Split Personality by Jeff Cohen

Jeff Cohen, or whoever he is today, is the author of the Aaron Tucker and Double Feature mystery series. As E.J. Copperman, he writes the Haunted Guesthouse mystery series for Berkley Prime Crime. His hobbies include referring to himself in the third person. You can find him online at www.jeffcohenbooks.com or www.ejcopperman.com  depending on who you might be looking for.

Split Personality

By Jeff Cohen

Sometimes, it’s difficult being two people.

For example, when I’m at a library or a bookstore promoting one of the Haunted Guesthouse mysteries, which I write under the name E.J. Copperman (I’ll get to that), I know which name to sign. Unless the person holding the book is someone who knows my actual name.

Not long ago, such a person showed up at a library where I was speaking and bought a copy of Night of the Living Deed, the first book in the series, which was very nice of him. He asked me to sign it, and I was happy to do so. But I always sign on the title page under the author’s name, which in this case was not the one I was born with. So I asked him, “Which name?”

The poor guy, whom I’ve known for a few years, looked confused. “Bob,” he said after a moment.

“I know that. Which name do you want me to sign?”

I completely understand, because sometimes I get confused, myself. Not that I ever forget who E.J. Copperman might (or might not) be, but when I’m out in a crowd and someone calls “Mr. Copperman,” it takes me a second to realize that’s me.

And when I get an email from a reader—I love them; please keep ‘em coming!—addressed to “Mrs. Copperman,” I’m pleased that the reader believes the books are written by a woman, but a little perplexed that E.J. has apparently gotten married and I wasn’t invited.

It’s a little disconcerting when I do run into that situation at a signing. Someone who calls me “Jeff” on a regular basis asks for a Copperman book to be signed. If it’s a new reader or a stranger, it’s no problem. E.J.’s signature looks remarkably like my own. But with an acquaintance or a friend, it’s tricky.

Sometimes, I’ll sign “Jeff (“E.J.”) Cohen.” Other times, I’ll cave and sign it as E.J. I never sign a Copperman book just with my own name, because somehow that seems like cheating. Writers are, in case you don’t know, at least a little bit crazy.

Some people arrive at signings having read one of the books but not knowing anything about the author. This is fine, especially since neither one of me is exactly a household name, except in my household. But the looks I get from the readers who think E.J. is a Mrs. are really interesting.

After the shock wears off, they often ask where the name came from, and why I use it. The fact is, since the narrator of the Haunted Guesthouse series is Alison Kerby, it seemed logical to have at least a gender-neutral name for the author. So the publisher and I agreed we’d have to have something other than “Jeff Cohen” on the cover of the book.

How I became E.J. Copperman is another story. We went back and forth on names for what felt like months, and nobody was happy with any of the candidates. Finally, I decided to ask my daughter Eve, but she didn’t have any ideas. So I asked my son Josh, but he didn’t have any ideas, either.

Then I asked our dog Copper, but he was a dog.

And so E.J. Copperman was born.

As I was writing this, I was interrupted by a phone call from my agent, who has been gearing up to market another book which hopefully will become a series at some point. It has a female narrator.

You’re miles ahead of me—yes, pretty soon, if the publishing industry is open to it, there might be three of me.

The headache is just beginning.

In Which I Come Out of the . . . What's Smaller Than A Closet? by E.J. Copperman

 
In Which I Come Out Of The... What's Smaller Than A Closet? 
 
by E.J. Copperman 
 
On the very last page of my extremely upcoming (June 1!) mystery novel NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEED (Berkley Prime Crime, first in the Haunted Guesthouse Mystery series), there is an author biography that reads:

E.J. Copperman is a native New Jerseyan and an award-nominated screenwriter, mystery novelist and freelance journalist who has written for /The New York Times, Hollywood Scriptwriter, Writer's Digest, Entertainment Weekly /and many other publications.

All of which is true (and "award-nominated" means I didn't win, except, to be fair, I did once get a journalism award, but that was a very long time ago, and I didn't even know I'd been nominated until a week after the ceremony). But until now, the truth has never been known publicly.

E.J. Copperman is a pseudonym.

I know; you're shocked. As if the initials at the front of the name weren't signal enough, here I am telling flat out that I'm actually someone else pretending to be me. Or, someone else who actually is me, but doesn't say so, for fear of being associated with myself. Or, a writer you might or might not have heard about, but let's face it, probably didn't read, or else I'd still be me, and not someone pretending to be me.

My head hurts.

Here's how it works in the publishing biz: You start out as yourself (most of the time). You publish a novel or two. Or three. And either they take off with the public--that fickle lot--or they don't. Authors whose books have become popular will tell you it's the product of colossally hard work, endless promotion, sometimes great talent, and determination to rival that of the grittiest marathoner. Those whose books are now available as free downloads or taking up space in a warehouse next to the Ark of the Covenant will tell you it's all a crapshoot, and those other writers are just lucky.

Whatever. The point is, your books sell, or they don't. If they don't sell a lot, but they sell close to enough, the publisher (or another publisher) might be willing to give you another shot. But in order to "wipe the slate clean" with booksellers, particularly extremely large ones with the initials, let's say B and N, you will be asked to put a different name on the cover of the book.

This is not the tiny issue a rational human being might believe: Authors generally are not paid a king's ransom (or, to be fair, even the ransom on a 1976 Dodge Dart) for their work. We usually subsist on a "day job," which pays at least some of the bills, and book advances, royalties and such are a sideline out of necessity, not intent. I can tell you truly, college tuition doesn't pay itself. So that name on the front cover of the book takes on more meaning; if we're not going to get rich at this, at least we can tell the world that this is our work.

And then, we're asked to change the name. Well, publishers ARE in the business to make lots of money, and while we'd like that, it's not always realistic. We do have to pay their bills in order to keep getting published, and that's fair. A new name? Hell, writers love to make up names (actually, I HATE making up names, but that's another whole blog in itself). Sure.

So in my case, I asked my daughter Eve, my son Joshua and our dog Copper for suggestions. They couldn't come up with much, but somehow, I was inspired. Not sure what did it.

I've been very careful (well... a tiny bit careful, sort of) about protecting my identity, in the belief that my publisher wanted it that way. I never refer to myself by my original name. I'm careful about how I describe myself (see attached photo). And I have been reluctant about booking personal appearances, although to be fair, the door's not exactly getting kicked in with offers. There are no photos of me on my web site www.ejcopperman.com (in case you were wondering).
Being scrupulous about such things has been sort of a kick; it's fun to pretend and to have a secret that you can keep to yourself and a select few. So E.J. Copperman will remain E.J. Copperman in my eyes. It's a different kind of writing anyway--a twist on paranormal that recalls Topper in the era of Twilight. I hope you'll take a look; it's a fun read. But who I am? Nope, you'll be getting no hints from me.

Except here: http://berkleysignetmysteries.com/author406