10 Best-Selling Authors Amongst Pen Names

Still buzzing inwards the intelligence is the leaked tweet revealing that J.K. Rowling had used the pen name Robert Galbraith as the author of her novel offense novel, The Cuckoo's Calling. News reporters in addition to earth at large reacted amongst both stupor in addition to intrigue at her using a fictitious name. The large interrogation is, Why? This has stirred upward discussions inwards the literary ground on the plain of study of pen names.

What is a Pen Name?

At its heart, a pen mention is precisely a fictitious mention used past times authors to sell their novels in addition to literary works. Some, but non all, pen names are closely related to the author's actual name.

Why Use a Pen Name?

Reason 1: Authors mightiness create upward one's hear to purpose a pen mention if they write inwards a different genre. This helps conk along their readership in addition to fan-base separate. Avid readers of military machine sci-fi mightiness experience mislead or duped after buying their favorite author's novel mass exclusively to meet that it's a steamy romance novel.

Reason 2: An author may wishing to save his or her anonymity when writing a mass that's really dissimilar all the other books he or she has written before. An author who is writing erotic romance novels for women may desire to purpose a split pen mention when writing erotic romance novels squarely aimed at middle-age men.

Reason 3: An author may select a pen mention due to pressure. J.K. Rowling decided to purpose the pen mention Robert Galbraith for a few reasons:

• she did non desire to experience the pressure level of writing a novel amongst the entire ground waiting inwards breathless anticipation for its release; 
• this novel is a divergence from her Harry Potter mass serial in addition to targets a different readership in addition to age; and,
• she wanted to have critical unbiased feedback in addition to reviews on her writing fashion from earth in addition to pop critics. 

Once her pen mention was leaked to a London paper in addition to revealed publicly, sales of her novel novel soared 507,000 portion on Amazon.

There are many reasons to select a pen name, in addition to many famous authors remove keep done it. Below is a quick listing of 10 pen names that come upward to mind, along amongst the author's existent name, in addition to why he or she used a fictitious name.

Real name: Joanne Rowling

Pen name(s): J.K. Rowling, Robert Galbraith

Many people don't realize that J.K. Rowling is itself a pen name. When Rowling was originally writing Harry Potter, her publisher decided that using the initial 'J' instead of her start name Joanne on the comprehend would brand her mention gender-neutral in addition to remove keep a ameliorate adventure of selling the books to immature boys, the potbelly of her readership. The publisher likewise asked her to purpose her middle initial equally well. Rowling didn't remove keep a middle name, in addition to then she borrowed the 'K' from her grandmother's start mention Kathleen.

Real name: Stephen King

Pen name: Richard Bachman 

Known to the residuum of the ground equally the primary of horror novels, Stephen King originally started writing brusk stories nether Richard Bachman. In interviews King revealed that he had used this pen mention inwards the belatedly 1970s because publishers would non convey to a greater extent than than a unmarried mass a yr from an author, in addition to he didn't desire to await similar he was churning out poorly written novels. H5N1 pen mention allowed him to write 2 or to a greater extent than novels inwards a year.

Real name: Eric Arthur Blair 

Pen name: George Orwell

When Blair wrote his memoir Down in addition to Out inwards Paris in addition to London (pub. 1933), he worried that he'd embarrass his solid unit of measurement amongst his in-depth reflection in addition to emotional turmoil of living inwards poverty equally recounted inwards this novel. To avoid strife betwixt him in addition to his solid unit of measurement (and perchance harsh criticism from unopen acquaintances), he used the mention 'Orwell' from the famous English linguistic communication river, 'The Orwell River' in addition to the mention 'George' from 'Saint George,' the patron saint of England. In after years, nevertheless using the pen mention George Orwell, he would write the best-selling classics, Nineteen Eighty-Four (pub. 1949) in addition to Animal Farm (pub. 1945).

Real name: Agatha Christie

Pen name: Mary Westmacott 

Known much to a greater extent than for her mystery offense novels nether her ain mention of Agatha Christie, she used this pen mention to write in addition to issue vi romance novels, a divergence from her bread-and-butter genre, the mystery detective novel. During her prolific writing career, Christie wrote 66 mystery offense novels in addition to established 1 of the largest readerships of this genre.

Real name: Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski

Pen name: Joseph Conrad

Conrad is the Anglicized version of Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski. Korzeniowski used this pen mention equally a agency to shorten his nascency mention because it did non gibe aesthetically on mass covers or their spines, nor could readers pronounce or cry back it. He likewise used the pen mention to attain greater credence from the English linguistic communication reading world at large in addition to to sell to a greater extent than books. Conrad is best known for his novella, Heart of Darkness (pub. 1899), which inspired painting present producer Francis Ford Coppola to compass the 1979 blockbuster, Apocalypse Now.

Real name: C.S. Lewis 

Pen name: N.W. Clerk

C.S. Lewis (Clive Staples Lewis) was a masterful Christian novelist, story-teller, in addition to theologian, well-known for his fiction industrial plant (The Chronicles of Narnia, pub. 1956) in addition to his non-fiction industrial plant (Mere Christianity, pub. 1952). He used the pen mention for his non-fiction book, "A Grief Observed" (pub. 1962) inwards which he reveals his most personal emotions in addition to struggles almost the expiry of his wife. He did non desire his regular younger-generation fiction readers to associate him equally the author of a personal, memoir-style adult non-fiction book.

Real name: Stanley Martin Lieber

Pen name: Stan Lee

Perhaps Stan Lee, famous for creating Spider-Man in addition to X-Men, was saving his existent mention for when he hitting it large equally a best-selling mass author. He didn't desire to waste materials it on silly, flimsy comic books. Stan Lee, a cheaper to a greater extent than generic version of his name, was used instead. Of course, the contrary happened: he has conk the most successful in addition to highest paid comic strip author of all time. After a string of comic mass successes in addition to a growing readership, he legally changed his mention to Stan Lee inwards 1941.

Real name: Nora Roberts

Pen name: J.D. Robb

Nora Roberts was a pop author earlier she e'er used the pen mention J.D. Robb. As the author of over 200 romance novels, her publisher was nervous almost her making a transition to detective novels, in addition to then she wrote them nether a to a greater extent than male-sounding name. Roberts has likewise used other pen names: Jill March for brusk stories and Sarah Hardesty for novels published inwards the United Kingdom.

Real name: Louisa May Alcott 

Pen name: A.M. Barnard

Famous equally the best-selling author of the novel Little Women (pub. 1868), Alcott used a pen mention when she start began writing brusk novels called "potboilers," to conk along her financially stable in addition to then she could write the variety of fiction she actually enjoyed.

Real name: Isaac Asimov

Pen name: Paul French

Known globally for writing compelling scientific discipline fiction industrial plant in addition to respected past times academic scholars equally an intelligent author of non-fiction scientific discipline books, Isaac Asimov was asked to write a fiction novel that was meant to serve equally a footing for a novel tv series. Fearing that the TV producers would mangle his move horribly, Asimov used a pen name. The tv bargain eventually barbarous through, but Asimov decided to purpose the pen mention to write 5 scientific discipline fiction novels for immature adult readers.

I welcome you lot comments, suggestions, or corrections. Please purpose the Comments shape below.

Sincerely,

Brian Scott

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