Friday, August 26, 2011

Doppelgangers and funny stories (And ... HELP!!)

A doppelganger???
So.

Guys.

I have a doppelganger.

I've mentioned it before, but there is another Kate Ellison out there. And she writes books. YA books, I think (or maybe MG?)

When I chose my pseudonym, I did a google search, an Amazon search, etc to make sure that I wouldn't be taking another author's name. I wanted my own name. I flirted with the idea of having 3 names (First, Maiden, Last), but eventually discarded that for the more streamlined first and last name approach (which I am now regretting).

ANYWAY. I published The Curse Girl in May, yada yada yada. I set up a Google alert for my name so I'd know if people were talking about me.

Wellll ... about a month or two after The Curse Girl came out, this book called The Butterfly Clues pops up in my Google alerts. I check it out--sure enough, there's someone with a book coming out in 2012 and the listed author name is Kate Ellison. I was flabbergasted, and a little worried that this would cause some problems for either her or me (or both of us), but then I decided, Whatever. No harm done. Lots of people have similar names. I'm sure it will be fine. I was "there first," technically, but it doesn't matter. I'm sure nobody will care ...

I DID try to find this author's email or blog, because I thought we might want to discuss it, but no luck there.

Well, today I got an email from a fan who'd read an ARC of Ms. Ellison's book.

Funny, not terrible, whatever. I was all "Funny story--there are two authors named Kate Ellison!"

But it gets worse! Then I was noticing that I was getting lots of traffic to this blog from GoodReads, which is cool but also surprising. So I clicked over to my profile (I never check that thing) and ... WHAAAA? I'm listed as the author of The Butterfly Clues?!

Yep. There's my picture, my face, and then listed under my books is her book.

I'm not sure who did it, but it's there.

So I think this is getting out of hand a bit. If I were the other Kate, I wouldn't want my book being attributed to someone else. As far as I can tell, she doesn't have a big internet presence. I'm going to try to track her down and at least talk to her so she knows what's going on and doesn't think I'm trying to steal her identity or something.

Here's where I need some HELP. 1) Does anybody actually know her? I have tried asking around on Twitter, but I haven't gotten any response. If someone knows her or knows someone who knows her, please email me or tweet me or something. 2) Does anybody know how I can take down The Butterfly Clues from my list of "books by this author" on my author page on GR? I don't really ever use GoodReads ... I made a profile and stuck it up there, but I generally avoid review sites.

Anyway, that's my funny story for the day.

Please help?

11 comments:

  1. I'll be posting again on Monday, it's not much but I'll put a shout out on my blog to see if anyone can help.

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  2. I still vote you do Kate/Katie Hudson. That actress hasn't done a worthwhile movie in a decade. She's not young; she's not someone the younger crowd will know that well. She just does chick flicks. And even if there's name recognition there, I think it will be subconscious and actually work in your favor. Like "Oh Katie Hudson, have I read something by her before?"

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  3. That is unnerving. Good luck getting it sorted out.

    I was surprised to find there's another Michael E. Walston out there, but he's only an insurance agent...

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  4. I'm pretty sure I know what I'm going to do.

    I don't want to throw out the name I have, because I've been working on getting it out there for the last 5 months or so now, and I have a bunch of guest posts and interviews and I don't want to just throw it away. But I think i have a solution!

    Jaimie: The only problem with that is that I reeeeeally hated my maiden name and I never want to use it again.

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  5. you know, i was over at goodreads and i saw the butterfly clues and added it to my to-read list (i'm brand new over there) just because i thought YOU were coming out with another book. ugh. i wish i knew how you could contact her!

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  6. Aw, it warms my heart anyway that you were thinking of me, Vic. :-)

    I am trying my best to track her down. But I'm going to do something to at least make it easier to differentiate between us.

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  7. You need to find someone with librarian status who can help you get her book off your goodreads page. Perhaps you can find out what to do under "help."

    That really stinks! The thing I might suggest you do is add a middle initial to separate yourself from her. It won't look so different that people will look at your first book and be confused, but it will also be different enough from the other Kate Ellison to help readers realize you're two different people.

    I hope everything works out soon!

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  8. Thanks, Emily! Goodreads has now fixed the problem, and I am planning to add a middle name. So ... yes and yes, you're exactly right :-)

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  9. Being right is one of my favorite pastimes. :P Hehehe!

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  10. Wow! Truly is a small world and an eerie one at that. BTW...my doppelgänger is a friend of mine on Facebook. He doesn't do much. Oh and double BTW...made you new blog of the day.

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