Pen names are masks that allow us to unmask ourselves.
~C. Astrid Weber
I had no idea that Sophie Kinsella was a pseudonym. The author of the bestselling Shopaholic series (that I've never read) is really Madeline Wickham writing as Sophie Kinsella.
We all know that Mark Twain -- as real as he is to every red-blooded American -- is really Samuel Clemens.
I also know that an author whose blog I read, Erica Orloff, writes in different romance sub-genres, as well as YA, and for each one she uses a different name.
Traditional convention for commercial and genre writing is that you don't want to confuse or alienate your readers, so you change your name. I wonder if publishers are giving readers enough credit. If Joann Schmoann wrote a political thriller, and then a romance, why couldn't she use her own, real life, social security card, parent-given name? The books would be marketed differently, they could even be in different sections of the book store (book store sections are another post entirely). Unless you are a memoir writer revealing things you don't want associated with your everyday life, I don't get it. Even though I wrote an essay once that was definitely rated NC-17 ... and I didn't use my real name because I didn't want it to be Google-able. I didn't think anyone needed to know that I was the person who did x, y and z. I was determined to write it, hell-bent to publish it, but equally sure I didn't want anyone to know it was me. But that was only one essay.
Another time I wrote an essay and submitted it to an online site. Months and months went by, I heard nothing. More months went by and I forgot about it. Then one day I went to the website and saw MY title. Shit, I thought, someone stole my title. How crappy is that? (My writer-friend Kate knows how crappy that feels.) And I looked at the author's name. How dare she! She. She? ME!! It was one of my earliest pieces and I'd sent it in with a pseudonym. And I forgot what I called myself. Granted they never contacted me and told me they were publishing it, and I suppose I'd have figured it out when I got the life-altering $15 check. But there I was looking at my own essay and not recognizing myself.
I started writing as myself that day, and it's been all first-person essays.
So I get it if it's non-fiction --- and I get it if it's on the spicy side --- but just your regular commercial fiction? Mystery? Romance? YA? Literary fiction?
Have you ever considered using a pen name? Do you think it allows you more freedom? Isn't the nature of fiction freeing in and of itself? I mean, we're making it up -- why not take credit?
If a writer writes as someone else, how do they promote their books? I always imagined a pen name as something secretive -- obviously some are not. But if I wrote a book with a pseudonym then I wouldn't want to be seen - no photo, no book signings, no launch party (which I know I'd paying for myself), no conferences to promote your book, no visits to book clubs.
Tell me what you think -- if you've considered or ever used a pen name -- and what you think the benefits and drawbacks are. And, of course, what name would you use? Something flashy? Demure? Literary? The name you always wished you had as a kid?
Share your thoughts on pen names -- and the pseudonym you may or may not use -- and how you thought of it!
4 comments:
I've considered using a pen name, simply for the creative aspect. It would be like making up an entirely different character from myself--the better me, the perfect me that I envision.
However, on the other hand, I like the idea of using my own name and taking full credit for my work. After all, it was Vanessa who worked hard, not the imaginary figure in my head. Of course the fear is being forever connected to a piece of work, especially to something quiet controversial. But I figured, it's all part of my journey, why be fearful of it?
I have spent quite a bit of time lately thinking about the pen name issue. I was discussing it with a friend who is also a writer and I said that whether I call what I write a "memoir" or a "novel" has to do with my willingness to drag the people in my life through mud or to create a buffer between my real experiences and what I call a story. To me, this is the same sort of discussion as pen names. When Joe Klein wrote "Primary Colors" it was authored (and is still shelved in stores) by "Anonymous," but someone figured out who it was and the gloves were off. But before we get to whether our anonymity or pen name succeeds as a kind of authorial smoke screen, we have to decide what it means to us to use one. For me, I have true, personal and difficult things to put on paper and be read by a large group of people, some of whom will know me and most of whom won't. I like the idea of poetic license and the shield of plausible deniability; if I call it a "novel" I can be more loose with description and historicization. If I call it a memoir or attach my name to the cover, authenticity becomes front and center and questions of real veracity begin to take on a life of their own. What do I want the focus to be? My content or my form? How does the paradigm influence the reception and meaning of the work? It is also a question of priorities. I want my book out there. A pseudonym gives me freedom to write what I choose to write and the space to develop a story without wondering if someone will have expected me to ask their permission. Writing is, to me, a sacred act of declaring independence, and I should have to answer to no one. My title, my story, my words. If someone wants to say something different, they can write their own book. So a pseudonym is also an act of independence, letting me explore my identity as a writer and as a person where I am not necessarily boxed in, typecasted, or scrutinized on someone else's terms. Whether or not privacy or the buffer zone can be maintained is another issue entirely, one that turns on craftiness and luck, I suppose, as well as determination. My narrative may reveal people in ways they would like to be ignored, but in protecting myself, I also protect them. Writing is not about putting into print grievances or sins for others to pass judgment on, but to make peace with truths and explore the fictions, what space do I want for my characters, including myself, to live and breathe on their own? Plenty.
There are sections of websites, such as fictiondb.com, that allow you to search for pseudonyms, so I think the existence of them is not particularly meant for concealment any more (except for Anonymous).
The best-known pseudonym in the bestseller world is J.D. Robb, aka Nora Roberts. Robb writes futuristic mysteries (28 and counting) and Roberts writes romance (close to 200 so far). Her publishers balked at releasing too many Roberts books in one year, so she added a name, and the novels keep coming. In an amusing twist, she has one book out that combines both genres, and it has two authors on the cover: J.D. Robb and Nora Roberts.
I feel that there are many reasons to use a pseudonym, but I wish that writers would make their alter egos known, so that fans could follow their work.
My daughter is hooked on a series of books called Warriors, written by Erin Hunter. I was wondering how Ms. Hunter can put out so many books (sometimes three or four a year!), and then my daughter informed me that Ms. Hunter is the pen name for THREE authors, who collaborate on these books. Crazy, huh?
I think I'd write under my own name. It would make my Grandma happy. You know, unless it was something I didn't want my Grandma knowing I had written...
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