishers because they expect us to do a lot of the base building. Two names is no.

Pick one.

And finally, the question of safety is always a good one. My name is a rather unique last name, so it’s even more likely to stand out compared to Snapper. However, there are ways to keep yourself safe even while using your real name. You can make your social media accounts private if and when you have one or get one. Blocking people is amazing — really, I love blocking people. XD You can even block some people from your blog if you want to. Really, to stay safe on the internet is to be cautious and aware and not too trusting.

Which is why we’re trying to stay safe. 😛

But I think the biggest problem is if you every announce your address or your email on the internet. Email isn’t too bad, you just have to recognize that anyone can see it. And your address. Yeah, no. Just never post that. Never never.

Finally, it’s up to you and what you want to do. I, eventually, decided to go with my real name, because I didn’t want my names to be split among bases. So now my name is Danielle, and that is that. 😉

Anyway, there are my thoughts. Feel free to tag me with any questions you have.

Snapper out.