Are you using? I mean pen names

[izanagi]

Why or why not?

Personally I'm thinking about it but haven't concretely decided yet. Things I'm considering are when I'm referencing work here for other positions, personal comfort and privacy, the transition to other genres when we add them, etc... What do you guys think? :O

[ZepysGirl]

I've been thinking on this a bit as well, and I think I'll have to discuss it with my group before I come to a final answer. It's not something an individual can just decide on their own. For example, if A-san, B-san, and C-san normally work together, but if B-san is "replaced" by a mysterious "X-san" on only the 18+ titles... it's not that hard to connect the dots. I think the whole group would have to agree to pen names (or just an alternate group name) for those sorts of situations.

And of course, it relies entirely on how DMP will release our product, and how they choose to attach group names to the manga we've worked on. For instance, if they choose to have centralized pages where you can see all titles that a single group worked on, that would make pen names a necessity for every title you work on, with no option to have pen names only for the adult titles. It would be a straight up yay or nay on the issue.

I can see the reasons for and against, though. It'd be great if people could Google my name and see the work I've done--- on the other hand, a bunch of this is going to be gay sexy times. As much as I'd like to hope an employer would look past that, I'm afraid it would negatively affect their perception of me. I don't want to shoot myself in the foot for all other ventures. -_-

[izanagi]

True, but there are also groups with 3+ people, or groups could all use real names with the other genres. I didn't think about how DMP would categorize it, although I doubt it would be by who worked on it (on the consumer end anyway - is that what you were referring to?).

a bunch of this is going to be gay sexy times

Ha ha ha this made me laugh. But yeah, I was thinking about that too...

[ZepysGirl]

Oh, yeah, sorry for the vagueness--- I was referring to the consumer end. I don't know, I was thinking they'd make some way for the groups to stand out from each other. A "get to know us!" page, or something? So readers could be like "Oh, ABC Team always does really good work, I'll check out their new stuff!" I mean, brand-loyalty (group-loyalty? xD) is a powerful thing, it would make sense to cater to that. Wow, I'm getting way too idealistic here.

There are groups with 3+ people (I'm in one, actually. xD), so the situation could get more complicated. Maybe I should just stop trying to wrack my brain until we find out the final format. It really depends on how they credit us, be it by group or as individuals.

[Shroud]

I asked this question (how will they credit) on the Sat teleconference and it was already answered.

[Franzeska]

I was just planning to use my real name. I don't think most people looking to hire translators assume anything about the translators' own tastes from their past work. If you've only worked on porn, it might raise the question of whether you're any good at technical manuals, but I don't think the mere fact of it being porn would be an issue as long as it demonstrates language skills. (And for other kinds of jobs, my translations would be none of their business. I wouldn't want to join any workplace that wasn't professional enough to understand that.)

[ZepysGirl]

I asked this question (how will they credit) on the Sat teleconference and it was already answered.

See, this is why I normally double check everything before posting. xD And I was at that teleconference, too. Sorry, forgive me.

Hm, well if that's case, think I would prefer a system where the 18+ titles I work on would be under a group pen name. I want to edit for more things than just manga (technical editing is my thing, actually), and I'll most likely be working freelance. I wouldn't want to have to explain the yaoi again and again for each new potential customer. -_- That is, if they'd even give me a chance to explain. I'm not a translator, I'm not as in-demand as translators are--- a silly reason like that might be enough to lose me a job.

Of course, this depends entirely upon what my group decides.

[kokiden]

@Zepysgirl, I didn't quite understand your explanation of why the whole group would have to go the same way? Would you mind giving an example so I can understand better?

My first choice would be to use my real name. I'm with Franzeska. I would expect future employers to regard my work in a professional light if they look at it at all.

Ideally, we could list our group and individual names on our releases. And each individual would choose whether to write under a real name or a pen name, like this:

What I Did in the PE Equipment Closet
by Zojirushi Girigiri

DMG group The Happy Homos

Translation: Michelle Smith and Blueberry Pie
Typesetting: Harry Krishna
Editing: Ellen White

[ZepysGirl]

Sorry I'm not very good at explaining myself. -_- I got my wisdom teeth taken out this weekend, so I'm still a little loopy.

The idea is that it would be too easy for someone to connect the dots between pen names and real names if only one person in a group chose to have a pen name. If Alice, Bob, and Charlie usually work together, but on the 18+ books it suddenly becomes Alice, Bob, and Cupcake--- wouldn't it be kind of obvious that Cupcake = Charlie under a pen name? In that case, in order to truly protect Charlie's anonymity, the whole group could choose to go under a pen name. I don't know, I'm obviously over thinking this. I doubt clients would dig too deep, after a cursory Google search.

[kokiden]

@Zepysgirl, no I'm sure it's me LOL I get it now. You're assuming that the group may already be known to work together, right?