Pen names: creating, switching, the primary one, archiving

One account, several names

Your account has one public author page and one login; a pen name is the byline your books, series, campaigns and Journal entries attach to (Your pen name and public page). On the Pro plan an account can hold up to five pen names, and a Publisher account holds as many as its imprint needs; Author and Creator accounts have one. A second pen name is its own byline: its own books, its own campaigns, its own Journal, its own avatar and bio. Readers who follow one of your pen names follow that name, not the account.

Creating one

1. Open Studio › Pen names. The list shows every pen name of yours with its counts, which one is primary, and any that are archived.
2. Add pen name: the name readers see and an optional short bio; its address (the part after /author/) is made from the name. The name must not be taken. Its avatar and longer bios are edited from Studio › Settings once you open Studio on it.
3. The new pen name is empty: no books, no followers, no entries. It appears in the switcher at once.

If your plan's allowance is used up, the button refuses in a sentence, for example Creator allows 1 pen name. This account has 1. Pro lifts this., with a link to Plans. Nothing is created beyond the allowance.

Switching between them

The pen switcher at the top of Studio lists your own pen names first, then the pen names you work on as a team member, then, for an imprint, the imprint's. Choose one and every Studio screen (books, series, campaigns, applications, the Journal, analytics, promotions) shows that pen name alone. The choice is remembered for you until you switch again; it never changes what readers see.

The primary pen name

One pen name is primary: the one Studio opens on. Make primary on the list moves it; the previous primary stays a normal pen name with everything it had.

Archiving

Archive on a pen name you no longer write under asks for a confirmation that names what happens:

• Its published books stay public under that name, on their pages, on the Charts and on readers' shelves: the books were sold under it, and a reader's shelf is theirs.
• Any running or scheduled ARC campaign must be completed or paused first; the dialog says so and archiving waits.
• Its page says it is no longer publishing here, the authors index lists it only while it has published books, and it leaves Studio and the switcher; no new book or campaign can be added to it. Restore brings it back, within your plan's allowance.
• Nothing is deleted.

An archived pen name does not count against the allowance.

Your public author page

Each pen name has its own public page at its address, with its own byline, avatar, bios and followers; your banner, external links and verification are the account's and show on every name's page.

Where the limit comes from

The allowance is the account's plan (Settings › Billing › Your plan includes, the Pen names line); a team member working on your pen name is measured against your plan, not theirs. During the closed beta every author feature is unlocked and the allowance is not enforced; when billing opens, When the beta ends says what happens to pen names beyond it.