Let me tell you a fun little horror story.

For years, I published under the pen name Arial Burnz.

Stylish. Edgy. Genre-appropriate. Or so I thought.

Then Amazon decided my name was wrong after they tweaked their engine.

Moving forward, every time readers searched for me, Amazon “helpfully” corrected Burnz to Burns. As in: No, sweetie, that can’t possibly be a Z.

Result?
My books stopped showing up.
My sales tanked.
And Amazon did not care.

Actually, they did provide a link in tiny print above the Reformation, Plague an Fire in Renaissance London search results…

Search instead for arial burnz

But readers weren’t seeing it.

When I complained, Amazon Customer Support said, “The search engine is doing exactly what it’s designed to do.” I even suggested that any author name in the system should automatically be entered as a search result. They repeated the phrase, “The search engine is doing exactly what it’s designed to do.”

Cue grumbling.

The Problem with “Too Clever” Pen Names

Amazon’s search engine is designed for one thing—customer experience, not accuracy.

If your pen name:

• Uses unusual spellings (e.g., Thornewood vs Thornwood)

• Looks like a typo of a common word (e.g., Burnz vs. Burns)

• Follows the unique naming trend we see with online names (e.g., Vyxen / Vixen / Vickson)

Amazon may silently auto-correct it.

No warning. No error message. Just vanished visibility.

Readers would type my name correctly… and Amazon would shove them somewhere else.

Lesson Learned: Searchability Beats Too Unique

When I realized what was happening, I had to make a hard call: Keep the cool name, or keep selling books.

I chose selling books.

Pen Name or Real Name?

You may be at the beginning of your authorpreneurer career and struggling with whether or not you should use a pen name. I will tell you emphatically, “Yes. You should use a pen name.” And I have a few reasons why:

Privacy

I knew an author in one of my local meetup groups who wrote YA romance and her books started taking off. Then her family got threats against their children in exchange for money. And if you write steamy, erotic romance or erotica AND work around children, definitely pen name.

Branding

A name that matches your genre just sits well with readers and cements that image in their subconscious mind. I’m also a certified hypnotherapist, so trust me on this one.

Difficult Real Name

Besides the privacy issue, having a name that’s difficult to pronounce can be a little off-putting for readers. I know, it sounds silly but it’s true. My maiden name was a nightmare through school and my professional career. Thank the Gods I married a man with a simple name that never gets mispronounced. I’m in simplicity heaven, but the experience stuck with me. Simplicity = Discoverability.

TIP: Use Your Real First Name

When I chose Arial Burnz as my pen name, I never thought about what happens when someone called me by that pen name. Since my ear was tuned to my real name, I was completely deaf to “Arial” when I went to book conventions. I had to learn to listen for that name.

If you have to use a different first name, consider one that sounds very close to your real name or a nickname you already use. If not, then here are a couple of tricks you can do to get your ear tuned to the new name:

1. Online Gamer?—If you’re a gamer or use Discord (or similar), change your screen or character name to your pen name and request your friends / online buddies call you by that name when you’re in a voice chat channel. This is exactly how I retrained my ear to my pen name!

2. Use it at Home—Ask your family to call you by that name for a few weeks.

3. Starbucks test—Use your pen name for orders. Public, noisy, low-stakes repetition can train your ear. (Same can apply to restaurant waiting lists and fast food orders.)

How I Chose a Better Pen Name (The Second Time)

Here’s the system I now recommend—and use.

1. Genre First, Ego Last

Your pen name is branding, not self-expression.

• Dark romance / gothic? → Strong, moody, grounded

• Cozy / contemporary? → Friendly, human, familiar

• Fantasy? → Evocative, but pronounceable

• Thriller / Mystery / Suspense? → Clean, credible, authoritative

If a reader saw the name on a cover, would they expect your genre?

Are you a female in a male dominated genre (e.g., military sci-fi, tech or political thrillers) OR your audience expects a male writer? Or are you a male author in a female dominiated genre (e.g., romance, women’s fiction)? Consider initials or a gender neutral name. J.K. Rowling’s publisher suggested using initials for her pen name because they didn’t think young boys would want to read fantasy books by a female author.

Gender neutrality and breaking gender rules are smashing those boundaries today, but some might still want to make such considerations. Your choice!

2. Run It Through Amazon Like a Reader

This is critical.

Go to Amazon (incognito window is best) and:

• Type the pen name exactly

• Watch for auto-corrections

• Check suggested results

If Amazon “fixes” your name—choose a different one.

No arguing. No hoping. Amazon wins.

3. Check for Name Clutter

Search the name and look for:

• Existing authors with the same or similar names

• Book titles that dominate the results

• Famous people or characters hijacking the page

• Do the same search on Google.

If there are already a dozen near-matches, you’re invisible by default. I searched a pen name I was trying out that was the character of a TV series. Not a great idea. Although people might see your books in such search results, they could think the books are a gimmick written under the famous character or since your books are unrelated, they won’t care.

You want:

• Clean search results

• Minimal competition

• Clear association with you

4. Say It Out Loud

If people can’t pronounce it, spell it, or remember it—problem.

Your name should pass the:

“I heard about this author, let me search them” test.

Think about how one might type the name based on what they hear.

The Compromise (Because There’s Always One)

You may be totally in love with a pen name, but trust me when I say you might have to settle for a second or third choice because of the above criteria. Although it’s a compromise, you’re setting yourself up for success if readers can find you.

Gina Thornwood is the new pen name I settled on. I had other choices I was in love with but now that I’ve picked it for all the above reasons, I love it. It fits my genres (dark fantasy, vampire romance, fantasy romance), plus it uses my real first name, which makes it easier to answer to at conventions! (Lesson learned!)

More importantly:

• Amazon doesn’t change it

• Readers can find me

• Ads work

• Algorithms behave

This Is the First Post in a Series

I’m rebuilding my author career in public. This Substack is where I’m sharing:

• What worked

• What failed

• What I had to compromise on

• And what I absolutely refuse to do again

Just real-time decisions from someone who’s been publishing long enough to have battle scars—and receipts.

If you’re thinking about rebranding, starting over, or fixing something that quietly broke your sales?

You’re in the right place.

More soon.

Happy writing!

Arial Burnz
(aka Gina Thornwood)

P.S. CLICK HERE if you’d like to see my Gina Thornwood Substack for examples of how I reach out to my readers.

Okay, let’s just address it up front.

You’re scrolling through my post history and wondering, “Why are there shirtless vampire heartthrobs all over this fee…

Read more

This is it, darklings — the final post on the Arial Burnz Substack.

Starting Tuesday (April 29th), all future newsletters will come from Gina Thornwood — my new pen name and official home for all things romantasy.

Your email will be automatically migrated over the weekend, so you don’t have…

Read more

Big changes are happening behind the scenes, and I want to make sure you’re in the loop.

Starting April 25, 2025, I’ll be publishing all of my books under my new pen name: Gina Thornwood, and all future newsletters will be sent from my new Substack home…

Gina Thornwood

Romantasy author of dark love, slow burns, and morally gray men. If you like dangerous devotion, fierce heroines, and magic with teeth...welcome home.

To make this transition as smooth as possible, I’ll be migrating your email address to the new newslet…

Read more

Back in 2011—when Midnight Conquest first hit the digital shelves—I sat down with a certain 561-year-old vampire for his very first interview. What followed was a flirty, fang-filled Q&A that had readers swooning, blushing, and jumping into the comments to flirt with Broder…

Read more

For those new to my list, I’ve recently announced that I have completely rewritten Midnight Conquest - Book 1 of my Bonded By Blood Vampire Chronicles. If you’d like the deets on why, click on this post preview right here… 👇

Read more

It’s cover reveal day!!!! And I can’t tell you how excited I am to finally share this with you.

Rewriting Midnight Conquest wasn’t just about plot and pacing — it was about reclaiming my voice. My brand. My soul.

This is where I plant my flag in the shadowed soil of Dark Fantasy and say, this is home.

I’ve been writing this way my whole life… I just didn’t know what to call it until now. I always thought I was writing paranormal romance — and yes, there’s romance. Yes, there are vampires. Yes, there’s steam. But…

My heroes were always edgier.
My villains were always darker.
And I liked my heroes dangerous.

If the villain had to die at the hero’s hand, then he damn well better deserve it — because my heroes? They don’t wear white hats. They wield silver swords and vengeance and they don’t flinch when they draw blood.

Black roses have always meant one thing to me: dark love. Vampire love.
The kind that sinks its teeth into your soul and refuses to let go.

And the sword?
That’s not just a fancy fantasy weapon. It’s Broderick’s silver-plated blade, forged for one purpose: to kill the vampire who made him a monster. The man who stole his humanity. The one he must destroy to protect the woman who unknowingly owns his heart.

But there's one detail hiding in this cover that, if you’re not looking closely, you just might miss it…

Read more

I’ve got something hiding under the torn paper this week… 👀

You’ve seen the tip of the blade — but this Friday, I’ll reveal everything.

📖 Behind the Cover (Teaser)

🗡️ The sword.
🌹 The black roses.
Each tells a story — and none of it is an accident.

This Friday, paid subscribers will get the first edition of Behind the Cover, where I’ll s…

Read more

Hey, Witchlings! 🖤

Today is a very special day. Not only do I get to see myself standing next to my immortal vampire rogue, Broderick MacDougal…

🎂 It’s my birthday! Yay!
🖤 And it’s Broderick’s birthday! SWOON.
(Still hotter than sin after 575 years — how rude.)

Read more

Okay, I’m officially the worst at surprise reveals, so I’m just gonna let the cat out of the bag…

✨ I rewrote Midnight Conquest — and it’s better, bolder, and more magical than ever.

For those of you new to my newsletter and books, Midnight Conquest is the first book in my Dark Fantasy / Historical Paranormal Romance series - the Bonded …

Read more

Read more

Okay, so while I’m pounding away at my keyboard working on my newest release (announcements coming very soon!), I don’t really have time to be crafting a short story for Fridays. However, I always have time for a 5-minute sprint.

For those of you who might be aspiring authors, 5-minute sprints are a GREAT way to hone your writing skills, but also give you a ton of ideas you can pull from for your future novels. Here’s how they work…

1. Pick a writing prompt that inspires you.

2. Set a timer for 5 minutes

3. WRITE!

4. When the timer goes off, finish your thought or sentence and stop

It’s that easy! To find writing prompts, you can just Google “writing prompts” or if you want to be more specific, you can go to any free AI platform (e.g., Gemini, CoPilot, ChatGPT) and type in something like I did for this prompt, “I'm doing a 5-minute writing sprint for my Fiction Friday newsletter. Can you please give me several writing prompts in the paranormal women's fiction genre?” Voila! It’ll spit back about a dozen or more options for you to choose from.

Save all of your writing sprints and you’ll start gathering a collection of ideas can you dip into anytime you’re looking for a story idea. AND this exercise will also teach you to start getting to the point immediately, which tightens up your writing.

On to today’s writing prompt!

Writing Prompt

Divorced and Dealing with Demons
After your divorce, you open a cozy little coffee shop to start over. Business is booming—literally—when you find out your ex sold your soul in a deal with a demon.

Writing Sprint

Today was the day! The grand opening of my dream-come-true coffee shop business. Since I got a great settlement for the divorce from hell I’d just gone through, I decided for my 50^th birthday, I was going to retire early. Yep. It’s the do-over – or overdue – reboot on my life.

I reached for the front door to unlock it when my thumb hit the handle and smarted. Ouch! I looked at the pad of the offending digit and wouldn’t you know it, that damn cut flared up. I got it six months ago in my sleep – really not sure how it happened – and it’s been festering on and off since. Now it looks infected.

What the fudge!

A deep rumble of laughter moved through my coffee shop and I froze.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think you’re going to be able to open your coffee shop this morning,” said a low, vibrating sexy voice.

I slowly turned on my heel and saw a drop-dead gorgeous, tall-dark-and-sexy dude in a suit sitting at one of my café tables.

Read more

Nicholas Harwood has inherited an unusual job—keeping the dead quiet. For several nights before All Hallows’ Eve, he pours a potion derived from a family recipe on the graves of the late residents of Dante’s Hollow to keep the dead from walking. So far, he’s been successf…

Read more

SQUEEE!! Making a ton of progress and by the first week in April, I’ll have a HUGE announcement for you all. Not gonna lie… Getting excited!!

I’m headed back into my writing lair, so here are this week’s BookFunnel promos! Oh, and a hint for what’s coming…

Hint #2

What if you could correct a mistake you made years ago and get a second chance?

By the way, I …

Read more

Okay, my devoted subscribers!! I am hunkering down for one helluva year!

LOTS of great stuff coming your way, so I’m going to keep the Tuesday newsletters simple for the next several weeks. I need to focus all my energy on making these changes happen, and that means sequestering myself away in my writing lair!

These books ain’t gonna write themselves!!

So…

Read more

For those of you who might be new to my newsletter, I’ve been a gamer all my life. In the 80s, the arcade was my favorite place to hang out and spend my weekly paycheck. In the 90s, I started playing computer games, and then came MMO (massive multiplayer online) games, like World of Warcraft (WoW), Everquest (EQ) & Everquest 2 (EQ2), and Elder Scrolls Online (ESO), among others.

ESO is probably one of my favorite games because of the stories! They had quest lines that sometimes brought me to tears or had me cheering out loud. And I fell in love with The Dark Brotherhood storyline, where your character is an assassin and you’re given multiple assignments to hone your assassination and thieving skills. As a side story, you can become a member of the Thieves Guild. And you can bet I did!

Jade Dragyn was the character I created and leveled up specifically for The Dark Brotherhood questline, and to get into the roleplaying aspect of ESO, I had to create a backstory for Jade. So I asked myself, “What's Jade's story? Why is she an assassin? What kind of life did she have before she became one? Why is she immune to the psychological effects of taking a life? How did she find this out? How did she become a member of the Dark Brotherhood?”

So I sat down and I penned that backstory, filled with the locations found in the ESO game. And Elam Drals, whom she meets in this story, is the main NPC (non-playing character) who assigns the assassin quests you pick up to advance your character through the ranks of the Brotherhood. His voice is MASTERFULLY done by the amazing JB Blanc, who you might know as the pirate captain in the movie The Count of Monte Cristo. ESO has so many wonderful voice actors, many you know, like John Cleese, Michael Gambon, Kate Beckinsale, Bill Nighy, Alfred Molina, and so many more!

Anyway, I thought it would be fun to share her story with you today.

Jade Dragyn’s Story

A tiny wood elf baby wailed into the night as a cloaked figure slinked through the shadows to the steps of the Orsinium Orphanage. Setting the basinet with the bawling babe on the doorstep, the stranger teased the infant’s fingers with a jade pendant of gold, and the child wrapped her tiny fist around the jewel. She settled and then slept.

The baby was named Jade for the pendant, which became her only possession and one she cherished, keeping it hidden around her neck and under her clothes. For a time, she was a very quiet child in the orphanage. She spent a lot of her time on the streets of Hew’s Bane, learning to be invisible and pick pockets. Unfortunately, she was "adopted" by a rich but evil man who wanted to groom her for prostitution. He liked her too much, though, and wanted to keep her for his own. So he locked her up and dressed her for roleplaying scenarios.

She resisted him and he beat her, which caused her to turn off her feelings. He raped her, which dulled her heart even more, and when she had the chance, she killed him. And she didn't flinch. She didn't cry. She didn't care. That's when she learned she was a killer… and this was okay.

When Jade escaped, she brought a few of her roleplay outfits with her and used them as disguises. To make money when pickpocketing was scarce, she turned to prostitution for a short time, but couldn't stomach the fat, stinking rich men who wanted to bed her. On her last night of being a woman of the streets, she crossed paths with a killer.

Read more

“I want to her help. I want to reach out and grab her hand and never let go, but I can’t. I cannot risk Atlantis for the sake of one goddess. Can I?” - Poseidon

Reeling from Zeus’s threats about dragging Kore back to Olympus, Dem…

Read more

Remember, I already have hero #1 planned out - Dark Knight. That leaves 7 more heroes for our two heroines - 3 more for Sarah and 4 for Beth. So far, these are the hero types that are in the top running…

1. Brooding werewolf (90%)

2. Dominant vampire (80%)

3. Arrogant dragon shifter (75%)

4. Fallen Angel (60%)

5. Pirate rogue (50%)

6. Fae/Elven Warrior (50%)

7. Fae or Elven Prince or King (45%)

Someone made a note that they weren’t really thrilled about having any kind “arrogant” hero, but they did like dragon shifters, and I completely agree.

To be clear, this is more about the heroine’s first impression. He’s still a hero who will do anything for his woman and will come across as arrogant at first. I do I hope I write the kind of heroes you can fall in love with despite the initial impressions!

If you’d like to participate in the short survey and haven’t yet, CLICK HERE. I’ll be leaving it open over the weekend and give the final results on Tuesday!

And now for this week’s Flash Fiction story…

In Another Life

Evan stared at Lila across the table from him, the candlelight flickering in her dark eyes. For a split second, the restaurant backdrop behind her blurred, and he saw shadows of towering, black-barked trees. He blinked, and the moment was gone. Nerves. It had to be.

No second thoughts. It’s time.

“Happy meeting-date anniversary.” He set a small decoratively wrapped cube in front of her.

Lila’s eyes widened and she swallowed. “You remember the actual date we first met?”

“You mean you don’t?” Evan stabbed a pretend knife into his heart. “Why did you think I made plans at such an expensive restaurant tonight?”

Lila shoulder rose in a half-shrug. “Honestly, I thought you got that promotion, and we were going out to celebrate. But this?” She stared at the tiny box.

Evan didn’t like the apprehension on her face. It was almost as if she was afraid to open the gift, but he decided to keep it light. “If you don’t remember the date we met, do you at least remember our first encounter?” Evan donned a mock expression of pain and disappointment, hoping to brighten the mood.

Read more

Well, it seems like the Substack polls only allowed you to vote for ONE hero per poll, which means you were only able to choose a total of three heroes. See below for more details.

In the meantime, check out the latest BookFunnel promos from my author pals!

BookFunnel Promos

NEW This Week!

Read more

Okay. Confession.

I have been having a really hard time coming up with a short story this week. I’ve come up with SEVERAL ideas for novels, though! My TBW (to be written) pile is getting taller by the day! I told you, I have problems keeping stories short!

BUT in all this brainstorming I’ve been doing this week, I did come up with…

Read more