Is it possible to self-publish with a pseudonym but still be approachable for offers?

Question

I'm currently writing a book and intend to sell it to make some money on the side. Now I don't have any dreams of grandeur for this book such as it being an instant hit or anything like that and I'm certainly not going to rely on it for an income so I intend to self publish rather than try and find a publisher.

Because I don't really like my real name being on the internet I would just use the a pseudonym. However, being the person I am, I want to make sure that even in the remote chances that this book or whatever else I release becomes a hit I'll be able to use opportunities that may be presented to me. One such opportunity is having my book adapted into another format such as an anime.

Now yes I'm not Japanese and in fact Australian however there is precedent. Deltora Quest written by Emily Rodda was adapted into an anime and Emily Rodda is the pseudonym for Jennifer Rowe who too is an Australian. However I would suspect that while she used her pseudonym it was her publisher Scholastic Australia who contacted her when Oriental Light and Magic and SKY Perfect Well Think and others wanted to adapt her Deltora Quest books.

The series was produced by Oriental Light and Magic and SKY Perfect Well Think. Rodda was approached with many film offers, but it was only this studio that promised to not change the story. It aired its first episode on January 6, 2007 in Japan.

Source: Deltora Quest (anime) - Production

Now if I was to use a pseudonym and self-publish the only person who could match my pseudonym to me will be me. So I am wondering: Is it possible to self-publish with a pseudonym but still be approachable for these kinds of offers (book being adapted into another media, a proper publishing deal for future titles)? or do I lock myself out from these if I don't use my real name?

Answer 1

Make sure it is possible for prospective business partners to reach you. Create a website for your pseudonym where you advertise your work. Make sure that website is easy to find. Put the address into the copyright information of your book, on the back-cover, into the profile of any social media presences you have, etc..

There are services which allow to register domains by proxy, so your real name doesn't show up in the domain records. Make sure to point out that you are interested in business proposals and offer an easy way to contact you through your website. That can either be an email address which is also a pseudonym or a contact form.

When people contact you with a serious offer you can reply with your real personal information.

There is nothing wrong with working under a pen name. Many cult-classics of literature were published under pen names. Like, for example the whole life-works of Samuel Clemens, Eric Arthur Blair or Howard O'Brien. What, never heard of these people? You might know them as:

Mark Twain, George Orwell and Anne Rice

You might notice that pen names usually sound like names a real person would have. So when you want to make a writing career under a pen name, you might want to pick a less obvious pseudonym than Memor-X.

Answer 2

There will be a link back to you for two reasons. Your payment to whatever organisation you use to 'self publish' and their payments to you generated from any sales of your book. If it does become the focus of a film or TV series then we can assume that it has also had at least a few sales in book form.

This is an assumption but I would suspect that the self publishing organisation would have a reference to themselves inside the front cover of the book. I mean you normally get the 'published by' information where the copyright and ISBN information is printed.

Should it become a hit and large organisation wanted the rights then I think they have large enough legal and marketing departments and existing networks into publishing houses to at least try and track you down through that link. It's where I'd start as a complete novice.

I'm investigation what would happen for any royalties accrued by your book in terms of library lending and reproduction so I will be editing this to include that later. At present it's my belief that you may just miss out on those if you can't be easily tracked down.

As others have mention I think creating some social media or contact information for your pseudonym would be a good idea if for no other reason than allowing your readers to contact you.

EDIT:

Having spoken to someone in the industry my answer is correct. They would go through the publisher who may not divulge your identity but would pass the contact request along to you. Now in 'real life' you can lose that link if perhaps the request was made long after the book stopped selling and the publishing house have lost contact with you because perhaps you moved and never told them.