Most authors want the whole world to know that they have written a book, and the typical author is thrilled to have his or her name on the cover. However, some authors choose to use pseudonyms when publishing. Why do authors use pen names, instead of their own names, when publishing books?
Here are some of the most common reasons that many authors choose pseudonyms:
The author wants to maintain privacy. For many authors, their names are much better known than their faces. If an author wants to keep a low profile in his personal life, he may choose to publish under a pen name. That way, he can write a check at the grocery store without his name being recognized.
The book is controversial. The subject matter or point of view may be something that will anger some readers. Keeping the author’s identity a secret may even be a matter of personal safety.
The author and publisher want to create controversy. The author of the novel “Primary Colors” was “Anonymous.” Because the book included inside information clearly taken from Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign, there was a lot of speculation about who “Anonymous” was. That speculation created a lot of buzz and helped to generate book sales.
To avoid confusion with another well-known person. If there is another author or celebrity with the same name, or even a similar name, the public may be confused about who is who. Using a pen name avoids that problem.
They write in multiple genres. When an author writes, say, both horror and Western novels, they may use a pseudonym to avoid having disappointed readers. Someone who orders the latest book by their favorite author expecting to read about vampires might not be happy to find out the book is actually about a cattle drive.
They write a lot of books. Many authors publish a book every year or two. Prolific authors may be able to write more than one book a year; however, there is sometimes a perception among readers and reviewers that if someone writes two or three books a year the books can not be very good. To allow the books to stand or fall on their own merits the author may use a pseudonym.
The “author” is actually more than one person. Some writing teams use a pseudonym on their books instead of listing two or more authors. They might use one person’s first name and the other’s last name, a pen name that combines elements of each of their names, or a made-up name.
A pen name may be better than the author’s real name for marketing purposes. Although perceptions are changing, it used to be that publishers believed that they could not sell a hard-boiled mystery written by a woman or a romance novel written by a man. These authors often used pseudonyms to conceal their gender from readers.
The publisher has an established “brand.” There are book series that use one name because the author name is used to brand the series. For example, there have been many authors who wrote as Ellery Queen.
The author’s name is hard to spell or pronounce. Readers may find it hard to remember a name such as Grynsplyt Majaswijcz, which means that they will have a hard time finding the book. When they are looking for the book at Amazon.com or asking for it at their local book store, they may decide it is easier buy a book by Anne Rice instead.
Writing and publishing under a pseudonym is not for most authors, but there are times when it is the best choice.