Pen Names: The Art of Anonymity
- Erica Farner
- Jul 3, 2018
- 5 min read
Robert Galbraith. Lemony Snicket. George Eliot. Silence Dogood. Richard Bachman. All names that are easily recognizable as famous authors, right? Or that sound, at the very least, vaguely familiar? Well, joke's on us, because they're all pen names. In case you're wondering exactly who they're pen names for, they're Jo Rowling, Daniel Handler, Mary Ann Evans, Ben Franklin, and Stephen King, respectively.
I know, I was shocked at first, too. Before I started writing professionally, I never understood why the heck anyone would want to write under a false name and not actually get credit for it. I mean, everything you wrote is your brain-baby, and you deserve the accolades that come along with it, right?
Pause! Pun time! Consider this: The term "pseudonym" is a pen name for pen names. *ba dum tss* Thank you, I'll be here all week.
Okay, back to it.
Why on Earth?
I don't mean to say that writers don't deserve credit for their hard work 150% of the time, because they do (and believe me, I could go on for ages about why writers don't get enough credit for the work they do). I merely mean to say that there are lots of reasons why we can choose to write under a different name. Here are a few of them— I've broken them into new writers and established writers, just to make it easier to consider when you decide if you'd like to use a pen name.
For new writers:
Privacy- It can be really intimidating to put yourself out there, especially with something creative like writing. In most creative outlets (including painting, drawing, fashion design, etc.), it takes a lot of energy and emotion to make something, so some people may choose not to attach their name to it so they can protect their identity. This is also especially useful if someone's writing something controversial or graphic. Nobody likes backlash for having opinions or using their personal outlet, but sometimes they still want their thoughts out there.
Sales- If there is any intention at all to make money from what they're writing, some authors may choose to assume a pseudonym if their name is hard to pronounce, or not easily recognizable. For example, John Smith is easier to remember than Chushanrishathaim (he's a Biblical character, in case you were thinking that I pulled that one out of my rear). Names that are easy to pronounce, spell, and remember are more likely to spread like wildfire and attract sales.
Dodging gender bias- Whether we like it or not, humans are naturally biased to think certain things about either gender, which can sway our desire to purchase or even just trust a certain writer's work. If a male were to write a book where the main character is a teenage girl, some readers might think it's weird because he was never a teenage girl, so how could he possibly understand what life is like for her? On the other side of the token, women are vastly underrepresented in writing related to the STEM field. It's something that we need to work on, but for now, them's the facts.
Ghostwriting- There are publishers out there who hire lots of writers as ghostwriters. No, I don't mean that they decide to sacrifice them to the writing gods and literally turn them into ghosts. I mean that they simply write something that they then agree to give up the rights for, and their name doesn't appear on the finished work— you guessed it, it's published under a pen name. (In case you're wondering why they might do this, let me clarify. I've ghostwritten myself, and I can tell you that it earns you much more money up front, because there's no chance of royalties.) This also allows publishers to employ many more writers and get their content out more quickly because they can handle everything under one name rather than jumping through copyright hoops with a bunch of different names.
For kicks and giggles- Maybe they just don't like their birth name. Or they think it would be much more fun to publish under the name, "Sandy" than "Samantha." I don't know, man, if it's what floats their boat, let them be happy.
For established writers:
Genre-hopping- Maybe a writer wants to try a different genre without ticking off the fans they already have. Imagine that you bought a book by George R.R. Martin and it turned out to be a cheesy, young adult romance novel. You'd probably be baffled and at least a little bit annoyed— you came for dragons and chopped off heads, not giggling school girls.
Changing publishers- There are times when a writer may have a contract with their current publisher that would mean they own all rights to any new work coming out under the author's name. In cases like this, it would make lots of sense to release a new book under a different name. No more monopoly on my writing here, publishers!
Removing themselves from previous works- Say I wrote a novel that didn't do very well when it came out (I haven't yet published a book, so don't get any ideas; this is completely hypothetical). Maybe the readers didn't like my specific plot, or they didn't relate to the main character as well as I'd hoped. They might associate my name with that book they didn't like, and therefore would be less inclined to want to read anything else I've written. On the flip side, they really, really liked some of my previous work and I'm afraid to disappoint. Or I just don't want people to think about my previous book the whole time they're reading my new one. J.K. Rowling did this, actually. Cuckoo's Calling was published under the pen name of Robert Galbraith because she didn't want people to be thinking of Harry Potter the entire time they were reading it.
So, How Do I Do It?
That depends on the reason you choose to do it. As with just about anything writing-related, there are tons of ways to go about choosing a pen name. One important thing to remember, though, is not to exploit another person's identity. So don't be a jerk.
Check a baby name book or website.
Ask your relatives about family names that you might like to adopt.
Google the meaning of or common nicknames for your name.
Consider using your initials, since they're pretty gender neutral. Like J.K. Rowling. (Can you tell I really love her?)
Search for names that are popular in a culture you dig. For example, if you really like Celtic culture, look for a Celtic name.
A lot of names are based off of places, so dig out a map.
Maybe you could borrow snippets of a historical figure's name.
When all is said and done, a rose by any other name would smell as sweet (heeeeyyyy, Shakespeare). If you really want to use a pen name, do it. If you really don't want to, then don't. If you decide to, just find one that feels right and go with it.
I mean, I have pen names of my own, but I'm not going to share what they are, because that would defeat the purpose, now, wouldn't it? ;)
Happy writing,
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