How to use this Page

This article was also published at GuysLitWire.

E.B. White.
C.S. Lewis.
J.K. Rowling.

These and many other authors use "literary initials" in their bylines. You may not have given such names much thought at all, yet you may make fast assumptions when you see them printed on the cover or spine of a book.

The author and/or publisher may choose to use initials or pseudonyms for any number of reasons: to protect the identity of the author, to create mystery and intrigue (and thus boost sales and readership), to make it sound as if the author's gender matches that of the protagnonist when it's really the opposite, etcetera, etcetera.

As a kid, I really enjoyed the film The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, so I tracked down the novel written by R.A. Dick and discovered the name was a pseudonym of Josephine Leslie. (Note: If you like classic ghost-and-human romance stories but you haven't heard of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, do yourself a favor and read the book, then see the classic 1947 film starring Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison, with a young Natalie Wood. Also watch the TV series if you have the chance.) The book was published in 1945. I'm not certain why the byline is what it is, but I find it somewhat amusing, because the story has true ghostwriting: a living female writing the memoirs of a ghostly sea captain as he dictates them to her.

However, since this is a pseudonym, it's not the same thing as an author who simply hides his or her first and/or middle names behind initials, like the wonderful F. Scott Fitzgerald or the delightful E. Lockhart.

What do you think about literary initials? Here are some things to consider:
Do you regard pseudonyms and pen names differently than initials which just shorten real names?
If you do not know the real name or gender of the author, do you research it before or after you read the book?
If an author's byline has initials for the first name, do you assume the author is male?
Does the gender of the author influence whether or not you pick up the book, or whether or not you trust the protagonist, if the protagonist is the opposite gender of the author? Does it matter to you at all?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

When I posed these questions to my writer pals, well-read friends, co-workers, customers, and the general public, I received a great range of responses. Check them out:

I am not particularly interested in any of the issues that you have raised here - they don't influence my choice of author or book, nor do they affect my enjoyment (or otherwise) of the work. I don't assume that an author is male just because they use their initials; the sex of the author is immaterial, anyway.
- Gail, aged 52

I either assume it's a woman asked by her publishers or agent to use initials in an attempt to make sure that the book doesn't get categorised as 'a book for girls', or that it's a man asked to do so in order to make sure that it's seen as 'chick lit' (and that he is writing this because he thinks it will make him money). Terribly cynical of me, maybe, but I do find initials used in modern publications slightly irritating.

With 'classic' writers, those writing in the 19th or 20th century, I tend to assume that they're male unless I know otherwise - an approach which has always given me the right answer, somewhat depressingly!

The gender of the author is something I'm aware of when reading if their gender is the opposite gender to that of the main protagonist. I tend to pay close attention to how they're portraying ideas about the opposite sex, about friendships, and about anything that's 'traditionally' associated with their sex - to see if the writer has felt the need to either depend too much on gender stereotypes or to use the story as a space for arguing against them. I suppose these things would detract from the text no matter what, though. I'm still aware of gender stereotypes when it's writers writing about their own sex.

I wrote a few chapters from male POVs in my last book, and it was a slightly scary experience - it seems to have worked but I found it a tricky balance, trying to make sure they sounded 'like guys' without becoming complete caricatures of 'teenage guyness'. Interesting though.
- Claire Hennessy, writer

I generally don't make assumptions about or care what an author's gender is. I am, however, so familiar with/jaded by the phenomenon of female authors - especially in fantasy and science fiction - using their initials that I now almost always assume that an author using initials is female. I certainly don't trust the protagonist more or less based on whether or not s/he shares gender with the author.
- Kimberly, library science student

I think that literary initials add more mystery to the book and makes me want to pick it up more than a book that has the author's full name printed upon it.
- Doyin, student

I associate initials with many of my favorite authors, which is why I plan to use them if/when I ever get anything published! I like the sound of "A.M.Weir" and think it just sounds more authorial than Amy, which, since there were like two adults with that name when I was a kid, will always sound like a kid's name to me even though most of us are adults now.

There I go, ousting my secret identity on the Internet.

But I never realized that there WAS a gender-based reason for using initials until years after I decided I would. Many times I knew the author's gender from something else ahead of time anyway-- pictures or bios. If I don't, I tend to assume the author is the gender of the main character in the book, I think! Hmm... the main character in my most-close-to-publication-worthy book is a boy....
- A. M. Weir, bookworm, librarian, and unpublished writer

I'll give the classic lawyer's answer: It depends.

Some names, like mine, are a mouthful. I think tough names can be a turnoff for some readers.

I honestly don't care if a book is written by a man or by a woman. It stinks that women women feel they have to hide behind initials to reach a broader audience, but I don't blame them for it.

I do often wonder why men seem to win more awards. It's too bad there's no way of judging them anonymously. When women started auditioning for orchestras behind curtains, they got more chairs. I bet women would get more writing awards if people didn't know the sex of the author.
- Martha, 39, author

When I was growing up, I always assumed it was a man who used initials because it looked so literary. A throw-back to the 19th century I suppose, although I've never lived during the 19th century, unless I had a previous life.

In the last ten years, I personally think it's because BOTH men and women are attempting to hide their real names because they are writing books that appeal more to the opposite sex and don't want their name - and those assumptions - to hurt potential sales.

It's sort of silly though because it's so easy now to find out an author's actual name, although it's too bad we make assumptions about a book's value or authenticity based on the sex of the author. Authors using initials don't stop me from reading a book, but I DO want to know what gender they are! Pure curiosity. And I usually find out before I read the book, but if the book is getting a lot of buzz and good reviews I will read it no matter who wrote it.
- Kimberley Little, author

I don't mind the use of "literary initials" in bylines. It's a choice authors make for a number of reasons. It can offer a kind of anonymity and can also hide the writer's gender (if he or she wishes to). Woman tended to use initials a lot more in the past to leap beyond sexual stereotypes. I think the literary landscape is freer now. An author's gender does not influence whether I will pick up a book. A good book is a good book. Male authors should be free to write from a female's POV. Female writers need that same freedom. I've enjoyed writing chapters or entire books from a boy's POV and I'd resent being restricted to limit my main characters to a single sex! A good writer needs to get into ANY character's skin. This is particularly true in speculative fiction where an author has to crawl into anothers skin be it alien or animal -- dragons included.
- Janet Lee Carey, author

I don't research initials. I think they prove best for female writers hoping to be read by male readers. I'm not aware of female readers having a bent for female authors.

I am cognizant of an author writing a protag of the opposite sex. I scrutinize the work more and hopefully still find the voice authentic. When I find a male author has failed to portray a female, it seems to show in what's not included. Of course, I can never be sure if the male is true at the same level.

Bottom line, for me, is that full names, initials, and pseudonyms don't matter a bit.
- Lorie Ann Grover, author and cofounder of rgz

I've never thought of it before but a quick browse of my bookshelves reveals no initials other than C.S. Lewis and E.E. "Doc" Smith. If that implies selectivity it's an unconscious one. I don't really think it matters whether the author uses initials or a full name. Nor do I think gender matters as long as the writer can create a believable character and tell a good story.
- Beldin

I do research it. I like to know the author's gender, though I hope that doesn't influence my perception of the story (I'm sure it does). I remember reading my first E. Lockhart book and wondering...I HAD to look her up! I think I'm impressed when someone writes an opposite-gender character well (either way).
- Melissa Walker, author

You know I personally don't really care on pretty much all subjects but I've thought about this a lot in my own writing. The book my agent is shopping around is a memoir about working in Alaska aviation - an incredibly male dominated field (I have never flown commercially - it's about working in ops and the pilots I knew who crashed, etc.) I know from the guys I worked with that a woman writing on aviation is highly suspect just because there are so few women in the industry. So honestly, if/when the book is published I'm not sure I would put my full name on it - I might go with initials just so the book is not dismissed on the shelf. I don't hide my gender in the text, but I figure once they start reading it wouldn't be a problem. While some folks might think this is unnecessary, I do recall the tremendous amount of questions I faced when researching my thesis (on commercial aircraft accidents in AK); a lot of the guys flying up there didn't think I had a clue until I told them where I had worked, that I knew how to fly etc. And in their defense, I only knew a handful of female pilots the entire time I lived in AK - but dozens and dozens of guys.

So yeah, while I don't judge based on author name, I know situations where people would, and I can understand why.
- Colleen Mondor, GLW co-founder and moderator

I'm glad you're bringing this up. I actually hate the mind-set behind "initializing" an author's name. I think it typically comes up when the author is a woman, and the book is not aimed at girls exclusively. It's the idea that Teen boys won't pick up a book if it's written by a woman. Which is just an offshoot of the whole "you can't write outside your own experience," which would have gay authors unable to write straight characters, black authors unable to write white characters, and all other ridiculous myths of who's ALLOWED to write what. Look, ultimately, a good story, compellingly told, is a good story, and I don't care if it's written by a man or a woman - as long as the emotions ring true, and the author's done their homework so the details are correct, I'm there. Now it's interesting, as our culture continues to push the "star-ification" of authors, that when some authors want to write OUTSIDE of their current genre, they feel they need to use a pen-name to do so. They're trying to keep their "brand" and not confuse the audience. I think this is an out-dated way of thinking, and that brands can be broader. The narrow view, I think, is one that our current world of facebook and social networking will replace. Before, it was easy to compartmentalize your efforts in one area with one group of people (i.e., the parents of my daughter's classmates were one social group, the teens who read my blog another, the performance artists I worked with in my 20s a third.) But on facebook, they're ALL mushed together, and they all know me for the multi-dimensional person I am. I think this will become more and more true for other authors as well, and we'll get to a point where we won't have author's identities (and genders) being hidden behind initials. At least, I hope that's where we're going!
- Lee Wind, writer and blogger


For reference: Wikipedia: List of authors who use some form of initials in their names.

To date, Melissa Wyatt has written two novels: Funny How Things Change, published in 2009, and Raising the Griffin, published in 2004. Though the books take place in completely different locations - the fictional Rovenia and the very real West Virginia - both books consider the plights of young male protagonists whose lives are about to change in very big ways. I spoke to Melissa mostly about Remy from Funny How Things Change and writing from a male point of view.

Do you approach your stories differently depending on the gender of your protagonist?

The approach is dictated more by the situation and the personality of the character, the feel of the story in general and what it wants to be. In developing a character, of course you have to take gender into consideration but without falling into stereotype traps on either side.

What are the challenges you face when writing in a male voice - and/or writing for boys?

One of the challenges of writing outside of my own gender is that some readers will automatically question the validity of the voice and very often measure it against gender stereotypes they might not apply to an author writing about their own gender.

For example: boys never talk about their feelings; boys never notice what girls wear; boys are only interested in sports and sex. We all know this is nonsense. All boys are not the same. Heavens, don't I know? I live with three of them. And I know that in some aspects, they approach things very differently from the way I do. So I try to sort of refocus the lens when I'm writing from a male perspective.

Do you feel as though there are 'girl books' and 'boy books?' Do you, like me, want to break that division or assumptions?

I think there are books that many girls will enjoy more than many boys and vice versa and I think that's fine. The great thing about books is that everyone is free to choose what appeals to them.

I do worry about marketing trends that lead to covers designed to attract girls specifically because it's assumed girls buy more books, thereby putting guys off from reading books they might otherwise enjoy.

Do you prefer to write in first-person or third-person? Is that decision influenced by the gender of your protagonist?

I like both, but the choice is driven by the -- er -- character of the character, not the gender so much. I've published two books now with male protags: one in first person and one in close third. In Raising the Griffin, Alexei was a more openly passionate person, who projected everything outward. I wrote the first draft in third person and couldn't get a handle on him. I didn't understand him and he always seemed to be one step ahead of me. Nothing he did made any sense. When a friend suggested directly addressing him and asking him questions and having him "write" back to me, his voice finally came out clearly.

With Funny How Things Change, from the start, I felt that Remy was more...modest. While he's more introspective than Alexei, he wasn't as self-centered, so I couldn't see him "telling" his own story in the way first person requires. He needed someone else peeking over his shoulder and letting the reader in on what was going on in his head. Remy would have died rather than let you in on his thoughts. At times, writing his story felt awfully like eavesdropping. But that was because he was a very private person, not because he was a boy. Alexei -- even though he fought against his very public role, wasn't the kind of person who kept his thoughts bottled up.

I'm back to first person for my WIP, where the MC is a very direct young woman who isn't about to let anyone else tell her story.

Are you more impulsive or thoughtful?

Er...I would say I'm hesitant, which isn't as good as being thoughtful. It's frustrating!

Remy's town is very much a part of the story. Were you born and raised in a small town, a city, a suburb...?

I was born in a small city and raised in a new suburb outside that city. The suburb was one of many built around a little town called Weiglestown, but very quickly, the suburbs and their attendant grocery stores and fast food places swallowed up the town and Weiglestown became only a name for an area. There was no town at all. So I grew up without any real sense of community in the way that Remy experiences it. (So much for "write what you know.")

When did you first visit Appalachia? What makes that part of the country so wonderful to you?

I've known southern West Virginia for about twenty years, visiting my husband's extended family in Welch. I have to admit I didn't like it much at first. I'm used to rolling farmland, not steep mountains. I need more horizon around me and the mountains made me feel claustrophobic.

What really struck me about Appalachia was how strongly the people who were born and raised there felt about it, how strong the ties to the land were decades after they had moved away. The question that drove the writing of the book was "Why?" Why do they want to move back? Why would people stay in a place that has so little value the way other people calculate value?

How much research regarding mountaintop removal did you do before or while writing this book?

When I started the book, I had no idea that mountaintop removal mining would come into it. But the more I read and saw and heard, the more it seeped into the story and became part of the theme. From then on, I read everything I could find on mountaintop removal mining.

I couldn't get close to any real mining sites, but I did visit the Twisted Gun Golf Course, which is touted as one of the successes of reclaiming a mountaintop removal mining site, as though a golf course is an improvement on whole mountains.

What would you do if you were Remy? Lisa? Are you anything like any of your characters?

I am nothing, nothing, nothing like Remy and not much like Lisa and only a little like Dana. I do not practice write-what-you-know in a practical sense, and so my main characters are usually as far away from myself as can be. They are more what I wish I was as far as the strength of the choices they make. But sometimes I find bits of myself have slipped into the stories. I hate to admit it, but I am the grumpy wife at the family reunion.

Describe your first post-high school summer.

I went immediately to work in a clerical position for the state government, so I never had that last, languorous teen-aged summer that Remy and Lisa share.

What are your top ten favorite books?

Oh! This is an easy question because I actually have this list on my website. Let's see if I can do it by memory:

1. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnette - My comfort read.
2. The Princess Bride by William Goldman
3. Collected Lyrics of Edna St. Vincent Millay
4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
5. The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
6. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
7. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (except I always rewrite the ending in my head!)
8. Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy L. Sayers
9. Pennington's Heir by K. M. Peyton
10. Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

(I had to cheat and double check just to be sure.)

Drop by Melissa's website and LiveJournal.

My recent interviews with Helen Hemphill and Tracie Vaughn Zimmer for GuysLitWire will most likely turn into a series of similar interviews or articles, fueled by my desire to minimize and eliminate gender bias. I wrote about this at length in the piece Just Say No to Gender Bias, I have spoken about it time and time again with my regular customers and friends (especially Christopher Golden), and I'm the female half of He Said, She Said, an ongoing back-and-forth one-on-one book discussion feature with Book Chic, a male book reviewer. Oh, and I've also written a play about gender bias.

Yes, I think it's safe to say I'm passionate about the subject.

Now I have created a gender bias tag to mark related posts.

Last month, I interviewed author Helen Hemphill for GuysLitWire about writing for guys and writing from a male perspective. This month, I posed some of the same questions to author Tracie Vaughn Zimmer, whose newest novel for kids, The Floating Circus, involves an injured orphan boy, a freed slave, an elephant, and a circus boat.

I have posted this piece at GuysLitWire as well.

Do you approach your stories differently depending on the gender of your protagonist?

I'd like to say no, but when I wrote The Floating Circus I really concentrated on what my 12 year-old son, Cole, would like to read and I know that influenced my choices to make it feel more adventure-novel than historical.

Do you feel comfortable writing in a male voice? What are the challenges you face when writing in a male voice - and/or writing for boys?

As a writer, I get to access that part of myself which is more masculine, and that's lucky because in society we don't allow ourselves much wiggle room in this arena without serious social repercussions. I will tell you that the cadence, word choice and rhythm of Solomon's words is based off the way my dad speaks. I hear his voice whenever I read Solomon's words.

Your first and second novels (Reaching for Sun, 42 Miles) were narrated by girls, your third (The Floating Circus) by a boy. Do you feel as though there are 'girl books' and 'boy books?' Do you, like me, try to get those gender-based divisions out of the minds of readers?

I think girls have the advantage here because they don't feel self-conscious about reading whatever books they want. Anything I can do as a teacher to expand wider appeal, I try to do. I'm always pushing books on kids no matter their gender!

The Floating Circus is your first prose novel, as the two which preceded it were verse novels. Was Circus ever planned to be poetry? Did it feel strange (for lack of a better word) to write in prose?

After many years, I had developed a certain confidence in writing free verse poetry and I was uncertain whether I could reach this milestone in prose. Cheerleading from my writing partner, Julia Durango and my editor, Melanie Cecka, really helped when my insecurities had a carnival inside my head.

The title of The Floating Circus changed at least once, didn't it? Did the storyline or ending ever change?

It was originally titled The River Palace but we thought the word "palace" might not appeal to boys (see, that gender issue again) and Shannon Hale's River Secrets was on the same list. That was one too many rivers!

The appearance of Little Bet was as big a surprise to me as it is to Owen. When I revised the story I weaved Little Bet more completely into earlier scenes. This was one of those magical moments that kept me chained to my laptop!

Were they transported into present-day, what do you think Owen or Solomon would make of our contemporary world?

I think Owen would be enthralled with all the technology (and probably love YouTube like my own son) in the same way he was astonished by the Palace’s technology of that time. Solomon, I hope, would meet only people who deserved to know him.

Do you prefer to write in first-person or third-person? Is that decision influenced by the gender of your protagonist?

I really struggle with point-of-view in my books. I like how immediate first-person feels (though this is one issue that has nothing to do with gender) but I think it is confining. Third person has that wonderful storyteller’s distance but can sometimes make the reader feel removed from the main character.

When your kids were little, what were their favorite books?

Abbie LOVED anything by Lisa Wheeler. Here is a link to her 'reading' her favorite one at four. Cole loved classic children's lit stories like Corduroy, Goodnight Moon, and Harry the Dirty Dog.

What do they like to read now?

Now Abbie likes, and I quote here, "pretty much anything by Cynthia Rylant." Cole may be Margaret Peterson Haddix's biggest fan.

Tell your kids that they have good taste!


Read my 2007 interview with Tracie Vaughn Zimmer.

Read my review of Tracie's first novel, Reaching for Sun. Reviews of 42 Miles and The Floating Circus to come soon. (I have had them written in my handy dandy notebook here for a while and simply need the time to type them up.) Also check out my Verse Novels booklist.

Visit the author's website.

This week I spent the better part of an afternoon and evening with Entling no. 3 at the Pre Area All-State Choir Audition where to my delight I visited with another choir member who was reading Meg Cabot's Big Boned. She was down to the last 50 pages and told me she couldn't wait to finish her sight reading so she could get back to the book.

"I just love the way she writes. She writes the way I think!" she told me. I told her about Meg's blog.

Honestly, I was so THRILLED to meet another highschooler (besides Entling no. 3) who had packed a book I was overwhelmed. (It might also have been the resigned misery and fear on the faces of all the kids as they marched off for their sight reading auditions that was moving me to tears.)

Thanks to Bookshelves of Doom for this delightful video of Meg Cabot retelling moments from Little Women. I love the "Masterpiece Theater" background and the picture over the fireplace.

Thanks to Liz B. for this one!

So I'm following a lovely little website located via Kids Lit that was created to accompany the upcoming PBS documentary on Louisa May Alcott's life. It's called Louisa May Alcott: The Real Woman Who Wrote Little Women. The site is beautifully done. There's a Timeline, great Links, a portion on Ms. Alcott's life, and so much more.

You Can Be a Mountie When You Grow Up and Upcoming Shows Thank You: Charlotte , Judith Newman , Mark Blevis and Andrea hosts of the Just One More Book Podcast ,Debbie Reese ,Mark Blevis and Bob Goyetche, hosts of Canadian Podcast Buffet ,Denny Taylor ,Liana Honda , as well as Shelley Peterson . Click here to [...]