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I want to write under an identity that is not traceable back to me, so that people may not scrutinize me from my writing - neighbors, employers, coworkers - you know. Is there any foolproof way in which I can maintain two separate identities, so that I need not skip on the marketing part of the publishing process?

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    If you are going to publish, whether under a pseudonym or not, at minimum your publisher and/or publishing liason will want to know your true name, identity and personal details and meet you in person at least once. You can obfuscate your identity from your readers and ask not to have a picture on your book jacket, but at least a few people who you work with to publish will have to know who you are, so that's good to keep in mind if you feel you would be substantially embarrassed or not wanting your work to be traced back to you by anyone at all (i.e. if you're writing smut).
    – Sciborg
    Sep 18, 2020 at 13:13
  • I do understand the necessity of that. What if, say, I self-publish?
    – undocumented sophistication
    Sep 18, 2020 at 14:02
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    In that case it's super easy, provided that you're self-publishing digitally somewhere. Just pick a name and make a persona. Self-publishing on the web requires nobody to know who you are - beauty of the Internet.
    – Sciborg
    Sep 18, 2020 at 15:14

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Someone's going to know. But who is it is your choice.

  • For traditional publishing, if you can get an agent, the agent is the only person who needs to know.
  • Otherwise, the publishing house will know. (And you may need to check the contract to specify they can only publicize using your pseudonym.)
  • Indie publishing requires you to give your real name to the publishing platform
  • I have heard that you can set up a corporation to avoid even that, but that, of course, requires setting up a corporation
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No guarantee that you can be untraceable.
There are ways that you can mostly hide your identity. Google for books on that subject.

But if you run for president the other party will have all the dirt you dont want known about you and will use it.

If your book violates national security then NSA will find you too.

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  • hahaha, no - I've no intention fo writing something that taboo! Just that I don't want the joy of having two separate identities
    – undocumented sophistication
    Sep 26, 2020 at 2:26

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