"We had a vague impression that authoresses are liable to be looked on with prejudice".The Bronte sisters believed that people were likely to read books written by male authors rather than female ones and therefore chose to publish as the Bell brothers. But this was way back in the 19th century, when anything male was preferred over anything female. But now, in the 21st century, is it still the same scenario? Do readers still prefer to read something that is written by a male author, even if in certain genres, rather than a female one?
Recently, JK Rowling's cover as Richard Galbraith for her novel The Cuckoo's Calling was blown up by the UK's Sunday Times. She supported her decision of adopting this masculine pseudonym, saying in a statement, "Being Robert Galbraith has been such a liberating experience. It has been wonderful to publish without hype or expectation, and pure pleasure to get feedback under a different name." It was also reported that since Rowling's cover was blown, her book, published under the name Robert Galbraith, climbed to number 1 on Amazon's listings and was quickly out of stock at bookstores.
In 2012, a book called City Of Dark Magic was published under the name Magnus Flyte. Now, as mysterious as this name sounds when it comes to gender, it was discovered that the book was in fact written by two women, Christina Lynch and Meg Howrey. The authors decided to go for this pseudonym for their thriller because they knew that men preferred books - especially thrillers - written by men. Here are examples of women authors adopting pseudonyms of the other gender, with a few exceptions.
Joanne kathleen Rowling aka JK Rowling
When the most famous of these examples, JK Rowling, wrote the Harry Potter books, she had clearly stated that her publisher, Bloomsbury, had told her to use her initials instead of Joanne, as her name was unlikely to attract many boys. The aim here was to keep her name gender-neutral to attract mass audiences, which was achieved by using her initials. Even though her identity was eventually revealed, she did not lose any followers, but only gained more popularity - people were in love with the books and the gender of the author hardly mattered anymore.
Name change - Different gender
Rowling's writing under a male pseudonym triggered a debate on whether there are still 'sexist' readers who'd rather read something produced by a male author. Penguin editor Anne Sowards said, "It sometimes makes sense for a female author to use a pseudonym, particularly when the main characters are male, or when it's a genre with a strong appeal to men, like military science fiction, certain types of fantasy or gritty thrillers." Here are some of the older examples:
Karen Blixen aka Isak Dinesen
Karen Blixen (1885-1962) came from a well-known Danish family. Isak Dinesen was not her only pen name. She also wrote under other pseudonyms like Osceola and Pierre Andrezel. Her reason for adopting a male pseudonym was not like the ones that the Bronte sisters had, but was inspired by her father. She took her father, Wilhelm Dinesen, as the model behind this name.
Emily Bronte aka Ellis Bell
Emily Bronte (1818-1848) wrote as Ellis Bell. Her reason for taking up a male pseudonym was the same as for many other female authors of her time. Publishing her work under a male pseudonym meant having a chance of being considered 'important' and being successful in the world of literature. Wuthering Heights, which was published under the pseudonym, was one of her popular novels. But after Emily's death, the novel was republished with her real name and today, it's one of the most important novels in literary history.
Charlotte Bronte aka Currer Bell
Widely known as the author of Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte is one of the most renowned female authors know. But in her time, Charlotte wrote under the male pseudonym of Currer Bell, to be taken seriously and to be successful as an author. Under that male pseudonym, her work was widely read by the masses, especially the men, at that time.
Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin aka George Sand
Her work was never published under her real name. Her first novel, Indiana, published in 1832, was under the name George Sand, and so was every other novel that she wrote. She did not just write novels but also memoirs, literary criticism and political discussion, all as George Sand. The 'masculine qualities' were not just a part of her pen name but also her personality, as she'd wear men's clothing and also smoke tobacco in public, which women were not allowed to do at that time.
Nora Roberts aka JD Robb
Nora Roberts was already quite famous for her romance novels. But she wanted to move on to writing science fiction-police thrillers and wanted to attract a new audience. Her publisher was the one who was hesitant about launching her as Nora Roberts in a completely different genre and so, Ms Roberts adopted the gender neutral name of JD Robb.
Her series called In Death achieved a large following, and when her identity was revealed, her fans accepted both her identities.
Alice Sheldon aka James Tiptree Jr
Tiptree never revealed that she was a woman herself. Going into writing science fiction, she adopted the male pseudonym of James Tiptree Jr. She did this because she thought that it would be easier to break into the world of science fiction as a male author instead of a female one. Also, she wished to distance herself from the things she had written before she became James Tiptree. Her identity was only revealed when a fan tracked her down in an obituary after her mother's death. This was a big shock to her readers, but she managed to keep her fan base and didn't suffer from any major loss in popularity.
Louisa May Alcott aka AM Barnard
Alcott was a popular 19th century writer who started her career as an author under the male pseudonym of AM Barnard. Her works have been published both in her name and in her pen name. The reason she adopted a male pseudonym was to be 'taken seriously' as an author at that time.
Nelle Harper Lee aka Harper Lee
Author of what can be considered one of the most popular novels, To Kill A Mockingbird, Nell Harper Lee cannot exactly be accused of adopting a male pseudonym. But 'Harper Lee' does leave the gender of the person that the name belongs to undetermined. To Kill a Mockingbird was awarded the Pulitzer Prize soon after it was published and is on the curriculum of most schools across the United State of America. This was the only novel Lee ever published.
But it's not just female authors who have taken up pen names of the other gender. There have also been cases when male authors have written under a female pseudonym. For example, science fiction and fantasy writer Michael Carroll has written romance novels under the name Jaye Carroll. Philip Larkin wrote 'erotic novellas' under the female pseudonym of Brunette Coleman. The main reason for this name change could be that people tend to choose women authors over male authors when it comes to romance novels. But some authors, like Harper Lee and Rowling, choose to go for names that appear to be androgynous. They do this by either taking up a pen name that uses initials or using an uncommon first name - for instance, pseudonyms like Iceberg Slim, JI Vatanen, O Henry, Multatuli P Mustapaa and so on. However, it's evident that there have been many more female authors adopting male pseudonyms than male authors taking up female pseudonyms.
Name Change - Same gender, different identity
This name change is essentially used to hide the real identity of the author from the public. It could be when the author wants to move from one genre of novel writing to another or to appear as a completely new name on the block. This could be an advantage at times, but sometimes, it's also backfired.
Stephen King aka Richard Bachman
Famous for the genres of horror, fantasy, science fiction, drama, gothic, dark fantasy and post-apocalyptic fiction and with novels like The Shining, Carrie and The Dark Tower series to his name, Stephen King assumed a pseudonym to increase his publication without harming the 'King' brand, which the readers associated with only one book each year.
After the adoption of the pseudonym Richard Bachman, King started publishing more books. But eventually, King announced Bachman's death from the "cancer of pseudonym". The book written and published under the name of Richard Bachman, Thinner, initially sold 28,000 copies, and then ten times as many when it was revealed that Bachman was, in fact, Stephen King.
Agatha Christie aka Mary Westmacott
We all think of crime and mystery when we see her name, crowned, as she was, the 'Queen of Crime'. But Christie wanted to move away from her usual genre towards a completely different one, and that was romance. Therefore, a pseudonym seemed appropriate. So, after writing 82 detective novels as Agatha Christie, she became Mary Westmacott to write her series of romance novels. In her case, it was not about being taken seriously as a female author or reaching a wider audience - it was simply about moving from one genre to another, which was completely different from the first. As with Rowling, perhaps the desire was to shield the new novels, in a genre not expected from the author, from the presumptions and baggage that came with the 'Christie' brand.
Francois-Marie Arouet aka Voltaire
His pseudonym is what we all know him by. The French philosopher and historian assumed a pen name to remain anonymous because he was famous for his constant attacks on the Catholic church as well as the French king - obviously, that's not something you wanted to do at the time with everyone knowing who you were! Works by Voltaire have been produced in almost every literary form, including plays, poems, novels, essays and historical and scientific works. In Voltaire's case, the pseudonym was adopted to keep his real identity a secret, which kept him safe from the French authorities.
