Googling Your Name

First in a series of three posts about names: Googling Your Name. The series includes:

Why Google Your Name?

Googling your name may seem like a bit of vanity, but don’t forget your public identity could be searched by literary professionals, readers, perspective buyers, media, conference organizers, and others who have a legitimate interest in knowing more about you. Watching for potential on-line identity theft is another reason for monitoring your name.

This post uses the term Google, but there are other search engines you can use. Please use any searches that you are familiar with.

What You May Find

Results of your name search vary from person to person, depending on how common your name is. My own search was surprising. What you find could be surprising too.

What I Found

I started by using “Kathleen Small,” without the middle initial. I imagined a future reader or agent/editor might want to know more about me, beyond what’s posted on my About page.

What a shock to discover how many Kathleen Small’s have died! Rest assured, I am very much alive!

My Google search included obituaries for a Kathleen Small in Virginia, New Jersey, New York, California, Minnesota, and Ontario. What an odd feeling reading about women with my name who have passed away.

A Creative Find

I found a Kathleen Small from SmallXpressions in Pennsylvania, who sells paintings online and participates in craft and fine art festivals. She does oil and acrylic paintings, while I dabble in watercolors. She leads mobile painting parties, which sound like so much fun. Her tagline is “Bringing Visions to Life.” I’m putting her Website here because creatives need to lift each other up: https://www.smallxpressions.com/

Two Surprising Finds

My biggest surprise was to learn that there are two authors named Kathleen Small. The most recent one self-published a book in 2009 called The Jackass Guide to Shopping. The promise in the blurb is “you too can be a jackass!” There were no reviews, and the book is ranked #237,809 in Amazon-Humor, Books. NOTE: This is not my book!

Another Kathleen Small (middle name: Edwards) published Early History of Tulare County, CA in 1926. It is 520 pages of local history, and was updated for the County’s sesquicentennial in 2002. Sequoia National Park is located in Tulare County. A used copy of the original sells for $398. NOTE: This is not my book either. I’m not that old!

Finally, I found several Kathleen Small’s who are in professional positions. One holds an MBA and is a Principal Recruiting Specialist. A second is a CPA in New Jersey. A third is a veterinarian, a fourth a registered nurse, and a fifth a financial adviser.

Where Am I?

It wasn’t until the third page of my Google search that I showed up as Kathleen Small. Halfway down the list was reference to my Twitter account. Nothing showed up for me under Images.

Then I searched using “K. L. Small,” which is the way I’m planning to display my name on book covers. My head shot showed up first under Images and my Facebook author page was the first text listing. My Website appeared on the third page of the search.