I was talking about the odd business of naming characters earlier this week. It seems to me I ought to mention one other related curiosity of this strange trade: naming authors. Do you write under your own name? Under a pseudonym? Or both?
I still get people who sidle up to me at events and conventions and ask, usually in a lowered voice, ‘Is that your real name?’
Well yes, sir. Yes it is. Would I make it up? It never occurred to me to try to think up some sexy, snazzy fake name to write under. The one I’ve got worked fine for a bunch of newspapers from the Sunday Times to the Independent. Why find a new one? Here are some of the reasons you will find out there…
You’re a woman writing for a male market.
This one has been around for years, of course. And the reason for it is still shockingly current. There are men who simply won’t read a book written by a woman, however good, however much their normal kind of taste. A female author I know was once told this by someone, in all seriousness. When she asked why, he ummed and aahed. The stuttering answer seemed to indicate that if he was reading her on a train and other men saw he was deeply engrossed in a book by a female author they might think he was gay.
An extreme case, but not as much as you’d think. Some men simply won’t read female authors, just as some readers occasionally say to me, ‘I will never read a book that isn’t set in the UK or US.’ No point in arguing. So what does a female writer do? Reach for the initials and use them instead of those oh-so-embarrassing ladies’ first names.
Do female writers still need to perform this ridiculous transformation these days? I don’t know, but plenty seem to think so. Who am I to argue? Though a part of me does think… if your target audience is that dumb, shouldn’t you just go all the way and pretend you’re a man in the first place?
Your real name is either ridiculous or already taken in one way or another.
Author names are a bit like those of characters. Everyone wants them to be memorable, but you don’t want them to stand out too loudly. Ephraim Q. Hamburger III will not look good on a book cover. Nor will it help if, by some misfortune, you were christened Ronald McDonald. No use squealing, ‘But that’s what I’m really called!’ This is business. Find yourself a new moniker, one that fits the ‘memorable but not sticky out’ rule above.
You’re an established writer who wants to branch out into something different
Again, I’m in uncharted waters here. But this is a common situation. Say you’re been writing noir for a decade or so and have a reasonable name out there. You suddenly decide to get into steampunk (I don’t know what steampunk is by the way, but I’m assured by messages on Twitter that such a thing does exist and is very popular too).
Can you write noir and steam punk under the same name? Maybe, but I suspect not. Readers who know your noir will wonder if you’ve lost your marbles. Steampunk fans won’t mind a bit until they decide they like you and pick up one of your noir books and feel cheated. We live in very stereotypical times. There are a lot more barriers and tightly-defined genres than there used to be. Crossing over from one to the other may not be easy.
But then writing under two different names probably isn’t easy either. Agents and publishers will know more about this than I do. I can’t help but wonder about the practicalities of pursuing two different careers, usually one assumes for two different imprints. Who’s your real boss? Won’t one publisher wonder if you’re putting in more time for the other lot than you are for them?
It’s a toughie. Clearly multiple identities do work for some. Ruth Rendell and Barbara Vine are an obviously successful example, though doubtless a special case going back a long time. I think it’s probably easier to make it work if you write both children’s and young adult material alongside something very different. Mixing adult genres could be more tricky.
The most important thing, though, is surely this. Bylines are pretty much irrelevant. If you write a good book, you’re the author, whatever name’s on the cover. Best get that bit out of the way before worrying about what you’re going to be called.
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It’s your sound common-sense world view that keeps me coming back. You must have northern blood in you.