Why I Write Under a Pen Name – Cameron Cooper's Science Fiction

I’m pretty open these days about the fact that Cameron Cooper is a pen name. But that wasn’t always the case.

When I first started publishing as Cameron, it was a complete secret. And while I “came out” just over a year ago, I don’t think I’ve ever really explained to readers why I chose to use a pen name in the first place—or why I still do.

Why I Started Using a Pen Name

Ironically, I didn’t start my science fiction career with a pen name at all. When I first branched into space opera, I published under my real name, Tracy Cooper-Posey.

A Big Name author once told me that indie writers could “write anything they want.” That sounded fantastic—after all, the indie revolution was all about freedom, right? So, I went all in. I released The Indigo Reports under Tracy Cooper-Posey and even participated in Kevin J. Anderson’s curated space opera story bundle.

In fact, if you dig into the bowels of Amazon, you can still find print editions of the first two books of The Indigo Reports series with my real name on them. Amazon won’t take them down.

But when I first published them, everything seemed to be going well.

Except, I’d made a critical mistake.

Amazon’s algorithms had already pegged Tracy Cooper-Posey as a romance author. So when I published space opera under the same name, Amazon showed those books to my romance fans. And they didn’t buy them. In droves.

Amazon’s response? “Oh, okay. If Tracy’s audience doesn’t like these books, they must be duds.” So it stopped showing my science fiction to anyone.

Then, things got worse.

Amazon started showing my romance books to science fiction readers. They ran screaming, too.

At this point, the algorithm threw up its hands and effectively shadow-banned everything under my name. And because I was in Kindle Unlimited at the time, which demands exclusivity (that is, my books were ONLY for sale on Amazon), and where organic visibility is crucial, this was a disaster.

The moment I figured out what was happening, I knew I had to make a change. I republished The Indigo Reports under a brand-new name: Cameron Cooper. Then I finished the series. And then I wrote more. And more. And suddenly, I had an entire space opera career under a brand-new name.

Why Cameron?

Cameron Cooper was my brother. He passed away many years ago.

Before my father died, I asked if I could use Cameron’s name as a pen name. He agreed. And so, Cameron Cooper was born.

At the time, I kept things deliberately vague about Cameron’s gender. Occasionally, I’d hint that Cameron might be a guy, but I never outright stated it. The irony? Both Tracy and Cameron are gender-neutral names. My parents had planned for me to be Tracy whether I was a boy or a girl. And my brother was going to be Cameron no matter what.

Now, every time I release a Cameron Cooper book, I send my mother a print copy. She has an entire shelf full of books by Cameron Cooper. That alone makes it all worthwhile.

Why I “Came Out”

Not long after launching Cameron Cooper, I left Kindle Unlimited. The damage Amazon’s algorithms had done was beyond repair, and I was making no money. So, I went wide.

The space opera books kept selling. Readers kept asking for more. So I kept writing.

Then, a series of unfortunate events forced my hand.

SFWA outed me. In a very public blog post, they used my real name. I had them fix the post…but it was too late. Amazing Stories had already picked up the news and posted it on their site.
The TBR Conference invited me to speak on a panel. I was a finalist for SPSFBO #2, and attending the panel would mean appearing in public as Cameron Cooper. But too many people already knew what I looked like as Tracy—after all, I’ve done multiple live events, podcasts, video interviews, and I have my own YouTube channel.
The panel organizers couldn’t guarantee the moderator would remember to call me Cameron. Or that they’d use the name consistently.

I thought about it for a while. At this point, I was fully wide, so I wasn’t relying on Amazon’s algorithms anymore. (Side note: Amazon—and all the other retailers—still use algorithms. The other retailers are just not as aggressive as Amazon.)

Since I was no longer beholden to KU’s ranking system, I realized there was no reason to keep the secret. So I made a quiet decision.

I didn’t make a big announcement. I just updated my biographies across my platforms. Then, I sat on that TBR Conference panel and introduced myself as Tracy-writing-as-Cameron. And I kept writing.

**Why I’m Still Using a Pen Name**

Even though I’ve made the connection between Tracy Cooper-Posey and Cameron Cooper public, I still keep them separate. Why?

Branding. Readers know what to expect. Someone picking up a Cameron Cooper book won’t be blindsided by a super-steamy paranormal romance. And romance readers won’t accidentally end up in a dense space opera series when they were expecting a cozy vampire love story.
Retailer sanity. Even though I don’t stress over Amazon’s algorithms anymore, it’s still smart business to help them sell my books effectively. Keeping my pen names separate makes that easier.
My mum loves getting Cameron’s books. And as long as she keeps putting them on her shelf, I’ll keep writing them.

So that’s the story. That’s why I created Cameron Cooper, why I eventually “came out,” and why I still publish under a pen name.

And honestly? It was one of the best decisions I ever made.