Friday, January 6, 2012

Are you in Favour of Pen Names?

A pen name  or a nom de plume is a pseudonym adopted by an author. Its sometimes used to make the author’s name more distinctive or to disguise their gender (as in the case of J.K Rowling, her publishers were worried that boys may not read books if they realized they are written by a female), to distance an author from all of his /her works, to protect the author from retribution for their writings and for several other reasons either related to marketing or for aesthetic reasons. Most of these author’s real names were known only to the publishers.

Many times authors used pen names when their real names were likely to be confused with that of another author or a notable individual. Some authors who regularly write in more than one genre use different pen names for each. Romance writer  Nora Roberts  writes  erotic thrillers under the pen name J.D. Robb, and Samuel Langhorne Clemens used the aliases "Mark Twain" and "Sieur Louis de Conte" for different works. Similarly, an author who writes both fiction and non-fiction (such as the mathematician and fantasy writer Charles Dodgson, who wrote as  Lewis Carroll) may use a pseudonym for fiction writing.

I have never been in favour of pen names. I would always wonder why some writers adopted pen names. For me its always my full name that is a part of my byline ( for the newspaper articles) and books, and stories that have appeared in anthologies.    
          
 There are several reasons for using pen names. Occasionally a pen name is employed to avoid overexposure. Prolific authors for pulp magazines often had two and sometimes three short stories appearing in one issue of a magazine; the editor would create several fictitious author names to hide this from the readers. Robert A. Heinlen wrote stories under pseudonyms so that more of his works could be published in a single magazine.  Stephen King published four novels under the name Richard Bachman because publishers didn't feel the public would buy more than one novel per year from a single author. Eventually, after critics found a large number of style similarities, publishers revealed Bachman's true identity.

Sometimes a pen name is used because an author believes that his name does not suit the genre he is writing in. I find this reason very strange. What do names have to do with genres. A reader would pick a book depending on the blurb or review and not because he/she liked the sound of the author’s name.

Western novelist Pearl Gray dropped his first name and changed the spelling of his last name to become Zane Grey because he believed that his real name did not suit the Western genre. Romance novelist Angela Knight writes under that name instead of her actual name (Julie Woodcock) because of the double entendre of her surname in the context of that genre. Edward Gorey had dozens of pseudonyms, apparently for his own amusement, each one an anagram of his real name.

I think I am too much in love with my name to use another one for writing. What do you all feel about pen names? Are you in favour of them?  Have you ever used them? What would you have wanted as your pen name? Please share your views with us.

21 comments:

  1. Nice post. Makes me think..hmm...my pen name would be Ria. Just Ria :)

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  2. I love my name..lol so no I would never use a pen name:))

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  3. I love the idea of a pen name but don't know what I would choose. Besides, I think at this point it would be pretty dumb.
    But still sort of exotic!

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  4. I am ok with pen names, but don't believe that one should use one just because he/she is ashamed of their own name.

    As an anonymous blogger, I don't use my own name because I discuss hot-button topics and it would not be fair if my wife's employer or something was offended.

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  5. I love the idea of pen names, especially if an author writes in 2-3 different genres. I think I'd choose an alliteration sorta name like Sydney Sheldon. Those are catchy, right?

    Interesting to know about R.K.Rowling's reasoning.

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  6. I think every writer has the right to use a pen-name and should not be judged for doing so. I use a pen-name myself because some of my stories are based on personal experiences. Some of my friends are rather disappointed that I use a pen-name. It is a personal decision.

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  7. Hi Friends...I see that quite a few of you all wouldn't mind having pen names, only Terri like me loves her name too much to adopt a pen name.

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  8. I used to think pen-names were cooler, but I realized it has more to do with the author than their readership. For instance, Eric Blair used the name George Orwell when he wrote, but today in college classes he's now referred to as Eric Blair just as often as George Orwell.

    Also, for myself. I used to find my last name pretty dull, but when I went to college people thought it was pretty neat because the "c" makes the "ch" sound in it. Spelled "Noce," but pronounced "Nochay." I've learned to like it;)

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  9. I understand the reasons for using a pen name sometimes, but I prefer to use my own name. Maybe I'll think of a few pen names just for fun, and save them for that day when I am so famous I must use them! lol

    Have a great weekend!

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  10. informative like always... I'm thinking of naming mine as Weakest :) what are your opinions on that ?

    Happy new year
    Weakest LINK

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  11. A very nice post! I am inclined to think more like you and like my name so any other name is unthinkable:)

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  12. A friend of mine has to use a pen name because when he googled his name, he discovered it also belonged to a porn actor. And my friend writes kidlit.

    I'm keeping my name. :D

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  13. Oh dear, oh dear... I think I'd better write something first..
    Fun topic Rachna- I like your name too!

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  14. I thought of using a pen name, to separate my writing life from my day job as a doc. But then my blog ended up being in my name, and ended up doing okay.

    I thought up a pen name if I self published, because I'd heard that catchy author names were helpful. Well. I'm just going to be me, after all!

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  15. I went with a pen name for marketing reasons. If I Google my real name, there are Hollywood actors, choreographers, several sports stars and politicians.

    Not something I could reasonably compete with as an unknown writer. SB Jones on the other hand was a nick name or handle that I had been using for my online presence for almost a decade. Googleing SBJones or SB Jones brings up my blog, forums I am active on, pages containing my books on Amazon and Barnes and Noble and of course, my WOW character.

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  16. Not a subject I feel very strongly about, but you have covered the ground very thoroughly, I think.

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  17. Rachna, you have a beautiful name and as far as I know i haven't seen anyone else with the same name.
    I coined my own pen name and used it over 14 years now- it has become a part of me and my identity. I have capitalized the first "S" to stand out.
    When it began, I din't have a reason but over time it gave me its own reasons- There were too many people with my name in Bhutan, and the name is hard to pronounce for people outside of my country.
    I am more known by my pen name and I am loving it!

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  18. Maybe, if I wrote books in several genres, I'd consider it. But since this isn't going to happen....

    Very interesting post, Rachna. Never knew this about Zane Grey. I think if my first name were Pearl and I were a male writer, I'd change my name too, especially if I were writing westerns!
    Ann Best, Author of In the Mirror & Other Memoirs

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  19. I am going to use a pen name for a variety of reasons. The main one is that people can't spell or pronounce my names, so I don't think they'll be able to remember them.

    I love my name, but I really want the readers to remember me so that they won't miss my sequels. ;-)

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  20. Frankly speaking I never liked people calling me other names and I would always let my friends know that I hate to be referenced with pen names and my friends never really pointed a name on me. I love calling who I am but to some extent, in order to entertain myself, I change it in the social networking site to experience different names. It is fun.

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  21. I would never use another name. Its not like I'm in the Witness Protection Program. Although Worm Hole does have a certain ring to it.

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