Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of The Frugal Book Promoter and guest blogger for Writing North Idaho - a Web-Retreat for Writers in the North Idaho Panhandle wrote To Pseudonym or Not to Pseudonym listing reasons why authors like Nora Roberts, author of more than 150 romance novels choose a pen name .
Number one is marketing, and branding. A simple defintion of branding is when a writer becomes well known for the genre they write, i.e. romance or horror, then decide to write another genre i.e. children's stories - the author will often use a pseudonymn to help brand it for the reader, and to broaden readership.
Howard-Johnson got me thinking about other authors who chose to use a pseudonym - Mark Twain first came to mind. I wondered if his The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn would have found less success and popularity published under his given name, Samuel Clemens. And what about George Eliot (aka Mary Ann Evans) and George Orwell (aka Eric Arthur Blair )? How would their famed novels, Silas Marner and Nineteen Eighty-Four have fared if they hadn't used a pen name ? I guess we'll never know.
Then, with whimsical pondering, I considered what pseudonymn I might use if my book was to be published, and thought about the cards and emails my friend Phyllis and I exchange, and the letter writing pen names we have used over the years; Heckle (aka Phyllis), Jeckle (aka Kathy) or sometimes Calamity Jane (Phyl) and Annie Oakley (me). My cousin Shauna and I have done the same, Shauna aka Shaunneaqua Warrior Princess, and I'm Kathiawatha. While those pen names make me smile , and are fun between friends and cousins, I doubt they'd work for an agent or publisher. So, guess I'll stick with my own name, Kathy Cooney Dobbs. Now, just to write that novel !
Number one is marketing, and branding. A simple defintion of branding is when a writer becomes well known for the genre they write, i.e. romance or horror, then decide to write another genre i.e. children's stories - the author will often use a pseudonymn to help brand it for the reader, and to broaden readership.
Howard-Johnson got me thinking about other authors who chose to use a pseudonym - Mark Twain first came to mind. I wondered if his The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn would have found less success and popularity published under his given name, Samuel Clemens. And what about George Eliot (aka Mary Ann Evans) and George Orwell (aka Eric Arthur Blair )? How would their famed novels, Silas Marner and Nineteen Eighty-Four have fared if they hadn't used a pen name ? I guess we'll never know.
Then, with whimsical pondering, I considered what pseudonymn I might use if my book was to be published, and thought about the cards and emails my friend Phyllis and I exchange, and the letter writing pen names we have used over the years; Heckle (aka Phyllis), Jeckle (aka Kathy) or sometimes Calamity Jane (Phyl) and Annie Oakley (me). My cousin Shauna and I have done the same, Shauna aka Shaunneaqua Warrior Princess, and I'm Kathiawatha. While those pen names make me smile , and are fun between friends and cousins, I doubt they'd work for an agent or publisher. So, guess I'll stick with my own name, Kathy Cooney Dobbs. Now, just to write that novel !
So interesting the subjects you pick to write about. I find myself thinking now of others who have used pen names. Thank you and do keep writing.
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