[Perry] Pseudonyms

So here’s a little story.

Quite a while ago, I twigged onto a fantasy series thanks to our dear authoress. The Eli Monpress series, by Rachel Aaron.

I thought the series was fantastic. Definitely not perfect, by any stretch of the imagination, but the series as a whole was just so much damned fun that I didn’t care.

A while after that, I’d stumbled onto the first in a sci-fi trilogy that was a lot of fun and I began reading.

While I was reading that book? Tami mentioned that the author of the Eli Monpress series had branched out a little to try her hand at science fiction, and that she thought I would enjoy it greatly.

I told her that I was more than willing to give it a try, as soon as I finished this sci-fi book that I’d run into that was a hell of a lot of fun.

…Yes, we were both referring to the exact same book.

But hopefully, my confusion is understandable.

The book, Fortune’s Pawn had been published under the name of Rachel Bach. Whereas the Eli Monpress set had been published under Rachel Aaron.

So let’s talk about pseudonyms.

The Benefits of an Alter Ego

You mean other than feeling like some sorta superhero?

I imagine there are a fair number of reasons why an author might adopt a fake name when publishing their works.

In the case of Rachel Aaron/Bach, it’s pretty clear that it was a move designed to distance herself from her previous genre. Perhaps she’ll use the Rachel Aaron name to publish straight fantasy while she’ll use the Rachel Bach name to publish science fiction.

It’s a good way to keep your works separate. It’s in much the same way a teeny bopper musician may publish an album under a different name if they want to release a more, heavy rock oriented album.

There’s a bit of a risk of alienating your fans who are USED to your work looking and sounding a certain way and then suddenly…it’s something else?

I can see how it can be a bit jarring.

Do you remember Bob Sagat? Usually known for his role on the show Full House and as the host of America’s Funniest Home Videos for…like, forever?

His name used to be almost synonymous with wholesome family entertainment.

Then, in 2005, he starred in a documentary called The Aristocrats and completely blasted that image into the heart of the sun.

To PREVENT that type of shock is why an author might adopt a pseudonym.

But that’s hardly the only reason.

Another good example of an author writing under a pseudonym? Stephen King.

King wrote a series of short novels (later referred to as the “Bachman books”) under the name of Richard Bachman.

He was trying to figure out whether his success as a writer was more due to talent or luck. He figured that by releasing works that were NOT under his name, he’d see if it was his name or his stories that was actually selling books.

Unfortunately, his alter ego was outed before he felt his ‘experiment’ reached fruition…but it was an interesting question to ask and I like to think that the stories he could have told as Richard Bachman would have been enough to nudge him once again into the limelight.

The Downsides

That’s not to say it’s all roses and rainbows, though.

When it comes to using a pseudonym, one of the big problems arises from the fact that only die hard fans will follow along.

What do I mean by that?

Let’s take Rachel Aaron as an example again.

I really enjoyed her Eli Monpress books.

I enjoyed it enough that I marked down her name. If any further books were to drift through my orbit with her name attached, I would have jumped on it and given it a chance without a second thought, based on the strong impression her first works had given me.

But?

I wasn’t QUITE into her work enough so that I tracked down an author page, read her blog, and followed along with the tiny details of everything she would be releasing (the way I do for someone like Patrick Rothfuss >.>).

As a result? I had absolutely no idea she’d written anything other than the Eli Monpress books…until I stumbled upon it completely randomly.

And I STILL wouldn’t have attributed my positive impression of her Paradox books to her…until Tami mentioned it.

See, there’s the rub.

You can split your authorial persona…but you run the risk that people might not know enough to follow along with you as you write from one book to the next.

And that’s not a problem if they didn’t really enjoy your work…but what if they did?

I usually use a site like Goodreads or Amazon to track down more works by a specific author…and none of the Paradox books are listed under Rachel Aaron. None of the Eli Monpress books are listed under Rachel Bach.

Do you see the problem?

I’m having trouble understanding why an author would want to split up their fans based on genre.

And another thing?

Let’s say you have a reader who ONLY reads fantasy and has never touched sci-fi.

Fair enough, right?

But let’s say this reader was completely WOWED by Rachel Aaron’s fantasy series. Let’s say they were wowed enough that they would have been willing to dip their toes into the deep waters of science fiction if they knew an author they trusted would be playing the part of their guide.

If you use a pseudonym for each genre you write?

Well, that’s just too damned bad, ain’t it?

This problem is compounded if you write more than one or two genres.

Rachel Aaron is apparently coming out with another book later this year, this time, an urban fantasy novel.

…What? Is she going to create ANOTHER pseudonym for her urban fantasy works?

This all sounds like I’m picking on her, but it’s nothing personal. It’s just that this is the most recent example of this that I’ve run across and it frustrates me.

Aaaaaand The End

What do you guys think? Readers and writers alike. Do you have any thoughts on the whole pseudonym business? Any preferences or outright condemnations?

 

Related posts:

2013 Reading List (as of March 2014)
[Perry] Authors Don’t Owe Us Anything