Pseudonyms-Why?

[Priestvyrce]

About a year ago, I bought this silly sounding fantasy book titled The Ogre Wars by one, F J Hale. The blurb on the last page said that Hale is a well known scifi writer, so I looked him up and yes, he is. He's:Robert E(dward) Vardeman United States (1947 - )
Weapons of Chaos Trilogy:-
1. Echoes of Chaos (SF)
2. Equations of Chaos (SF)
3. Colors of Chaos (SF)
The Weapons of Chaos (Omni.)
The Masters of Space Trilogy:-
1. The Stellar Death Plan (SF)
2. The Alien Web (SF)
3. A Plague in Paradise (SF)
Masters of Space (Omni.)
The Biowarriors Trilogy:-
1. The Infinity Plague (SF)
2. Crisis at Starlight (SF)
3. Space Vectors (SF)
The Accursed Trilogy:-
1. Lord of Death and Life (F)
2. Legion of the Air (F)
3. The Flame Spector (F)
The Accursed (Omni.)
The Cenotaph Road Series:-
1. Cenotaph Road (F)
2. The Sorcerer's Skull (F)
3. World of Mazes (F)
4. Iron Tongue (F)
5. Fire and Fog (F)
6. Pillar of Night (F)
The Jade Demons Series:-
1. The Quaking Lands (F)
2. The Frozen Waves (F)
3. The Crystal Clouds (F)
4. The White Fire (F)
The Jade Demons Quartet (Omni.)
The Demon Crown Trilogy:-
1. The Glass Warrrior (F)
2. Phantoms on the Wind (F)
3. A Symphony of Storms (F)
The Demon Crown Trilogy (Omni.)
Peter Thorne, Psychic Investigator Series:-
1. The Screaming Knife
2. A Resonance of Blood
3. Death Channels
The Accursed (Coll.)
Ancient Heavens (SF)
Deathfall (SF)
The Keys to Paradise
Road to the Stars (SF)
Ruins of Power (SF)
The Sandcats of Rhyl (SF)
Vor: The Maelstrom 5. Hell Heart (SF)
Magic 10. Dark Legacy (F)
The Klingon Gambit (SF)(OST)
Mutiny on the Enterprise (SF)(OST)
SEE ALSO UNDER VICTOR APPLETON
SEE ALSO UNDER NICK CARTER
SEE ALSO UNDER F J HALE
SEE ALSO UNDER EDWARD S HUDSON
SEE ALSO UNDER DANIEL MORAN

And as you can see, he has written a lot of series and the like with other pseudonyms. I was wondering in this day and age why the pseudonym is still with us. It's not like we can't find out who you are with the internet now. So, why keep on doing it?

 

[Erfael]

About a year ago, I bought this silly sounding fantasy book titled The Ogre Wars by one, F J Hale. The blurb on the last page said that Hale is a well known scifi writer, so I looked him up and yes, he is. He's:Robert E(dward) Vardeman United States (1947 - )
Weapons of Chaos Trilogy:-
1. Echoes of Chaos (SF)
2. Equations of Chaos (SF)
3. Colors of Chaos (SF)
The Weapons of Chaos (Omni.)
The Masters of Space Trilogy:-
1. The Stellar Death Plan (SF)
2. The Alien Web (SF)
3. A Plague in Paradise (SF)
Masters of Space (Omni.)
The Biowarriors Trilogy:-
1. The Infinity Plague (SF)
2. Crisis at Starlight (SF)
3. Space Vectors (SF)
The Accursed Trilogy:-
1. Lord of Death and Life (F)
2. Legion of the Air (F)
3. The Flame Spector (F)
The Accursed (Omni.)
The Cenotaph Road Series:-
1. Cenotaph Road (F)
2. The Sorcerer's Skull (F)
3. World of Mazes (F)
4. Iron Tongue (F)
5. Fire and Fog (F)
6. Pillar of Night (F)
The Jade Demons Series:-
1. The Quaking Lands (F)
2. The Frozen Waves (F)
3. The Crystal Clouds (F)
4. The White Fire (F)
The Jade Demons Quartet (Omni.)
The Demon Crown Trilogy:-
1. The Glass Warrrior (F)
2. Phantoms on the Wind (F)
3. A Symphony of Storms (F)
The Demon Crown Trilogy (Omni.)
Peter Thorne, Psychic Investigator Series:-
1. The Screaming Knife
2. A Resonance of Blood
3. Death Channels
The Accursed (Coll.)
Ancient Heavens (SF)
Deathfall (SF)
The Keys to Paradise
Road to the Stars (SF)
Ruins of Power (SF)
The Sandcats of Rhyl (SF)
Vor: The Maelstrom 5. Hell Heart (SF)
Magic 10. Dark Legacy (F)
The Klingon Gambit (SF)(OST)
Mutiny on the Enterprise (SF)(OST)
SEE ALSO UNDER VICTOR APPLETON
SEE ALSO UNDER NICK CARTER
SEE ALSO UNDER F J HALE
SEE ALSO UNDER EDWARD S HUDSON
SEE ALSO UNDER DANIEL MORAN

And as you can see, he has written a lot of series and the like with other pseudonyms. I was wondering in this day and age why the pseudonym is still with us. It's not like we can't find out who you are with the internet now. So, why keep on doing it?

Sometimes it's because when everyman walks into the store and sees Author A on there and decides he doesn't like Author A for some reason or another, he won't buy the book. But if it's Author B listed, maybe he will as he's never heard of the other author. Not everyone pays attention to what is and isn't a pseudonym.

 

[FicusFan]

Also it is a way for one author to have various books/series going at once with different publishers. Given how little money they make it allows a more prolific author a better chance to support him or herself on just writing.

It is also a way to move from one genre to another and start over, with no baggage, and no preconceived notions.

 

[juzzza]

It's also a good defensive measure if a book or series is not well accepted. If a name is sullied by a poorly received book but the publishers believe the writer has talent, that isn't the end of the writer's career.

It is also a good strategy for attempting to write in a different genre... How many parents would buy a children's book written by Clive Barker, or an epic fantasy series written by Jackie Collins? Writers write and yet it is easy to get stuck within one genre (by the readers that is).

 

[KatG]

It's also a good defensive measure if a book or series is not well accepted. If a name is sullied by a poorly received book but the publishers believe the writer has talent, that isn't the end of the writer's career.

It is also a good strategy for attempting to write in a different genre... How many parents would buy a children's book written by Clive Barker, or an epic fantasy series written by Jackie Collins? Writers write and yet it is easy to get stuck within one genre (by the readers that is).

Actually, I believe that Clive Barker wrote a children's book under his own name, though I could be mixing him up with another prolific horror writer. And if Jackie Collins wanted to write an epic fantasy novel, she'd probably do well with it. But it does work well for dividing an author's output and developing different fan bases. There are three other reasons I can think of for doing it:

1) that you think that name will be more catchy and easier to remember for a particular market

2) that you want to write in a very different style and set-up and since you'll probably be attracting a different sort of fan with it, you use a different name. The most famous example of this is maybe Stephen King who set up the Richard Bachman alias, to the point of having a friend pose for author photos and tour for him, until the ruse was eventually exposed. Harder to do today, but even if it's known that you are both authors, using two different names for very different styles can help position you in the market.

3) because you are writing in a field where your gender may be important -- men writing romances, women writing westerns, and yes, still today, science fiction sometimes. Some writers just don't want to be bothered with gender problems and chose an ambiguous pseudonym. Of course, the need to tour and such probably makes it not worth the trouble.

There were also a lot of series that were written by hired authors all writing under set names. I don't know that this is done that much anymore (the romance writers went to court over it,) but I do know that V.C. Andrews continues to publish novels long after her death.

 

[rune]

I personally find the whole thing confusing. If I like an author I tend to like their work regardless of what name they write under.

The same goes for if I dont like an author's style changing the name won't make a difference to me, but I can feel cheated when I find out

 

[Drakonslair]

No I think that they are generally right. A lot of authors get associated with one genre and when they try to break from that it can be difficult. Personally I would take Stephen King as an example. I cant stand the horror he writes but the Dark Tower is a excellant series. The only reason I picked it up was because of the reviews I'd seen. The King name stopped me buying it until I learned how good it was. If it was published under a different author I would have gotten it sooner.

 

[trentdick2882]

Clive Barker has written two children's novels, The Thief of Always and Abarat. I bought them...