Why Do Writers Use Different Pen Names for Genres?

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Elisa Shoenberger has been constructing a library since she was 13. She loves writing about all elements of books from writer interviews, antiquarian books, archives, and every little thing in between. She additionally writes commonly for Murder & Mayhem and Library Journal. She’s additionally written articles for Huffington Post, Boston Globe, WIRED, Slate, and lots of different publications. When she’s not writing about studying, she’s studying and adventuring to seek out cool new artwork. She additionally performs alto saxophone and sometimes stiltwalks. Find out extra on her web site or comply with her on Twitter @vogontroubadour.

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Pen names are nothing new on the earth of publishing. Charlotte Bronte of Jane Eyre fame printed beneath Currer Bell; Charles Lutwidge Dodgson printed Alice in Wonderland as Lewis Carroll. There are loads of the explanation why somebody might elect to make use of a pen title in lieu of 1’s authorized title, resembling a authentic worry that the guide wouldn’t publish or promote properly beneath a lady’s title; or to guard the author from retribution for what they wrote.

What I discovered attention-grabbing as a lover of mysteries, particularly cozies, is the proliferation of pen names for style fiction authors. I’ve interviewed a number of individuals who have a number of, if not many, pen names for their books. Sometimes, it appears the pen title was related to a single collection, or generally, it might be related to completely different genres, from cozy thriller to romance. I made a decision to speak instantly to a couple authors to know their causes for utilizing pen names with completely different collection.

Branding

When I first began engaged on this text, it appeared like the straightforward reply was that the a number of names have been all because of branding. Ellen Bryon, tv author and writer of the award-winning Vintage Cookbook collection, summed it up finest, “If you’re writing erotica and cozy mysteries, you may not want your readers getting those mixed up.”

Several authors famous that the request got here from the publishers and editors. Ellen Byron’s writer requested her to make use of a pen title for her first collection, Catering Hall Mysteries. Olivia Matthews, the comfy author behind the Spice Isle Bakery collection, had written romance suspense and up to date romances beneath completely different names however was suggested along with her cozy mysteries to make use of one other pseudonym since thriller readers might not wish to learn something written by a romance author.

With Anastasia Hastings, writer of the just lately printed Of Manners and Murder, her pen names have been used with several types of style fiction. For occasion, she wrote the Pepper Martin collection beneath the title Casey Daniels, the place Pepper Martin sees ghosts. But when she had the concept for a comfy collection that occurred round vintage buttons, Hastings stated, “For the same publisher, the publisher was worried if it had the Casey Daniels name on it, people would expect ghosts, so that’s how I became Kylie Logan.”

Some authors make their pen title a part of the model in enjoyable and strange methods. Hastings has a minimum of 11 pseudonyms. Byron famous that one writer has actually leaned into her a number of pen names; her web site is J.H. Authors (Julianne Holmes, J.A. Hennrikus, and Julia Henry) with the tagline: One Woman. Three Names. Many Books.

Matching the Tone

For some authors, the pen title helps match the tone of the guide. While Byron’s writer requested her to make use of a pen title for her first collection, the Catering Hall Mysteries, Byron determined to decide on a significant title for the collection. “My series is very much inspired by my real family, the Italian side of the family. My mom was born in Italy,” Byron stated. Her primary character lives the place her Nana, aunt, and uncle lived and makes use of the identical space (although completely different names and addresses) within the collection. “Using the pen name to honor my Nana seemed like a good idea,” Byron stated, plus “it was also very appropriate for the series is about an Italian-American girl in Queens.” That’s how Maria DiRico was born.

For Hastings, “The pen name says a lot about the sort of the tone of the book and the voice I use in a book.” She selected Anastasia Hastings as a result of it sounds historic, matching the historic thriller collection. Hastings famous that she just lately wrote a proposal for a brand new collection and thought: “This is a Casey Daniels book. Because in my head, it’s the same voice that Casey used in the Pepper Martin series. So, for me, that has a lot to do with it. What’s the tone? What’s the voice?” Though she stated that some books with sure pen names have morphed in tone a bit since she began writing them.

No Big Secret

Neither Byron nor Hastings hold their pen names secret. For Hastings, along with her many pen names, she stated, “With the internet, people are going to find out. It’s not worth trying to, it’s no big secret. My readers know all my different names, and I’m sure readers are smart enough. If you just look on the copyright page of a book, you’ll see the writer’s real name.”

For Byron, her expertise was slightly completely different since she launched her first collection in 2020, so she didn’t go to conferences and readings beneath Maria DiRico. “I never had that experience that some people who have pen names have where someone yells to you at a convention, ‘Oh, Maria,’ and you don’t turn around because you don’t know who they’re talking to.” By the time guide occasions resumed, most of Byron’s readers knew that DiRico and Byron have been one particular person.

Being Multiple People

Byron and Hastings have completely different emotions about their experiences with pen names. Bryon discovered it a bit difficult. She recalled that when she was filling out a nine-page publicity kind for her first guide, “Ellen Byron could have listed 25 years of television shows and award nominations and a couple of wins. Basically, Maria de Rico didn’t exist until that very moment, so she didn’t really have much to share.”

However, Byron defined that her final title, Byron, was a pseudonym to start with. She had thought she wished to turn into an actress, however individuals stored mispronouncing and misspelling her given final title. So she determined to alter it to her father’s center title, and it has caught for over 40 years. “It’s much easier to come to market and brand one name,” Byron stated.

Hastings introduced up the well-known cozy author Elizabeth Peters, who wrote one other collection beneath the title Barbara Michaels and her nonfiction works beneath her actual title, Barbara Louise Mertz. Hastings recalled, “[Peters] once told me if you’re not at least two people, you’re boring. So there you go.”

Thanks to Hastings, Matthews, and Byron for taking the time to speak about their pseudonyms. For of us who wish to study extra about up to date writers with a couple of title, take a look at this listing of up to date authors utilizing pseudonyms. You can even find out about 5 authors whose true id has by no means been realized!

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