kateelliott: Renaming

Kate Elliott (

kateelliott) wrote,
@ 2006-09-16 08:22:00

Current mood:

contemplative

Renaming
I've done a renaming, mostly because I'm trying to make my life easier. You'll find me now under my penname, Kate Elliott. I can only handle so many layers of naming.

Writing under a penname has, of course, been around for a very long time. I don't have enough knowledge to trace the history of the practice. In modern times writers might use multiple names to write in different genres, using one name for mystery and one for science fiction and so on.

This practice has become more pronounced as genres and names have become more "branded" - that is, as the name on the shelf is considered "like" a brand-name of any other product. (I'm not praising or criticizing this way of looking at things; I'm just reporting what I understand of the situation.) Jo Gun only writes mysteries, while Joanna Gunnel writes nautical fantasy and Johannah Gunther historical romance.

I know that for my own part back when I sold the novel Jaran to DAW Books back in 1991, they asked me to pick a "new name". My four books written as Alis A Rasmussen hadn't sold well. It was, you know, "easier to launch a new author than to rehabilitate an old one."

The practice was relatively new in the sff field at that time (changing your name to escape your numbers) because of the major shifts going on at that time in distribution and bookstores within the field. For a couple of years I had to keep radio silence and, when attending conventions, be "Kate" and never Alis.

Many more authors have since gone through the change, and it seems to me that it's understood in the field that this is a response to the ordering practices of the chains (although having said that, I would certainly hope that knowledgable people would feel free to step in and explain anything they wished to or felt needed explaining, or to correct any of my misapprehensions). I know of at least one case in which an author who many many many years ago was heard to say that "I would never take on a penname for this reason" is now, you know, writing under a penname. Maybe more than one. Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do, that's my motto.

Meanwhile, meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

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	lnhammer 2006-09-16 08:04 pm UTC (link)
	"Hi, Kate!" ---L. (Reply to this)

seattlesparks
2006-09-16 08:30 pm UTC (link)

Hi, Kate!

As for pen names, the topic just recently came up at a reading/signing of Megan Lindholm/Robin Hobb. She'd mentioned that one reason she chose the pen name 'Robin Hobb' was not only to make a break from the Megan Lindholm books, but also because 'Robin' is an androgynous name and thus it would be easier for her readers to suspend their disbelief over the narrator/protagonist viewpoint character being male.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	kateelliott 2006-09-17 05:20 pm UTC (link)
	Hi! I think choosing an androgynous name was a good idea. There's an entire question of male/female readership of male/female authors (that is, is there a certain percentage of male or female readers who are more likely to pick up a book by a male or female writer). (Reply to this)(Parent)

interesting point

aurillia
2006-09-17 10:22 pm UTC (link)

That's really interesting, I remember when I first picked up a Robin Hobb book and started reading them, I thought the author was male, and then I thought maybe it's not because it didn't feel like a man's writing - then I realised I'd fallen into the trap and was happy to focus and enjoy the books for their own sake. Some people prefer to read fantasy books written by men, because they think female writers focus on 'feelings' too much (guys, usually, have said this to me), but I think when you don't know what gender the writer is, the whole process of reading and focusing on the skilfull writing and diverse characters and exciting plot, etc., becomes so much less cluttered, and more enigmatic. Am I making sense? Besides, I like the mystery of discovering the secrets about an author!

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: interesting point kateelliott 2006-09-19 11:59 pm UTC (link)
	I think this is an interesting point and an important one (partly in light of the recent biography of Alice Sheldon/James Tiptree Jr that was published recently). I make all kinds of unexamined assumptions based on the gender of the writer before I even open the book, or at least I assume I do - it's difficult to untangle what is there and what isn't. (Reply to this)(Parent)

malinaldarose
2006-09-16 09:07 pm UTC (link)

I didn't know Alis had written four books...I've only ever seen one (The Labyrinth Gate).

My aunt, who is both a writer and web designer, maintains the website for a fairly well-known romance author with more than 50 books to her name. The last time I saw Auntie, she was telling me that this author has recently had to take up a pen name because the "numbers" are no longer satisfactory under her own name.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	kateelliott 2006-09-17 05:18 pm UTC (link)
	The Highroad Trilogy (3 books, natch) is the other Alis publication. The story your aunt tells doesn't surprise me, unfortunately. Part of the problem I think is that we are all at risk of finding ourselves writing what was popular last year rather than what is selling this year, and falling behind the taste curve, such as it is. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	morgie 2006-10-31 04:54 pm UTC (link)
	Heh. As someone who was just checking to see if Ms Alis had written anything else, found the Labrynth Gate under both names, and realized both are the same.. now I have to find the rest of your books and see if any catch my interest! Cause I happened to have liked the Highroad trilogy. ;) (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	kateelliott 2006-10-31 05:15 pm UTC (link)
	I hope you find something you like! The ones to start with would be, in no particular order, JARAN KING'S DRAGON or SPIRIT GATE or THE GOLDEN KEY, which is a collaboration with Melanie Rawn and Jennifer Roberson (and me) (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	morgie 2006-10-31 06:58 pm UTC (link)
	Cool! Thanks! Now... to raid the local library, or to wait until the next paycheck. Muhahaha. (Reply to this)(Parent)

difrancis
2006-09-16 10:40 pm UTC (link)

It's amazing that it fools anybody. But at least it's nice the option is out there for those whose numbers aren't quite what people want. What I wonder, is given how much the publishing industry is changing, and how poorly say mass market fantasy sales have been of late, how reliable are the number that they use now for determining success? Sell through? strictly order numbers?

Di

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	kateelliott 2006-09-17 05:16 pm UTC (link)
	I think 15 years ago the practice did fool people. It's become common enough now that a lot of people in and around the industry know of it, and keep their eyes open (or ask if a new "name" comes on the scene that seems like it might be someone switching identities). As for the other, how reliable are the nubmers they now use to determine success? I don't know. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	rachelmanija 2006-09-17 01:36 am UTC (link)
	It's very frustrating (for me and I assume the author as well) that some authors whom I like are now writing under pen names, only I have no idea what those pen names are so I can't know that I should buy their books. For instance, I only recently learned that Teresa Edgerton is now writing as Madeleine Howard. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	lnhammer 2006-09-17 03:27 am UTC (link)
	Wait, Madeleine is Teresa?? I never realized. ---L. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	msagara 2006-10-21 02:17 am UTC (link)
	She is -- I think I always knew, and I made the mistake of saying so in the store, and it got back to her, and I'm not sure she wasn't petrified, which I didn't intend =/. I've always really enjoyed her work, and the Howard really is her work. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	kateelliott 2006-09-17 05:14 pm UTC (link)
	That is certainly a problem inherent in the name changing business. The old days of publishing are, as they say, history. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	al_zorra 2006-09-17 02:40 am UTC (link)
	Surprised? Recall, computing is not people. Happy name day, KE! Love, C. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	kateelliott 2006-09-17 05:13 pm UTC (link)
	not much surprises me any more (Reply to this)(Parent)

	sfmarty 2006-09-17 03:37 pm UTC (link)
	It was only recently that I discovered who Al Zorra is. Waving at C. Nice that the name chang still remained on my friends list. Waving at A. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	kateelliott 2006-09-17 05:12 pm UTC (link)
	there's a way you can do it to just change the name without starting a new journal (Reply to this)(Parent)

	al_zorra 2006-09-17 07:57 pm UTC (link)
	Waving back at Marty! I quite enjoy being anonymous. In some strange unexplainable way it's rather like being the omniscient 3rd person narrator, my favorite. :) Love, C. (Reply to this)(Parent)

ravens_shadow
2006-09-20 12:11 am UTC (link)

I sometimes toy with the idea of, should I ever get published, using a penname. I don't think my own name sounds very marketable for fantasy (does that sound silly?).

As a point of curiosity, when you use a penname, do you prefer people call you by that or your real name? I suspect some writers use a penname because they prefer the anonymity, but others are more open about their actual identities. In the latter example, I wonder what would be more appropriate to use when talking to them.

(By the by, I'm Sabrina. We met at the APA lectures a few years back and you let me interview you for the Ka Leo. Hello. I just found your LJ via your website and thought I'd dropped by. I hope you don't mind if I add you to my friends list.)

(Reply to this)(Thread)

kateelliott
2006-09-20 12:16 am UTC (link)

Hi, Sabrina! I do remember you and I hope you are doing well. I don't mind at all if you add me to your friends list. One reason I'm on lj is that it helps me keep up with people because I can't keep up with my email (as you know, since I'm sure I owe you an email from long ago).

In correspondence with people who don't know me, or in person in a formal setting like a book signing, I usually just stick with Kate. But one foot past that and I prefer people call me Alis, although I don't actually care.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Speaking of email edanam 2006-09-22 10:34 pm UTC (link)
	Alis -- I've managed to lose your email -- can you send me a note at danimac@dm.net? I want to coordinate about Portland.... Dani (Reply to this)(Parent)

msagara
2006-10-21 02:21 am UTC (link)

The question to me is how do you go "hear" your pen-name?

I stuck with Michelle partly because I can barely hear that when people shout it across a room (or, sadly, in my ear if I'm on a tear), and I was deathly afraid that I would look like all sorts of snob if I went someplace public and failed -- time and again -- to realize the person who's name someone was calling was actually supposed to be me...

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	kateelliott 2006-10-22 07:38 pm UTC (link)
	in an event venue where I am "being" Kate, I can probably "hear" myself if I'm called by that name. In a non event venue, I would probably not respond due to not recognizing that it might be me being called. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	allaboutm_e 2006-10-03 10:53 pm UTC (link)
	Note to self -- make sure Alis's Highroad books are at Mysterious Galaxy before Alis is... :) :: waves :: (Reply to this)(Thread)

	kateelliott 2006-10-22 07:39 pm UTC (link)
	Melanie got to say hi to you guys, but I was way at the other side of the room. See you on Wednesday! (Reply to this)(Parent)

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