The most frequent question I get is: Why do you have a pen name? The answer lies in the vagaries of publishing. A brand-new name isn’t haunted by mediocre sales data. So, if an author doesn’t break out with a penname after publishing a few books, then the publisher may ask the author to take a new name and try again. Such was the case with my first name Katherine Greyle. Back in 2000, she wrote sweet historical romance (no sex) and the market shifted to hot, open door bedroom scenes. (This would be the first of many times when the market shifted away from my platform and I had to adjust.) My editor asked me to take a new penname and try again. He also said, “Why not use your ethnicity? Write something Chinese.”
I agreed and began trying to think of a new name. Not an easy process. Since short names can be printed larger on book covers, I decided to keep the character count under eight. Since I was writing very, very sexy and my mother was embarrassed, I did not take our family name of Chen. And finally, since Jet Li was very big (it was 2003), I went similar but not the same. Jade Lee was born.
Tip #1. Google your pen name before choosing it
You know how supermodels have a lead — insert hair color/ethnicity — star? At any given time, there is a lead redhead (Irish) supermodel, a lead blond (Caucasian) supermodel, etc. The same thing is true for porn stars. Turns out, at the moment I chose my penname, Jade Lee was the lead Asian Porn Star. She’s a beautiful Asian woman with extra large breasts and long flowing hair.
The first clue that I’d made a mistake was when I couldn’t have the website www.JadeLee.com. That was owned by a company who wasn’t using it but would sell it to me for $5000. I couldn’t understand why anyone would randomly choose a name and buy the url. Answer: it wasn’t random. I finally Googled the name and discovered the porn star, but my first book cover was already printed. Too late to change the name. No problem, I thought, I’ll just pick up a url that made it clear who I was. www.JadeLeeAuthor.com soon came on line. Sure, every once in a while, I’d introduce myself as Jade Lee and a man’s eyes would bug out, but that was rare.
Until my mother discovered the internet. “Did you publish a new book?” she asked me one day. I hadn’t, so she explained that she’d Googled my name and came up with a surprise. She pulled up the page on her computer, and there it was. My website first, my blog second, and then Pussyman’s Escape from LA.
Tip #2. Publishing sexy books may be embarrassing to the family name, but taking a porn star’s name is even worse
Suddenly my mother was angry that I had chosen the name Lee instead of Chen. Especially when Jade Lee the actress continued work and released Butt Row 2. She had other titles. I don’t remember them because I’ve tried to block them from my memory. Fortunately, I was working in a female dominated industry, so most people thought it was funny instead of a problem. In fact, one publicist recommended I contact the actress and share mailing lists. She said, “You don’t care if they think your books are written by her. You still get the royalty check.” That was true, but I really didn’t want to subject my readers to porn marketing efforts, plus I didn’t think people who watched porn would be inclined to read historical romance. Also, I thought my mother would have a coronary if I mentioned I’d formed a marketing partnership with a porn star.
Tip #3. Husbands can be helpful… or not
Time marched on and I continued to write historical romance as Jade Lee. No one mentioned her, including my male editor. Every once in a while, a new film would come out, and I would cringe (I’d learned to do frequent internet searches), but all in all, the porn star seemed to have quit the business. Phew! Until the day in 2015 when my husband searched IMDB for my name. Why? I have no idea. I’m not on it, but Jade the actress is with her latest venture, a comedy tv show titled Timid Pimps. She plays Jade the blind hooker. He offered to watch the series for me in case he could find some way for me to capitalize on her exposure. (Pun intended).
I declined his offer. The good news is that I can be old and saggy and still write romance novels. Actresses struggle to find work after a certain age, and Jade seems to have retired as far as I can tell. I hope she had a wonderful career that gave her everything she wanted, but I’m not sad she’s done. And if she surprises me and releases another movie, well, then I pray that her fans do read historical romance and pick up a book or two thinking I’m her. And in case you’re wondering, I did take a new penname back in 2010 for my contemporary and paranormal romances. Kathy Lyons was born after I’d googled her first, gotten the website, and did a thorough IMDB search.
