Scarlet MacKenzie came about a few years ago for several reasons. First, my government name has a long storied history keeping an online journal since 1998 and more recently a newsletter where I write weekly on my life and there is no theme or specific topic. Plus just regular life is attached to that name.
Second, I wanted to separate what kind of content I was writing. Government name was all over the place in non-fiction, poetry, and prose. I wanted a clear delineation between genres. Common thought process in the author world is that if a reader picks up a book by you in cozy mystery and then discover you’re also writing erotica, there is a possibility you can lose a reader. (You may also gain readers; it’s a crap shot.) In the many, many writer’s groups I’m in, it’s not uncommon for established authors to have more than one pen name based on the genres they are writing in.
In a recent weekly writer’s group meeting, discussion came up about pen names and online presence. One person, who is a hybrid author (published traditional and indie), discussed that even if you don’t have your work out yet, which I do not, it would still behoove you to get an online presence going to build your following. This has been echoed many times to me over the last year. Writing a book and doing my own PR (which I hate doing btw) is difficult.
Shit is a lot of work.
Also, starting a blog? I’m unhinged.
What am I going to write about here? Good question.
- Updates to my work
- Serialized stories
- Bookish/author-ish things that I find interesting
- Related crap
I’m going to keep the posts between 250 – 300 words so they are short and sweet. I’m going to post once a week to begin. I do not have the brain power to post more.
Until next time,
scarlet x