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: Beth Kephart ,
on 2/23/2012
Blog: Beth Kephart Books (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: pseudonyms, Julie Bosman, Patricia O'Brien, The Dressmaker, Kate Alcott, New York Times, Add a tag
There was some lingering subterfuge to attend to, of course. Some funny back and forth—a new email address, scanty personal details—with an editor who believed she had bought the work of a first-time author. But it wasn't until it was author photo time and the first blurred photo that the author sent was deemed no good that the gig was finally up, the truth spoken.
As one who teaches memoir and advocates for the truth in the form, it's hard to know how to feel about this. I mean, we're talking about fiction, after all. And the pseudonym business surely isn't new. And I'm certainly one of many writers who wishes deeply that the sale of her future books were not so tied to the sale of books she already wrote. We aren't always responsible for what happens to our books out there—can't insist on publicity, can't do much about where our books sit within our publishing house's priorities, can't dictate whether or not ads will be taken, whether or not a tour will be financed, whether or not the book resonates at this particular time, whether or not a lot of things.
But when I try to imagine keeping the charade going post sale—interacting with an editor under false pretenses, say—I wonder if I would have had the gumption to keep going, editorial letter after editorial letter, conversation after conversation. I suspect I'd be one of those who would have early on had to blow her cover. Working with an editor is personal, in the end. And novel writing can be akin to confession.
Oh that is interesting. And sad. :(
Fascinating story! I came *this* close to using a pseudonym for the same reasons this author did after having 3 books go nowhere due to a variety of reasons, but my new agent told me "not yet" and "let's wait and see" as she started subbing for me after I had an 8 year famine. Six weeks later I had a huge 3 book deal with Scholastic and then another 3 book deal with Harpercollins this past October in a pre-empt. Timing, the right agent, the right editors, the right project - it all has to come together at once.
So glad I didn't give up during all those awful, discouraging years - but I very nearly was done in - and did.
I looked up the book THE DRESSMAKER and it sounds fantastic! Just ordered it.
As a former journalist, I've always argued for transparency in all forms of writing.
And yet, there are great authors we would never have known if they hadn't fictionalized not only their names but their gender. OK, so those days are gone. I hope.
And yet, as someone who knows entirely too much about how we are tracked, targeted and even abused in this digital world, I am tempted every day to find or invent the computer equivalent of a disposable cell phone. Because finding out who wrote what when and on what computer isn't some future worry; it's here.
I probably couldn't keep up the exhausting charade either, but my bottom line is that if she chooses to publish under a pseudonym, I think that's her choice and being unmasked becomes another gray, wobbly line on the privacy battlefield.
Jean Ashburn
Boy, this is a tough one, isn't it? I often think that I need to change my name to make another sale but honestly, I think I'd need to change it to something famous, not just another unknown. I'm already unknonw. :)
Finally, there is hope!