Some of you may already know this. Others may not.
For the majority of the early part of my writing career, I wrote under a female pen name. My alter ego produced literally thousands of articles on parenting, pregnancy, conception, and child rearing. Chances are pretty good that, if you’ve spent any time researching some of these topics, you’ve read my work.
While I enjoyed the work and it helped to catapult my writing career, the time finally came when I needed to break out, and develop my own brand.
Check out The Violent Truth of Branding over at Freelance Folder today to learn how I did it, what worked for me, and what pitfalls I fell into along the way.
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While you’re at it, make my friend Ritu happy by visiting my post, “The Exponential Power of Collaborative Effort“ over at Marketing Hackz today, too!
10 comments ↓
Read your tweet about this – do you have a direct URL?
Thanks! Barbara
Ok, I’m highly impressed. Can you please x-plain to me how in the world you managed to give female advice about ob/gyn’s and the like and not get busted? You had your wife as your advisor right?
This just blows all of my stereotypes to hell.
@ Barbara – I think it’s fixed. I had a weird font formatting thing for the link.
@ Magnolia – It really wasn’t that hard. I did my research diligently and I stuck to giving as much factual information as I could. And, while I’ve obviously not given birth, I’ve been very involved personally with the process, from conception planning through raising a teenager.
Beyond that, I aimed for an objective voice and refused to take sides. That, I’ll admit, was a bit of a challenge in some areas (like breastfeeding).
And, Magnolia? It’s more common than you think. Folks are folks, you know? I believe that a good writer can write effectively about any topic, if you’re willing to do the research.
Could I write a novel about motherhood? Now that would be a different thing altogether. I don’t think I could pull that off. Fiction isn’t my strong area.
yeah, folks are folks Bob, but men aren’t women and women aren’t men. If that were the case, you COULD give birth, and breastfeed and “you” would be having the hot flashes, not me.
But, I’m impressed that you could give advice on these topics posting as a woman. I suppose it would be much like a male OB. (though I must confess, I don’t go to them.
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@ Magnolia – And viva la difference! But when it comes to writing or teaching or performing tasks, a woman can write about ED as well as a man can. She can’t do it empathetically, but she can do it sympathetically.
Some folks would argue that point with me, that it is truly possible to write empathetically without true empathy. I suppose it might be possible, but I can’t do it.
It’s like this: I can’t describe how engorgement feels without basing it on someone else’s words. I can, though, tell you how to reduce your chances of becoming engorged, or to recognize the symptoms of mastitis.
I think it’s totally possible for a man to adequately write about female topics. As writers, we need to be able to research any topic and write about it. I’ve never been hunting, but I bet, if given time, I could write some darn good articles about it.
So, good for you Bob. It’s no surprise to me that you or any man could write about childbirth and the like.
Gotcha….point taken.
I enjoyed reading your post at Freelance Folder and as you said, your success came from diligent research which meant that you presented all the facts. Probably a wise choice to take the “middle of the road” approach when you wrote as a mom. It meant that you were being a good listener and non judgemental towards your community.
This does give me something to think about when I’m looking at various writing jobs and instead of thinking….that one may not be for me. I also liked the fact that you advised writers/freelancers to be careful of the niche or brand they want to make for themselves, lest we find ourselves writing something that we no longer wish to write in a few years time.
@ Jenny – Thanks for your comment!
There’s nothing wrong with changing niches or even brands – but it’s not an easy process.
Would I go back to writing pregnancy material if there weren’t other available work? Sure. It was still writing for a living, you know?
I have to admit now you have piqued my curiosity as to what this pen name was! Having given birth three times, I probably have read something you wrote on the subject.
Elizabeths last blog post..I did it! I painted a bathroom! Go me.
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