Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Mini-Muse Monday – What’s in a Name? Trust?
I read an article recently that alleged authors with pen names are less trusted by their readers.
As an author who uses a pseudonym, I confess, I was startled, and re-read the passage to make sure I hadn’t misunderstood. A fancy pie graph was included too, for doubters like me who couldn’t quite believe that information to be true.
After all, a visual is irrefutable confirmation.
In my defense, Collette is my middle name and Cameron is my maternal grandparents’ surname. I chose a pen name because my real name is unexciting (really) and because I was still teaching full-time, and I didn’t want the hassle of parents’ getting their knickers in a twist if they learned I wrote romances.
The cat’s out of the bag on that one. You don’t live in a little town and keep that kind of a secret.
My real first name is Wendy, by-the-way. I always think of Peter Pan. Always. A boy in tights, flitting around, just doesn’t inspire my historical romance writing.
Naturally, being the inquisitive person I am, I took the question of trust to my street team, Collette’s Cheris, for their professional, unbiased opinion. *Wink*
Guess what?
Some readers did like it when they knew an author’s real name, but they didn’t trust authors who use pseudonyms any less. However, readers didn’t like having to search out more than one name for an author, and if an author does use multiple names, readers want them linked. As more than one reader said, if they liked one genre of an author’s, chances are they’d like the author’s other genres too.
Most didn’t give a rat’s patootie what name an author used.
What do you think? Do you prefer a real name to a pen name? Is your trust in the author affected if they’ve chosen to use a pen name? Why?
I think it doesn’t matter. I write under two names but I do that for a particular reason. I write under my name (which is my name, I figured as my surname is already Scottish and it’s a running theme then it would be fine) as a rule but I also have a few written under a pseudonyms which are MASSIVELY different (It’s a mix of my name but I don’t link them together as the writing styles and genre’s are so different.) I’ve never had any issues because of it.
I only distrust authors if they use stupid pen names. If an author uses an overly dramatic name like “Summer Raine Rhodes,” I figure their stories aren’t going to be any better than their names. I’m using a pen name myself, mainly because my first name was stolen by an adult diaper company and I don’t think “Tena” would sell well now. A friend of mine uses a pen name because she’s a teacher, and she chose a last name beginning with “B” because she figures being close to the start of the alphabet gave her book a better chance of being chosen by readers.
And in some genres, I think a pen name (or at least first initials) are necessary if you’re female. Male children often won’t read books by female authors, but female children don’t have a problem with male authors, hence J.K. Rowling. Many male science fiction fans skip books by women, too. And I must admit, I probably wouldn’t buy a romance novel if I saw a name like “John Baker” on the cover.
As far as different names for different genres, it’s a mixed bag. I love both J.D. Robb and Nora Roberts, but there are authors whose work in other genres hasn’t really appealed to me. It doesn’t make me distrust them, because I understand why they want to separate their work. To me, it makes about as much sense as distrusting an actor or musician because you’ve learned s/he uses a stage name. Would you stop watching Audrey Hepburn movies because you learned her real name was Edda Kathleen van Heemstra Hepburn-Ruston? I think not.
As one who both liked this post and answered your unofficial survey on Facebook, I am smiling…because those two different actions were done under two different names. I blog under one name and have in my actual life another name. I use a pseudonym first and foremost because my favorite writers have. Even Shakespeare pondered this: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.” For some, apparently the odor is not so sweet when called by another name.
I love that quote by Shakespeare. I have a picture of a monument with that quote on it.
I’ve toyed with the idea of using a different pen name for other genres but have decided against it.
I know several people by both their real names and pen names and it doesn’t bother me in the least.
I put this under none of my business. It doesn’t really matter to me why or if someone uses a different name. But I would say if you use another name for a different genre that it would be good to link the names because I read many different genres and I’m sure I’m not the only one 🙂
So a recognizable connection between genres. I think some authors deliberately choose a vastly different pen name if their genres are also vastly different. I know authors who write inspirational and erotica. Gads!
I like to know who is behind pen names. On the listserves, it is confusing when one person has 3 names. I understand about using different names for different types of books.
I now know Krentz/Quick/Castle is the same person and it doesn’t make me distrust her. I just want to know the type of work associated with each name. I particularly want to know if different genres are written under different names.
Eloise James used that name for her romances because she was looking for tenure as a university professor. Now she is often called on to comment about the respectability of romance novels.
I didn’t know that about, Eloise James!
I am so relieved to hear that I’m not going to have to commit Hari-Kari or Seppuku based on the fact that I write with a pseudonym. I love my nom de plume, it’s sexy which is how I write, and it welcomes my readers to be friends with me.
I agree! I’ve had several readers comment they don’t like goofy pen names, but I honestly have never seen one.
I have a pseudonym because no one can pronounce or spell “Laatsch” and my first name is “Phyllis” which, while I like it, makes me sound like I’m over 80. (Also, no one under the age of thirty can spell it, apparently. And many over that age are shaky on it.) But there’s no even slight attempt at hiding the link to Philippa Lodge (and even I am never quite sure if I’m spelling it Philippa or Phillipa, so I’m not sure it helped.) But then, I have a lot more friends and family than I do readers. Ah, debut authors…
That’s a very good reason for a pseudonym! You want readers to spell your name right when they are searching for you.
I absolutely understand the many reasons an author would want/need to use a pseudonym — including that their publisher thinks a different name will sell books better. So I obviously don’t ‘lose trust’ in an author based on their name. I DO want to know if they write under more than one name so that I can find other books by them.