By: Karen Cioffi,
on 9/13/2013
To Pseudonym or Not to Pseudonym Guest post by Carolyn Howard-Johnson Nora Roberts, the author of more than 150 romance novels, was asked why she writes romantic suspense novels under a pen name. Here is her answer: "It's marketing." She says because she writes quickly that makes it difficult for her publisher to publish all of her work with an appropriate amount of time between each of
By: Jack O'Rourke,
on 3/27/2012
Publishers seem to prefer to keep their authors focused on a particular genre after they've achieved at least some initial success. No doubt there are business and marketing principles at work, and there are undoubtedly payoffs for both parties, but it might also be like fitting the author with a pair of horse blinders (remember those side flap goggles worn by the horse pulling the junkman's cart, to keep the horse's attention on the road ahead?).
The publisher may feel it has money invested in the author's name--the brand--and has hopes of building a faithful, ever larger consumer base for the brand. Our author meanwhile may be pleased by the past commercial success, but he's an artist for god's sake and may want to give free rein to new creative energies. So what if a venture into the new genre doesn't sell as well? Well, life is hard, money is tight, shareholders have expectations, and authors might be a little crazy. Still, if an author has a day job to meet subsistence needs, riding a new bull at the rodeo might be exhilarating.
Famous authors are more likely to get a nod from their publishers when submitting cross-genre work. Some whom I have read with good crossover adult, young adult, and middle grade novels within their individual collections include Louise Erdrich, Carl Hiaasen, and Neil Gaiman, to name just a few. So it can be, and is, done. It's just less of a financial risk for the publisher, or career risk for the author, if the author already has a following.
Of course it's also less of a risk if the author is still inhabiting the same moral and physical universe of his other genres. Neil Gaiman might not reverberate in romance genre as well as in his more typical fantasy genre. It could be interesting to see what happens though.
Another way to potentially upset your hardworking publisher is to run your next piece of work past him with a pseudonym on it. "Some famous authors publish under pseudonyms so that they can get a fresh reading of their work," says an article in the NY Times (2/23/2012). "In 1987 Joyce Carol Oates released a book under the name Rosamond Smith but apologized and swore off pseudonyms when her publisher discovered what she had done." Apparently they didn't think it was a very good decision in her case, but authors might resort to using pseudonyms for various reasons. In earlier times women authors sometimes adopted men's names in hopes of being taken more seriously as writers. Joanne Kathleen Rowling took the neutral gender J. K. Rowling in hopes of better attracting more boy readers.
The same Times article discusses an author, Patricia O'Brien, who had published several books including a novel, but whose most recent novel had been submitted to 13 publishers by her agent without finding a home. An Internet check on BookScan showed it had sold only 4000 copies, which was considered a flop. However, her agent, who had a lot of confidence in the book, said "I realized that the book was not being judged on its merits. It was being judged on how many books she has sold. I needed somebody who couldn't look on BookScan." When the book reached another publisher under Ms. O'Brien's new pseudonym, Kate Alcott, there were no adverse digital footprints found on Internet searches, and it received an enthusiastic reading, and was accepted. In time Ms. O'Brien came clean with the publisher, everyone remained friends, and the same publisher later bought another novel from Ms. O'Brien. A fortuitous outcome in this case.
By: April Henry,
on 2/23/2012
When I got my first contract in the mid-1990s, I started hearing about some authors who were changing their names to avoid a sales death spiral at Barnes & Nobel or Borders. The thinking was that if they order 10 of your last book and sold 7, then with this book they would order 7 or fewer, and pretty soon - poof! - there would go your career. So to escape the tyranny of the computers, authors might switch names and start with a blank slate.
Now that publishers have Book Scan data, some of the same thing is happening. The New York Times has a story about an author, Patrician O'Brien, whose last book hadn't done very well. Twelve publishers looked at her sales numbers and passed.
Then her agent resubmitted it under a pen name and it sold in three days, reportedly for "high five figures."
I've known several authors who have switched names. With some it's an open secret, with others it's closely guarded.
I wonder if there's a limit to how often you could do it?
Read more about the author getting a deal because she used a pseudonym.
By: Beth Kephart ,
on 2/23/2012
By: Karen Cioffi,
on 11/30/2011
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By: BookEnds, LLC,
on 2/28/2011
There’s always a lot of talk, especially among unpublished authors, about switching genres. Many of you are writing in multiple genres and want to continue doing so after you are published. Which inspired this question . . .
Is switching genres with each book a bad thing?
I currently have a Fantasy book finished (final re-editing, working on query perfection, etc.), but I started writing a chick-lit in the first half of the year. I also have some good ideas penned down for a sci-fi and a crime thriller. So, based on your post, should I be focusing on just one genre or continue with my whole "branch out and conquer the world" process? I am not working on all of these things at the same time, but still keeping the ideas for the future.
To some degree, yes, I think it’s a bad thing. Remember, once you decide to get published you are building a writing career and not just writing anymore, which means your goal is to find an audience. While you might find it fun to switch things up from book to book, most readers are fairly loyal to what they read. In other words, few fantasy readers will happily jump to chick lit with enthusiasm. Let’s face it, most readers read within a few specific genres. If your fantasy readers love your first book and look for your second, they might be very disappointed to discover how different it is. Most important, it might turn them off from picking up your third.
Most publishers want you publishing at least 9 months apart, so if you can have two different names and publish each name 9 months apart (writing a book every 4 to 5 months), then you can easily write in two genres. If, however, it takes you 9 months to write a book, you might want to stick with one genre, at least until you’re established.
As for writing prior to publication, I think it’s great to write in various genres and explore your strengths.
Jessica
By: Rachelle Gardner,
on 9/6/2010
The question of whether to use a pen name comes up frequently among writers. People wonder what kinds of circumstances might dictate using a pen name, and how to choose one.
There are several legitimate reasons to use a pseudonym. You simply may not like your real name, or it doesn't fit the genre in which you're writing. Your employer may not want you known as an author, or your profession may demand your anonymity. (People who work in the mental health field are a good example of this.) Your real name might be the same as a celebrity's or someone whose name has a negative connotation. Or you might write in more than one genre and use different names for each. (If you're an unpubbed writer, you don't need to be worrying about this one yet. First things first. Get pubbed in one genre.) Also, Kristin Nelson recently pointed out on her blog that if there's a chance you could be job hunting, you may want to write under a pseudonym because potential employers might be scared off if they Google you and find your books. (They'll think you're not going to be committed to the job if your writing career takes off.)
If you're choosing a pseudonym, you may want to choose something close to your real name, such as your first and middle initials along with a variation of your last name, but you're not limited to that. Keep in mind real-world issues like where your books will appear on a shelf and what famous authors your book might be next to. Even more importantly, choose a name for which an Internet domain is available, and make every effort to ensure your name is not already being used by a celebrity, another author, or a porn star. Search the name in various spellings, using several search engines, to verify.
Finally, if you're just starting out trying to get an agent and/or publisher and you've settled on a pen name, start right from the beginning doing all your correspondence with that name. Get your email address in that name and identify yourself that way. You don't need to tell an agent it's not your real name until they offer representation; and the only time you'll ever need to use your real name is on contracts. You'll want your publisher thinking of you as your pseudonym also.
What about platform? If you're blogging, obviously the blog will only function as part of a platform if it's written under the same name that will appear on your books. Now, most of what I've said about pseudonyms applies best to fiction. With non-fiction, it may be quite different since non-fiction is much more platform driven. Your platform is most likely already established under your real name so a pseudonym may not be an option. If you're hoping to write memoir under a pen name to avoid hurting people in your life who appear in your book, be aware that simply using a pseudonym won't avoid all potential legal, ethical and/or relational issues that could arise.
Any more questions about pen names? Have you considered using one? If so, why?
Rachelle Gardner, Christian literary agent, WordServe Literary Group, Colorado.
By: BookEnds, LLC,
on 7/21/2010
I have recently become a fan of a new author, one who has been around for a few years, but who I’ve just discovered. I’ve made attempts to recommend her work to everyone I meet. That’s how much I love it. The problem? I can never remember her name.
The author is publishing with two last names. You know, like Jessica Faust Smith, and for the life of me I can’t keep those names straight. I can’t remember which goes first, and for some reason, in her case, the names are similar enough that they blend together for me. This is why a name does matter and a pseudonym might be important. Names are tricky things, and when choosing what to publish under I always recommend something that’s simple, classic, stands out a little, but not too much. And you also want a name that people will be able to remember well enough to repeat to everyone they know.
The other problem with two last names is that the bookstores don’t always know where to shelve the book. If I'm publishing under Jessica Faust Smith, I will guarantee some will place my books under F while others will drop them under S. This is only a problem for those readers searching for books who refuse to ask for help.
Jessica
By: BookEnds, LLC,
on 11/20/2009
Over the years I’ve received a lot of questions about pseudonyms, mostly related to query letters or at what point in an author’s career a pseudonym should be chosen. One of the things I’m not sure many authors understand is that a pseudonym isn’t always a choice you get to make yourself. Many times when an author makes a book deal or decides to use a pseudonym, there are discussions with her editor on name choices and what they can agree on would be a strong pseudonym and suit the genre and audience you are targeting.
Recently a reader asked the following question: I'm considering writing under a pseudonym, of sorts, because my name is orally very similar to that of a wildly popular author. I'm thinking of just adding an initial somewhere, but I'm wondering what the legal ramifications of that are. I know that with normal pseudonyms, the contracts all have to be signed under normal names, but would it be requisite to legally change a name for just an initial? Is adding an initial even the best route to go? Or does it even matter if my name sounds similar but maybe it really doesn't sound like it?
It’s difficult to answer this question without knowing exactly how similar your name is to another’s and who that other author is. It seems like adding an initial might not be a big enough change, but again, without knowing how similar your name is, what your plans are for that initial, or what you’re writing I really am not sure. All that being said, there is no need to ever legally change your name to a pseudonym whether you are using an entirely new name or just an initial. No matter what you choose your contract will be in your legal name and the pseudonym will be noted as the name you are writing under.
Since you came to me with this question I’m going to assume you’re unagented and unpublished, in which case I think you’re getting ahead of yourself. Worry about writing your book. Finding the name to write under can be something you discuss with your agent and your editor. I know many authors feel they need to choose a pseudonym now so any other writings they do can be under that name, and while that’s not a bad plan, it also doesn’t mean your publisher will want you to use that name when the time comes.
My best advice is to worry more about the writing and less about the name. If you achieve name branding success before finding an agent and a publisher they will likely want you to keep that name. If not, it’s not going to be a big deal to find another.
Jessica
By: BookEnds, LLC,
on 8/10/2009
I have written a controversial realistic fiction novel. If I want to keep my identity not discoverable, what's the best way to do this?
I have to admit it’s really hard for me not to simply reply to this question with, “Don’t tell anyone” and leave it at that.
I won’t do that though. I’ll force my fingers to continue writing.
Let me start by telling you that in the age of Google it’s pretty dang hard to keep anything a secret these days. Does anyone remember Primary Colors by that anonymous Joe Klein? When that book was published in 1996 by anonymous it became a game to see who could figure out the author’s real name first. I remember analysts comparing the writing to journalists and columnists everywhere. It was nuts, and later it was revealed that Joe Klein was in fact no longer anonymous. That being said, you can certainly do whatever you feel you need to if you want to remain underground, it just might be tricky.
First of all, your agent is probably going to need to know who you are. After all, the checks from the publisher get sent somewhere and the IRS is going to need to know to whom. So if for no other reason than it’s a legal issue you’ll probably have to reveal yourself to your agent. And then, if you really don’t want your publisher to know the real you, you can probably have everything go through your agent and only have your publisher refer to you by your pseudonym. Seems extreme for fiction though.
For media events you can wear a disguise and use your agent or a publicist to set those things up (and I know this is sounding snarky, but I am being honest here) or simply do everything by phone or online and refuse to make appearances (which could be tough if the book hits big).
Ultimately, pick a pseudonym and use that name. For now anyway that will keep you anonymous.
Jessica
By: BookEnds, LLC,
on 6/16/2009
I’ve been digging into the archives of questions from readers and can only hope that some of those who asked the questions are still around to read the answers.
Today’s question concerns a previously published author who was dropped by her publisher, presumably for poor sales. The author now has a terrific new idea and is more than willing to write under a pseudonym. In fact, she has one picked out already. The question is how should she approach this with agents.
I tend to think honesty is the best policy, that and the fact that since she was previously published it shows others that she’s already been validated as a publishable author. My advice is to let agents know, in the query letter, that you were previously published by Smart Books under Jane Jones, but are now looking for an agent for your next Brilliant Idea that you plan to write as Janet Janes.
Authors reinvent their careers all the time and agents know this. Sure, you’re always going to run up against an agent who has no interest in rebuilding a career. You’re also going to run up against agents who have no interest in unpublished authors and those who really have no interest in books at all (hopefully I’m just kidding here), but you need to advertise your strengths and the truth is that your strength is that others have already seen what you can do and they liked it.
Jessica
By: BookEnds, LLC,
on 4/10/2009
I’ve received a lot of questions about the importance of building a platform for fiction writers. Should you write platform-building pieces under your real name or the pseudonym you want to use? What if you wrote mystery short stories, but now want to write romance novels? Do those short stories even count toward your platform? Do you need to worry about blogging now to build a platform or should you just write?
Holy cow, folks! Just write and write and write and write. If you are someone who writes short stories very well and wants to submit them to literary magazines while working on your novel, go ahead. It’s a bonus to have a writing platform like that, but not every novelist can write short stories and not every short story writer can write a novel. It just isn’t that easy, so if you’re someone who doesn’t feel strongly that you can do both, why are you wasting your time focusing on your weakness instead of your strength or instead of on what you really want to do?
As for blogs, I’ve said it over and over and over again, but I’ll say it again. Go ahead and write a blog if you really want to, but don’t feel that it will necessary do anything for a future publishing career. The only thing that’s going to do that is the book you’re writing or the book after that or the one after that. And frankly, at this point, I don’t care what name you do it all under.
Let’s worry less about the peripherals of publishing—platform, credentials, etc.—and more about our writing. Because that’s really what’s important.
Jessica
By: BookEnds, LLC,
on 2/29/2008
We’ve had a lot of discussions on the blog about the use of pseudonyms. Why you would choose to use one, when you would choose to use one, and how best to use it. A question came in recently regarding pseudonyms that we haven’t discussed before. . . .
Now can anyone tell me what's the situation on gender hopping with a pseudonym? For example, plain old Alfred Churchgate (former plant auto worker), who has written a historical romance set in 16th century Rome and wishes to market his book as Cassandra Castiglione. Let's face it . . . it actually would sell more copies, wouldn't it? What are the practical objections to gender hopping with pen names?
One would assume that yes, a romance novel written under a woman’s name would sell more copies or more easily find new readers than if it were published under a man's name. I also suspect military fiction or a military thriller would have better luck under a man’s name. And honestly, I can’t think of any downsides to gender hopping when it comes to your pseudonym. At some point or another it’s very likely your readers will discover that your real name is Alfred, but is that a problem if you’ve already garnered an audience of devoted fans?
Let me throw this to my readers, though, because I’m curious. Would you be disappointed if you found out that Cassandra Castiglione was really Alfred Churchgate? And would you romance readers be less likely to pick up a book if it were written by a man? What about military fiction readers? Would you be less likely to pick up a tough-guy military, Tom Clancy-style book if it were written by Candy Cane?
Jessica
By: Linda & Stan Zielinski,
on 4/28/2007
The following table lists the second fifty illustrators in the Children's Picturebook Price Guide with the highest average book value. The value would be for first edition books, with dust jackets. The table also includes the number of books listed in the price guide for each illustrator.
Kurt Wiese, the most prolific illustrator in the CPPG with 280 books, tops the list of the second fifty with an average book price of $139. Wiese's books are an eclectic mixture, from the 1933 Newbery Medal winning Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze, to the 1935 classic picturebook Honk The Moose, to the Freddie the Pig series of books authored by Walter Brooks. His illustrations also grace the first American edition of Felix Salten's Bambi, published in 1928. During his prolific career, Wiese only won one Caldecott award, an Honor in 1946 for You Can Write Chinese.
Mary Grandpré (#65) is better known for illustrating the US dust jackets for J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books. Similarlay, Brett Helquist's (#77) illustrations are most familiar due to his work on Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events books.
Children love Louis Slobodkin's illustrations, which have a classic whimsical feel to them and a simple line structure. Slobidkin's illustrations accompany four of Eleanor Estes' Newbery award books, including the 1952 Medal winning Ginger Pye. Slobodkin won the 1944 Caldecott Medal for Many Moons.
We will leave the remainder of the analysis and commentary to the reader. Children's picturebook collectors should be familiar with most illustrators on the list; if not, then a bit of homework via Google or Wikipedia will provide some base level information.
Linda and Stan Zielinski, authors of the Children's Picturebook Price Guide, are "serious collectors having fun with fun books."
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By: Linda & Stan Zielinski,
on 4/26/2007
The following table lists fifty illustrators in the Children's Picturebook Price Guide with the highest average book value. The value would be for first edition books, with dust jackets. The table also includes the number of books listed in the price guide for each illustrator.
Not surprisingly, Dr. Seuss heads the list, with an average value of $1183 for the 53 books listed in the price guide. We did not include the books he authored under the pseudonym Theo LeSieg, which were all illustrated by others. If you should stumble upon a first edition Green Eggs And Ham at your local Friends of the Library sale, then consider adding it to your purchase stack.
The top seven illustrators in the list are pretty much as expected, however Thomas Handforth at number eight is a bit surprising. Handforth only has five books listed, and one of them, Mei Li, the 1939 Caldecott Medal book, is valued at $1600, thereby increasing the average of the small lot of books. A similar aberration is for Nancy Elkholm Burkett, who did the illustrations for Raold Dahl's James And The Giant Peach, a book which sells for over $3000 in today's market.
We will leave the remainder of the analysis and commentary to the reader. Children's picturebook collectors should be familiar with most illustrators on the list; if not, then a bit of homework via Google or Wikipedia will provide some base level information.
By: Linda & Stan Zielinski,
on 4/24/2007
Book collectors hail from a variety of economic backgrounds. For some, twenty dollars is a great deal to spend, while for others, hundreds or even thousands is a reasonable price to add a first edition children’s picturebook to their collection. To each, his or her own.
Even with this disparity, there are areas of interest for every pocket book. With this in mind, we wanted to offer some thoughts on various dollar-value levels for collectible picturebooks.
Ours is a growing hobby. As such, there are many unexplored nooks and crannies within the picturebook hobby. Learn, learn, learn, then find them. Astute early adopters often benefit in the long run. The key is to understand the factors impacting a book’s collectibility and subsequent value, and being insightful enough to benefit. The benefit is buying a collectible book in the present for less then it would cost in the future.
Booksellers cannot afford to be so 'insightful' in a long-term manner. They have to buy books to sell in the near term. Booksellers do not buy books for purposes of future appreciation – they buy books for instant monetary appreciation. The business model strongly favors turnover of their book inventory. This works to the advantage of the astute book collector.
Most booksellers are generalists, or specialists in other areas of the vast book collecting spectrum. There are only a handful of children’s bookselling specialists, and in most cases specialize in older antiquarian materials. Because of this, the astute hobbyist can often find contemporary ‘bargains’ in used and collectible bookstores.
Collect books that you enjoy.
The lists that follow tend toward traditionalist children’s picturebook collecting, and should be used as guides to develop your own collecting interests.
The intention is to help you spend less for books of your interest.
The following lists are for first edition hardcover picturebooks, with dust jacket.
A common strategy is to collect books which stay in print for decades, perhaps never going out of print ('never' is a long time, so please consider it in context). The idea is the longer the book is in print, the more children enjoy and read it, thereby increasing the interest in the first edition copy. Eventually. If only those five year olds would hurry up and become forty.
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Hope this helps your readers, Karen. It's not that pseudonyms should never be used, but they sure can make the marketing of a book lots more diffiult!<br /><br />Best, <br /><br />Carolyn Howard-Johnson<br />Excited about Magdalena Ball’s and my new Sublime Planet poetry book released to celebrate Earth Day coming in April. The e-book is on Amazon in the US (http://bitly.com/EarthDayKind) in
Carolyn, I'm sure it will be of help to my readers. I haven't had the need to to the pseudonym route yet - I wouldn't want the added challenge of marketing two names. LOL<br /><br />Thanks so much for guest posting each Friday this month!
Very useful for anyone considering using a pseudonym. It seems kind of glamourous, but it's a full time job just promoting under this name. That said, I know cross-genre writers who do very well using a pseudonym. It's no secret - everyone knows who the writer is, it just helps differentiate the genres.
Good point about marketing two names! My three blogs and my posts in a number of forums would be wasted if I started using a new name. (However, I keep one in reserve.)
So many think that using a pseudonym will "protect their privacy" or "their anonymity." But it usually doesn't do that,either! (-:<br />
Carolyn, how true. In today's digital and easy info access world, it's near impossible to keep anything secret or private. <br /><br />Thanks for joining in the conversation, Joy.