What’s In a Name? Part One
By Jenny Margotta, High Desert Branch
Authors have written under pseudonyms for centuries. It would be difficult to find a name better known than Benjamin Franklin, but how many of us know he also wrote as Silence Dogood, Alice Addertongue, Polly Baker, Martha Careful, Busy Body, Richard Saunders, and Anthony Afterwit. Voltaire published some writings as Catherine Vade, and Daniel Defoe sometimes wrote as Miranda Meanwell. Other world-famous authors such as Mark Twain and George Orwell are also pen names. Mark Twain was, of course, Samuel Clemens, and George Orwell was born Eric Arthur Blair. Joseph Conrad’s birth name was Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski. Try remembering the correct spelling of that one. Ann Landers was actually the pen name of a number of women who wrote the iconic advice column over the years. And Charles Leslie MacFarlane was both Carolyn Keene (the Nancy Drew series) and Franklin W. Dixon (the Hardy Boys series.) Who knew?
But why do authors use pen names instead of revealing their true identities? There are a number of reasons.
- Probably the most common reason is privacy. Some authors just want to maintain a private life and not be inundated with adoring fans at inopportune times. Other writers may write in a genre that might not be in line with their public profession, such as a teacher or politician writing erotic stories.
- In addition to avoiding the public attention fame might bring, there is the issue of safety if your work is highly controversial, such as unpopular political or religious views. Authors publishing “tell-all” books often choose a pen name to avoid any potential backlash from the people whose secrets have just been revealed.
- A third reason is gender. Benjamin Franklin said he used women’s names for many of his newspaper articles because he didn’t think a young man (he was sixteen at the time) would be listened to as much as a woman of some years would be. Studies show women are more likely to read a romance novel written by a woman and male readers tend to gravitate to male authors. And while gender discrimination by publishers is less likely today, in the 19th century, and even into the 20th century, it was difficult for a woman to get published.
- Another reason is the need for a fresh start. Prolific authors know that readers expect them to produce books in their accepted genre and won’t easily accept a book from them in another genre. For example, Agatha Christie is synonymous with the mystery novel. Fans expect murder and mysterious elements in all of her work. But she also published a number of romance novels as Mary Westmacott. This allowed Christie to maintain the “Christie” brand and gave her the avenue to explore another genre without the fear of alienating her devoted mystery audience.
- The fifth primary reason an author may choose a pen name is the need to stand out. Readers may easily forget a common name while a more unusual name will be memorable. Which might you be more inclined to remember: Lemony Snickett or Daniel Handler? (They are the same person.) If you have a common name like John Smith or Mary Jones, you may want to use a pen name to create a public persona that can easily stand out from all the others who share your common name. Also, authors often find someone else—or more than one someone else—is already published under their
name. A pen name would be an excellent way to avoid the confusion as to which “Mr. Jones” or “Miss Smith” is you.
So, now you have the top reasons for choosing to write under a pen name. Next month, I’ll explore how to choose a good pen name.
Part One first appeared in the June 2024 Inkslinger,
newsletter of the High Desert Branch. Come back next month for Part Two.