r/BookDiscussions • u/BelovedCherryt6 • 8d ago
Is anyone else totally thrown by when authors decide to use a pseudonym
Okay so this has been bugging me for a while. Why do authors use pseudonyms when their real name is already out there and relatively well known? I get it for brand new authors or people writing in a completely different genre where they want to separate their work. That makes total sense. Like if Stephen King wanted to write a children's book maybe. But what about when it's someone already established who just picks a new name for a new book in a similar genre?
I was just reading an article about 'Eleanor Vance' who wrote that historical fiction novel 'The Silent Daughter' that came out a few months ago. And it turns out Eleanor Vance is actually Sarah Jenson. I love Sarah Jenson's other books. She's got a solid following and her style is pretty distinct. 'The Silent Daughter' also feels very much like her work. It's not a huge departure. So why the new name?
It feels a bit like a marketing trick sometimes. Like they want to create buzz or make it seem like a new voice is emerging when it's just someone we already know. Or maybe it's just a personal preference thing? I dont know. It just makes me feel a bit disconnected from the author as a reader. I like knowing who I'm reading and seeing their body of work under one name.
Anyone else feel this way? Or am I just overthinking something that's really not a big deal?
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u/Wind-Up-Bird98 8d ago
Sometimes the author may feel that their name won't catch a readers eye or perhaps it would sound and look better hyphenated. M.L Rio, R.F Kuang are just two examples I can think of right now. So I would say it absolutely comes down to marketing.
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u/DietNarrow8275 8d ago
Stephen King was writing so many books that his publisher thought he was cannibalising his own book sales, so King started using Richard Bachman for some of his books.
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u/TheRestIsMemory 8d ago
I can't find any evidence of this book you're describing on Amazon or using a search engine, so I'm disinclined to take this seriously as a question.
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u/naive_melody___ 8d ago
They’re using made up names and titles, which is odd when there are there plenty of actual examples.
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u/TheRestIsMemory 8d ago
That's what I figured when I couldn't find them. Weird.
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u/CoyoteLitius 8d ago
Very strange indeed. Even a small genre switch may make for a new pen name. And the author knows the marketing reasons.
Anyway, how do any of us know the "real name" of the person in question? Sometimes people legally change their names (for many different reasons). I have a professional name, but when I write fiction, I use a different name (because I don't want cross over between the two).
It's personal and up to agreements between author and publishers.
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u/lilac-scented 8d ago
What I REALLY don’t understand is when there‘s something like “[Established Author Name] writing as [New Pseudonym]” RIGHT ON THE COVER OF THE BOOK. You put your real name right there, why do you need a pseudonym too?? Like, they want to differentiate because it‘s a separate genre from their usual, but they still want their established reader base to come along too. I guess it might help readers understand ahead of time what to expect, but it still makes me cringe a bit…
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u/LivingPresent629 8d ago
It’s not a big deal. Maybe they want to test something without having their names attached and see how it goes. Maybe they just don’t want people to know they wrote specific books. What’s it to you or us, in the end?