For the better part the past two years I have thought very seriously about ‘coming out’ as an underground novelist. As many may know, I have an Evil Day Job. That is to say, my writing ‘career’ is what I do on the side because I love to write and I love to share my creations with others. But it doesn’t pay, and I don’t do it for the money any way. Needless to say, I must have some way of making money, so I have an official ‘Evil Day Job’ that keeps me away from my home for about 11 hours a day. No one outside of my immediately family knows that I am a published author on the side. I fear that I might lose my job if I told my employer, considering the nature of what I write about and where it all has been posted over the years.

Recently, however, I have pretty much stopped posting on the XN forum and decided that any new material I decide to post will be posted either on my website or my blog. I’m sick of the trolls over on XN and at this point, since I am trying to build my name up more, I think it is best if I move away from the stigmata associated with XN and try to get my name recognition to stand on its own feet. I’m working with a small internet cafe and bookstore in my home town to get some of my novels sold there, and there may be some book signings in the future as well. For this reason, my status as an ‘underground’ author will soon be out the window.

This has gotten me to thinking and wondering if I should bother to start putting my face out there to go with my name. I somehow doubt it would make any difference. Let’s face it, authors are not exactly known for being ‘famous.’ Sure, I know what Stephanie Meyer and Anne Rice and Laurel K. Hamilton look like, but I wouldn’t give them a second glance if I passed them on the street. Authors don’t really get their faces out there like the other arts, so while I would instantly know Johnny Depp when I set eyes on him, chances are I wouldn’t give Stephen King the time of day if I saw him sitting at a diner.

So the question remains: should I begin to post photographs of myself on my Facebook, blog, website, and on my novels? Should I just reserve photo sessions for the rare times I might accidentally get to do a book signing? Should I even bother? More importantly, would it even make a difference?