Three Names, One Writer: Published Under Different Names

If you've gone looking for my books and been confused by the author name situation, you're not alone.

I've published under three names over the course of my career. Amber Miller came first. Then Amber Stockton. Now Tiffany Amber Stockton. Same writer, same heart, same stories. Just a name that has evolved alongside everything else.

I might eventually drop my middle name, but for now, it stays. Still, it gives credence to one of my favorite quotes: "Writing is the only socially acceptable form of schizophrenia." :)

How It Started

When I published my first novels, I wrote as Amber Miller. It was my middle name combined with my maiden name, and it appeared on my earliest books in Christian historical romance. I felt it had an easy, smooth sound to it. A little less clunky than Tiffany Miller.

Then, I married my husband Stuart and began publishing as Amber Stockton, which lasted for the majority of my writing career to this point. Eventually, I realized I rarely introduce myself as Amber, and a lot of folks who met me weren't making the connection.

That led to me using my full name of Tiffany Amber Stockton. That's what I use for fiction now, although there are some nonfiction pieces with just first and last name, and if you search under any of them, you will find me and my books. My full name is on the cover of my most recent work, including Magic of the Swan, which released last month.

The Costs of Changing a Name

The publishing industry doesn't often warn you about the impact of changing your name mid-stride.

Readers who loved your earlier books under one name don't automatically find you under the next one. Search results fragment. Confusion occurs. A reader who picks up a book by Tiffany Amber Stockton may have no idea that the same woman wrote the Amber Miller titles from years ago. Building a readership is slow, careful work under the best of circumstances, and a name change can reset parts of it that take years to repair.

It took a bit of time and perseverance, reaching out to multiple databases and author support interfaces, but I finally managed to merge all 3 of my names online. The changes and the long season away and the return still fit. Even though it wasn't my intention in any way, I'm no longer hiding behind a partial name or a professional abbreviation. I'm simply showing up as the whole person.

If you find a book by Amber Miller or Amber Stockton on a shelf somewhere and you enjoy my writing, that's mine too. The voice is the same even when the name on the cover isn't. I'm still the same writer I was when this started. I've just grown a bit, and my name has grown with me.

Have you ever gone through a season where you felt like you were still becoming who you were meant to be? Where the outside finally caught up with the inside? I'd love to hear about it in the comments.