I have been debating the gender issues in the perception of books for a while now, and I have finally made a decision.
Joanna Penn is now J.F.Penn for thrillers/action-adventure/ anything I write that is in a genre that is dominated by men.
I will use Joanna Penn for my non-fiction and other works I have in the pipeline. Why am I doing this?
Feedback and reviews that I write like a man
Pentecost and Prophecy have some pretty violent scenes. I burn a nun to death on the funeral pyres of Varanasi and disembowel a psychiatric patient in the first few chapters.
It’s not horror but it is thriller with a high body count and I make no apologies for that.
I like action movies. I like Lee Child’s Jack Reacher. I love James Bond. In fact, one day, I’d like to be the first female writer to pen a Bond novel – move over Jeffrey Deaver! But apparently it’s worthy of comment when a woman writes this type of thing.
Here’s a comment I received by email about Pentecost. ‘It seems funny knowing you – I would definitely have thought the book was written by a man…”
and a lovely review stated:
“…this kind of sprawling, globe trotting, religious themed, action adventure thriller is historically the province of men; retired marines, mercenaries or CIA analysts. Or Dan Brown. It’s what you expect. And Joanna is, self evidently to my well trained eye, a woman. So then my not entirely foolish expectation when perusing her first novel was of something a little more, you know, delicate in character….But wow, beneath her pleasant and chirpy demeanour lurks the black heart of a terrorist interrogator, a fearless adventurer.” [Thanks for the great review Phil!]
Thriller novelists need to know how to shoot!
I don’t mind being compared to a man. It doesn’t offend me. In fact, I find it kind of liberating.
But I don’t want any consideration of my gender to come up when someone reads my books. I want them to have a great fun read and escape the world for a time.
So if changing my name to initials stops any second thoughts, then it’s worth it.
Pentecost at #5 on Action Adventure list
Evidence that the categories I want to rank in are dominated by male names
As I write this, both Pentecost and Prophecy are in the Top 100 Action Adventure titles for the first time. (#5 and #82 respectively but you know it changes every hour!)
I’m excited as this is a category I like to rank in. I also rank consistently in Religious Fiction which is a more varied category.
Action Adventure is certainly male dominated. Stieg Larsson, George R.R. Martin, John Locke, Steve Berry, Clive Cussler, Lee Goldberg, Tom Anthony, J.A. Konrath… these are the names from the Top 20 as I read them right now. There are a few scattered female names but it’s an overwhelmingly male group.
I don’t know whether there are more male readers in this category. I certainly buy these authors but I don’t think women readers are that hung up on the gender of the author. But apparently men are and they are less likely to buy from a female name. Feel free to say otherwise, male blog readers!
Men also get more attention and reviews. But I won’t be changing my gender, for now at least!
Evidence of other female writers who use initials or male names
A number of women writers of successful women writers use initials. The reader doesn’t know who they are until they look behind the curtain which, I think, is how it should be.
- NYT bestselling thriller author C.J. Lyons
- Baroness P.D. James, whose honours come from services to literature and who is still putting books out aged 92. ‘Children of Men’ seriously rocked.
- J.K. Rowling. A woman in a man’s fantasy world.
- Romance author Nora Roberts turned into J.D.Robb for her suspense/crime novels, a more male dominated genre
- Others include M.J.Rose, J.T.Ellison…I could go on…
Using a male name is an option. A now-famous example in the blogging world is James Chartrand who came out as a woman on Copyblogger.com after years of writing as a man. Her business is ‘Men With Pens‘ and writing as a man totally changed her business. I’ll be interviewing James on the podcast and we’ll discuss this further.
Does it matter?
The author doesn’t matter. The reader matters.
The author’s gender shouldn’t impact the way the story is read so it’s best to make it a non-issue. Initials are neutral. They have no gender bias and I like that approach.
I know there will be some people who disagree. But I do consider myself a feminist in the truly inclusive sense of the word. Men and women are different but equal and we should all have the same opportunities. I want to be a bestselling, name brand author. This will clearly take some time but I don’t want my gender to be an issue either way as I write the books I want to write.
What do you think about gender in publishing? Are initials acceptable for women to write under? Are male buyers influenced by a female author name?
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first of all, i do like J.F Penn. It’s really strong and stands out
I do find it quite sad though that this happens. It shouldn’t make a difference whatsoever whether the author is a man or woman, young or old. It does seem to happen though and hopefully it helps you sell more
Matt (Turndog Millionaire)
I never liked my middle name but the ‘F’ is pretty strong – it could stand for anything
But it actually stands for Frances. There you go, that’s a little secret about me 
Is this part of the “Men with Pens” back story? Now, you _could_ go with “Frank Penn” as it’s very straight forward. but turning this around .. how many women would read a Romance book written by a man?
Rather than change your name .. how about updating the sub-title? Make it longer and more descriptive, based on a two second scan of your Amazon page: “Paranormal Thriller of Hostages and Murder solving an old-world Mystery” (then use “arkane series #2″ under the title or as a “star sticker” in the corner).
I really don’t care about the gender of the writers. There are many examples where female writers used their full name and became famous. I only care about the content whether it’s worth to read. I haven’t read any of your book till now, but I would certainly love to read the one where you burn the nun in Varanasi. Best wishes for your forthcoming thrillers.
That’s in Pentecost Avik – I love Varanasi, it’s one of my most favorite places
I have mixed feelings about switching to initials. I mean it’s difficult enough to get noticed, it would be awesome to see more and more women in the men-dominated genres. I don’t think initials are gender neutral, for that matter. We are conditioned to think that (since it’s a men-dominated genre) JF Penn is a guy. Especially, since people pointed out to you that you write like a man.
I suppose I’m one of those people who disagree with you on this subject. You write: I want to be a bestselling, name brand author. This will clearly take some time but I don’t want my gender to be an issue either way as I write the books I want to write
Does it mean that you think you wouldn’t be able to achieve that without switching to initials? If the author’s gender is irrelevant, why switch at all?
Hi Jane, I’m glad you disagree – I expected people to have different opinions. But yes, I do believe I will be more successful in the thriller genre writing as initials, so gender doesn’t even come up.
Either way, I will keep my fingers crossed for your success
Thank you Jane and mine are crossed for you too
It tend to agree with you. I recently saw a documentary called “Miss Representation”, it’s about how the media and culture have really damaged the way women see themselves and how challenging it still is to branch out of the traditionally defined roles. I would love to see more women write for the genres that have been dominated by men, and prove that gender doesn’t matter at all. I understand your reasoning Joanna, and I would be tempted to do the same. Perhaps this is one way to accomplish more equality in these genres, I just wish you didn’t feel that you had to this to have people read your books. Part of me wants to encourage you to just say “Screw it, I’m a woman, deal with it!”. But I’m not in your shoes. I wish you boundless success under whatever name you write under.
I think that she means gender is irrelevant to her but to many readers it might not be. I think absolutely she should be able to achieve that without switching to initials, but in the realm of thriller/suspense novels, that is a massively male-dominated genre. Whether it’s conscious or not, I think readers make a judgment based on name just as they do based on covers, so switching to initials could allow her to reach an audience that could slip through her fingers.
Gender bias still exists.
You have done the right thing. Men don’t believe that women can write thrillers despite evidence to the contrary.
Gender should not be an issue, but it is, so writers have to react to that reality. If I were writing for a female audience I might be tempted to use a female name, but my dog, who is diligent with the truth would almost certainly object.
JD (male)
Thanks JD, all evidence seems to point to you being correct about this
I will use Joanna for non-fiction where there is less of a gender bias (I believe anyway)
Wow, this post makes me feel so much better. After months of debating the exact same issue I am currently going through the process of changing my author name for my YA martial arts themed books to my initials rather than my first name.
It will be interesting to see if we find a difference over time.
I’m so glad this helped you. I have been debating it for ages and have just taken the plunge. For martial arts stuff, you could connect to @AlanBaxter who writes awesome fight scenes in his novels as he’s an instructor.
J.K. was told to use initials by an early publisher as she was writing in a male dominated sector; it didn’t do her any harm so good luck to you!
I know you’ve been kicking the idea about for a while but I was a bit surprised that you made the change. You’ve achieved excellent success with your first novel, where all the pundits say you need at least three to get any traction, and to have the second and first in a top 100 list is very impressive. You were obviously doing something right already, so fingers crossed the change will continue that success.
Anyway, I hope the new ‘brand’ works! Let us all know how it goes…
Hi Colin,
I think the early success has come from my marketing and then getting good rankings in Religious Fiction – but Action Adventure is where I want to be as well as the more hard core Thriller category. So I want to break into the bigger numbers in those categories where men dominate. Pentecost is heading towards 17,000 sold but that’s not numbers that the big thriller names are selling – I’ll get there
Thanks for the support.
Wow, interesting choice.
My first thought was – why the hell
But then I looked at my bookshelf and found 99.99% was written by men. I even remember wanting to buy a fantasy book (Called Tintenherz in German, maybe “Ink Heart” in English) and I DIDN’T, because of the female author name. I thought the book would turn out “girly” and cheesy.
I know this is presumptuous, but that’s the first thing that came to my mind and I’m not the only one. World views and perceptions are tenacious, and takes insane momentum to change ‘em.
I think you’re doing it right, Joanna – building that name as a new take on your brand. Once you become famous, the gender issues will vanish into oblivion anyways. I know macho-like guys who started reading J.K. Rowling (knowing that she was a woman), because of her fame. Because once you make it, you’re in a league of your own.
Good look, Joanna…eh…J.F. !
Thanks Mars – I’ll still be Joanna on this blog, but most of my fiction buyers don’t hang out here
You guys know me as a woman anyway but I’m more targeting fiction buyers on Amazon with the change.
hence the change!
I’m glad you checked your bookshelf before commenting. It’s amazing what real data will show you about your ‘unconscious’ preferences. I don’t think I am girly or cheesy
I’ve been pondering this on and off for a while, as the book I’m writing at the moment is in the action adventure genre. But my name is so weird (and, originally, a male name anyway) that I think it might be better to stick with it, just for the stand out from the crowd, oddness factor! I may use initials for non-fiction work.
I think Paris is a man’s name – as in Paris and Helen of Troy – but I guess others would immediately think Paris Hilton
But it’s a good name, definitely standout.
I noticed you went to initials. I thought you did it simply because of the genre you were in and that it is the convention, not because of a gender issue. I also thought you wanted to have 2 different personas: the novelist vs. the teacher/consultant/advisor. That way your novel fans didn’t have to “trip over” your Creative Penn endeavors.
Whether anyone wants to acknowledge it or not, there are perceptions with male vs. female authors and genre. I like Star Trek (science-fiction) and Dorothy Fontana used D.C. Fontana as her pen name for the very same reason that the perception was that women couldn’t write good science-fiction (which has obviously been proven wrong for decades). We all choose the battles we want to fight. If you feel that you want to remove that little obstacle in your journey to be a best-selling author, more power to you.
Pen names have and continue to serve a good purpose in creating another identity/persona but also a marketing/brand niche. So, J.F. Penn and Joanna Penn is great. In the future, if you decide to adopt yet another pen name because you want to pursue another publishing genre, go for it.
You are keeping the eye on the prize as should we all.
Thanks Matthew – I also did it to separate from The Creative Penn in some way – but I will use Joanna Penn for my non-fiction e.g. career change book soon to be rebooted. I am finding an increasing separation between me as an author and this business as an entrepreneur and speaker.
I like keeping Penn as it still ties me together – but you’re right, I have also considered other names for other projects that I may want to keep more private
Well said Matthew.
I’m a woman trying to break into science fiction, so this hits close to home for me.
I agree that it may very well help a writer to change out the female-obvious bits of her name in order to get more casual reads, not distract readers with her female-writing-bits, and so on. But though it might be good for your career, it’s bad for the rest of us women yet to be published in male dominated genres.
Until readerships become used to women writing thrillers, science fiction, and other male-dominated genres–by us not obscuring the fact that we are women–they will find a female-obvious name distracting. It’s about breaking through and normalizing, about being a pioneer and taking the knocks for the next generation. That’s not easy, surely, and you might lose out some sales, reviews, ranking. But every woman in our situation has to choose what matters most to us.
It’s sad that we still have to be pioneers in the twenty-teens, but do we want our daughters and granddaughters to still have to be pioneers in the twenty-thirties, -forties, and onwards because we wanted a few more sales and reviews that ignored our gender?
Hi Abigail,
I think I am a pioneer in many ways. I am standing out as a female indie author in the publishing world. I have physically had arguments defending indie against the nay-sayers. I stand out for empowerment of authors every day on this site and when I speak and within my online presence.
But I’m a fiction writer so people can enjoy my stories. I don’t need it to be a battle-ground for feminism. At the end of my books is a section about the author where I clearly am a woman, so I’m not hiding. I also think success is the best form of ground-breaking. J.K. Rowling is well known as a successful female in a man’s genre. I intend to follow her example.
I wish you all the best in sci-fi – Ursula K. Le Guin would be an example of a woman sticking with her female name – it takes all sorts. I’ve made my decision and part of being a feminist is being free to choose.
I hope you understand. Thanks.
Hi Joanna,
I do understand. I’m a size activist in addition to my other causes, and I’ve made the argument before when it comes to getting by in a weight-biased world as a person of size it might just be best to hunker down and live life and not see every choice as a stance or battle.
I wish you the best. By the way, I think J. F. Penn is a cool name on its own merits, and certainly fits what I know of the genre.
Thanks Abigail – it sounds like you’re a fighter too
All the best with your battles.
You can’t get much more famous than Ursula K. Le Guin in SF – so don’t sweat it.
I’ve read ‘both gender’ authors over the years and found good and bad with the stories.
That’s the key. Get the story right for the market.
When I was twelve and saw Swords & Sorcery book blurbs going more after ‘faeries and unicorns’ I put them back on the shelf but if more standard wizards and sword fighters I’d buy. It was only after I read a couple of books I liked by an author that I’d start seeking out more of their material.
One of which back then was Barbara Hambly (darwath trilogy & ‘those who hunt the night’).
Whom I had started reading after seeing the covers released on the 1980s paperback editions (one had a wizard in a modern kitchen holding a can of beer – I thought it was funny, I read the blurb, the first page, and … hey! all the tricks we self-publishers are trying now). The author’s name wasn’t an issue leading into that. The Publisher’s name was even less important. It was about the story and the characters.
Hi Joanna,
Thanks so much for the name check.
I very much approve of your decision. It’s expectation, not discrimination, that leads human beings to expect certain jobs to to be done by certain people. Think builder you can’t help think of a man, think nurse you can’t help but think of a women, it’s decades of programming at work. It’s an honest mistake but it gets in the way. Sometimes it’s sexism, but mostly it’s just expectation, what you’re used to.
I abhor sexism, or any ism, but in my view when one is writing books one isn’t in the “training people to be less sexist in their expectations” business. One is in the “politely inviting as many people as possible to purchase and enjoy your books” business. Any ways you can clear the road between customers and your wares are good, in my view, short of deception.
Your solution is excellent in that it isn’t gender change but gender neutrality. I imagine men who write romance books may come to a similar conclusion.
Just my 2p
Phil
Thanks Phil, I appreciated your honest review and now, your opinion. We’ll see how it goes with the next books
Hi Jo,
You already know my opinion-it’s a wise decision. It’s a shame that the prejudice exists, but it’s there, so you’re making a wise decision. (I’ll add C.M. Palov to the list of talented female action-adventure authors writing under initials.) You could certainly choose to be a crusader for female first names in action-adventure but, as they say, martyrdom is its own reward. I suspect you could have a greater impact on that issue somewhere down the road when you have a large catalog and even more readers. I also like the branding angle. Sometimes a successful podcaster will struggle as a writer because people think of her/him as a “podcaster who has written a couple of books” rather than a serious author. Good luck! (Off to change the name on the blurb you gave me…)
Thanks for your support David. You know where I’m coming from with this as we love the same types of books. Thanks for changing my name on your blurb
I completely agree with you on this Joanna. I love the urban fantasy series by Rob Thurman, which shows a wonderful relationship between two brothers dealing with some pretty nasty paranormal creatures. Rob is a woman. How many people would have looked at the book and thought, “What could she know about gritty urban fantasy, much less the relationship between brothers?” But she does a fabulous job. I was a few books into the series before I found out that Rob was a woman when I heard her giving an interview.
I know the reverse is definitely true for men writing in the romance genre. I have spoken to many romance readers who have confessed that, with all other factors being equal, they would buy a romance written by a woman before one written by a man.
Thanks S.A – I like having all these comments by initial authors
I shall have to start doing that soon. I wonder how many “male” writers are actually women… we know who the big brand names are but most authors are ‘silent’ in many ways. Who knows what the demographics really are 
Hi Joanna! Thanks so much for this awesome post! I’ve always loved writing and have always wanted to be a novelist. Early on I made the decision to write under my pen name “Colby R Rice”, because MY genre, science fiction and fantasy, is a total dude fest! Lol! Not that I have a problem with that, but realizing that my field is extremely male-dominated, AND that it has very little representation of people of color as well, I took on a name that I liked, but that also wouldn’t necessarily deter potential readers from picking up my book. Not trying to push the “chick card” or the “race card” (and I even loathe when people throw those hackneyed terms around to deter political talk), but I do have to realize the reality of my endeavors. Writing is a beautiful vocation, but publishing and selling is a business (a beautiful one as well, but a business nonetheless!). I don’t feel as though my pen name takes anything away from my work; I own it and love it, and it’s aalll mine! On the other hand, my pseudonym was also very much a business decision.
No shame in my game. Thank you so much for bringing this topic to the forefront!
ooh, I like Colby as a name – and yes, this is a business and I need to pay the bills. This was a business decision based on the data available. It clearly brings up a lot of issues for discussion too.
We have such gender stereotypes and if you can’t change them then you’re just going to have to adapt to them. It’s sad that we have such ideas ground so firmly into our heads.
One of my closest friends who studies English literature brought one f her friends, a friend of one of my housemates, around for dinner last week. All she really knew of me was that I was a physicist. I opened the door to them, no make-up on, hair tied back in a ponytail. We manoeuvred around the bikes, the mass of wires and into the kitchen where we made tea. I offered a tour of the house. When we got to my room, her eyes opened in wonder at the room. Origami birds hang from fairy lights strung around bookshelves filled with books, many romance or historical fiction. A sewing mannequin stands in the middle of the floor semi dressed in a short floral dress. The walls are covered with pictures, quotes, decorations, paintings. Fabric, in pretty patterns and colours, is everywhere. High-heeled shoes stand in rows. The University’s Naked Rowing Team calendar hangs on the wall.
“What subject did you say you did?” she asked.
Physics.
I went out with a physicist for my University years, and one of my best friends was a physicist – she was an extremely hot blonde and always flustered the stereotypes
So I love physicists. We are a diverse bunch aren’t we!
I have thought about what would happen if I used initials instead of my name. I have the added versatility/choice of having just gotten married this past year (Westerberg is my maiden name) while being first published the same year. I’ve decided to stay with my maiden name for my writing for now, though in the future, if I branch out into other genres than fantasy writing, I will look at either using my married name and/or initials.
What gender is the author? Who gives a rat’ asno? I’ve read fascinating books without ever knowing the author’s gender. Don’t care. Story is all that counts.
As for you, Joanna Penn, use your name. Joanna is a beautiful name, and your novels–I’ve read “Pentecost” and bought “Prophesy” immediately after finishing–are first rate. Gotta find out what happens to Morgan! BTW, please stop writing such page-turners; you’re using up my writing time! Just kidding. Please don’t stop.
Thanks so much Frederick, I appreciate your kind words. I have finished the first research phase of Exodus, the next novel so there will be more kick-ass Morgan adventures soon. I still love my name, but I want to reach readers who don’t even know who I am. I want that NY Times bestseller list
While I find it kind of sad that gender does affect perception, I think it works both ways. We see certain genres as male and others as female. I read a fabulous blog post the other day by a guy who had felt somewhat outnumbered at an RWA conference. He wanted to write romance but knew as a guy it would be a challenge.
That said, my personal view is that if it gets you to the reader without making you feel like you are ‘selling out’ (I hate that phrase, btw) then I say go for it!
Oh and I have nominated you for the Versatile Blogger award. I think you rock!
The rules are here: http://leonielucas.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/versatile-blogger-award/
Thanks so much Leonie, I appreciate your nomination – and I do feel for the romance writers who are men – although I think there are more of them who just don’t do conferences
This is all an experiment – so I shall just keep being honest with you guys and see how it goes – I shall report back. If I sell 200,000 copies all of a sudden, I reckon everyone will be “selling out” !
Joanna,
It’s been a long time since I’ve been on your blog. As always, you are giving writers and readers food for thought thought on the publishing world. J.F. Penn stands out BIG TIME! For those who only prefer to read books my male writers in the thrillers genre, it gives them pause to guess if you are a man or woman. You can’t tell by the name. Genius!
Love your work. Adore your blog.
You’re lovely Brooks and I know you’ve been a reader and a commenter for a long time so I really appreciate your support. Thank you.
I saw that your book images on the site changed last week, and I was thinking, why would she do that? She is Joanna “Friggin” Penn. She fictionally kills nuns and realistically shoots guns, my kind of lady. I kind of get it now after you posted this article. You’ve just chosen to use a pen name for your thriller line, I use a pen name, lots of people do, so go for it! You’ve spent a lot of time building name recognition with Joanna Penn, do you think the switch to initials will have an impact on that one way or the other?
Are you going to spill on what the ‘F’ stands for? I assume its friggin…
The ‘F’ is for Frances but hey, I like ‘friggin’ – maybe I’ll keep that instead
My recognition for Joanna Penn is all about publishing and the blog which centres around writers. The fiction name is more about reaching people who aren’t in this community at all i.e. the millions of Amazon readers who find authors through the Ranking lists and Amazon algorithm recommendations. They don’t know who I am and I don’t want them to care, or question that my books won’t be a good read.
I’m glad you think they’re fun books though! Thank you.
Hmm, interesting. You’re probably making the right move though it seems ridiculous that you need to do that to compete in your fiction category.
It made me wonder if the same holds true for science fiction? I have a sci fi novel series I’m working on right now and it got me thinking that perhaps as I venture down that path I should consider a pen name?
As always, your transparency helps us all Joanna – I mean J.F.!
I’m still Joanna here
I think sci-fi is more mixed – although you might take a look at the Top 100 and do some research. Certainly Ursula K Le Guin has done alright 
The top 100 is heavily dominated by lots of men, and Le Guin. I think Nancy Kress might be in there, and C. J. Cherryh (who of course didn’t use her full first name), and Lois McMaster Bujold, and possibly Joanna Russ and I know I’m forgetting some others.
Here’s a good list, actually: http://scifilists.sffjazz.com/lists_books_rank1.html
Also, sci fi is littered with sub-genres — hard sf (Sagan, some Asimov), space opera (Stars Wars, Star Trek), sociological (most Le Guin), cyberpunk (I think Philip K. Dick would qualify), steampunk (I don’t read the genre). I think it’s hardest to find women writers of hard sf, and easiest for sociological. This is a very broad assessment based on what I’ve read.
I choose a male (well, it can be interpreted to be either gender, but most readers will see it as male) name for my thriller/horror pseudonym for a lot of the same reasons. I’m lucky, in that my own name is gender neutral, but I’d already branded it for a completely different genre, and didn’t want to confuse my readers (I’m glad I made that decision). And while I enjoy a good thriller/suspense/horror novel, part of the name on the cover is knowing who your market is. And a good deal of that market is men.
For the same reasons, my erotica pen name is vastly more feminine than my real name – because in that genre, that’s what readers expect.
Have you seen Dean Wesley Smith’s blog today? You two are on similar wave-lengths…he’s talking about pen names too!
http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/?p=6287
Yes, I saw that – great minds and all that
I like Jamie, it can definitely be either – someone suggested I go with Joe which can also be male/female but that’s too much like my actual name.
I couldn’t care less if a book is written by a man, woman, worm, germ, etc. I do think men are less likely to read a book by a woman and only God knows why: the writer’s sex should not determine how well the subject matter is received. Yes, women tend to go towards romance/romantic mystery books, but why let that stop anyone from reading a book that thriller, fanstasy, sci-fi, etc.?
Like many, this is an issue that bothers me. I wish readers wouldn’t care whether the author is male or female. I’ve read a lot of books and most of my favourite fiction books are written by women.
I like J.F Penn indeed, and I fully understand why you made the change…I just wish you wouldn’t have to worry about this issue in the first place.
Thanks Gary – I’m no longer worrying – decision is made
Hey Joanna – remember me Michele *waves madly from Oz* great and interesting post. I get why you have changed your name. I, like you, am a feminist as well and you are not hiding behind a male persona – you are being honest about your gender just not advertising it in your name on a published book for readers who don’t know you. Sexism is bullshit but unfortunately exists! What I do think is great is that like JK Rowling – you will be found out to be the successful female writer you are and that will be empowering to all women and young women. Why fight against something you believe is obvious and holding you back because the more male readers you can get on your side the more males will view female writers differently over time. Unfortunately, this could be a long time but you are still pioneering for female writers. I’m currently thinking of changing my name also for slightly different reasons. I write under my current name for dark fiction but am writing YA as well so need a different name as I don’t want the different genres to hold me back. (there’s always something to consider hey?) Instead of going for initials (which I was going to do) I will be using a non-specific gender name instead, which of course means changing my entire name so I have to think carefully as if I’m successful I need to live with that name for a long time
Thx for the great post 
))
Thanks Michele
I appreciate the support and I definitely think pseudonyms are good when you have YA and then dark books that you don’t want to mix your audiences. Deciding on a totally new name would be something quite different. I haven’t exactly strayed far from the truth with my own real initials – I was pondering using ‘Jonathan’ but that’s going a little far perhaps 
I really enjoyed Pentecost because the main character was a strong, bad ass female and because the novel was written by a women (refreshing!). But it greatly bothers me that you are willing to re-enforce the literary world’s glass ceiling by hiding the fact that you are a female writer. As a feminist, shouldn’t you want to break through the ceiling and prove that women can write in any genera as well as men?
If your books are ranking high on Amazon, then obviously your initially going by “Joanna Penn” did not hurt your sales. People were actually willing to read a book written by a woman (shocking!). I feel like this was unnecessary and it’s a shame. I must admit that this move has me reconsidering whether or not I want to buy your second novel.
In defense of Joanna, she did not have to be so forthcoming as to her reasons. She did so not for bragging rights or to generate controversy. She did so because that has been her philosophy for building a community that provides a great service to others. Agree or disagree, you have to respect her for publicly explaining her position. She did not owe anyone that. Not everything we do live has to be a fight or a cause. We get to pick and choose our battles in life.
If you want to “punish” Joanna by not buying her books, that is certainly your right. As I understand it, the book is meant to entertain. She charges a nominal fee. Either you find value or you don’t. Joanna has already taken a strong public position for independent publishing (against traditional publishing) by simply bypassing them entirely. Further, she public discusses and teaches this. In a sense, her novel is already taking a stand. But does every shred of her project have to represent a greater stand or fight against some injustice? I believe not.
Thank you for your defense Matt. I appreciate that you understand my reasons for sharing. The whole point of this blog and this forum is that I share honestly what is happening along the writer’s journey. But at the end of the day, we all have to make our own decisions about our own publishing career and choice for our books.
My friend and amazing thriller author CJ Lyons made NY Times bestseller list with one of her thrillers last year. It sold 240,000 copies in 2 months. My books currently have been ranking highly in a different category than I want to rank in, and my sales are certainly not spectacular. So I am keen to maximise what I can do in order to reach readership. This is one way.
I knew this was contentious but I have a commitment to my audience to be honest. If I didn’t talk about it, someone would have brought the fact up.
I’d also add that although I am indie and proud, I’m not anti-traditional publishing and would definitely take a good deal if one came along. But I’m not pursuing that option at the moment. I am enjoying being at the beginning of the journey. I’m sure I will make many mistakes along the way (as I have done already!), but hopefully this move is a positive one for my career as an author.
Thanks.
Joanna, I think the initials are wonderful! I have always thought that initials are so badass when authors use them. And I typically see them in thriller, mysteries, urban fantasy, etc. where badass is perfectly acceptable.
I have thought about initials myself, but I feel AE Prince sounds awkward. =/
It sounds a bit like ‘aaieee’ like a war-cry – could be good
I’m so glad I sound badass – thank you.
J.F. Penn does have moxie, so go for it. The most important part of this post, however, is the picture with you holding the shotgun
Your stock just went way up! When I brought my (then girlfriend, now wife) home to meet the family for the first time, some shooting with dad and the brothers was part of the passage. To this day, that first ever picture of her shooting a gun is my all-time favourite. Well done!
Thanks Kent – I will make it even better then. That was on my first wedding anniversary and I said to my husband, “would you like to go shooting for the day?” and he thought (thinks) I am the best wife ever
I also loved it – I’d do it again but in England shooting is much more restrictive than Australia or America. Probably a good thing for most reasons – but it was a lot of fun!
Hi Joanna! I made the decision when I published my first book, QUEER GREER, to go by the pen name A.J. Walkley for this very reason. I knew men would be less reluctant to give my books a shot if it was obvious off the bat that I was a female writer. I wanted my books to be accessible to a much wider audience, so Alison became A.J. and I haven’t looked back since.
I’m so glad – I intend to not look back either
Certainly there is evidence for what you’re saying and why you’re making the change. But what I find odd is that the reading community comprises mostly females. So the audience is skewed female, but even they trust male authors more? Seems odd to me.
So then I ask this question. Is it really a bias of the readers, or the publishers and agents? Are they under the mindset that you must be male or have a gender neutral name for certain genres? Looking at the romance section on Amazon, I’m seeing mostly female names. Perhaps we should make a test and see how hard it would be for a male, using his full name, to get to the top of that list
It could be bias of agents/publishers but it has affected the market. It must be noted that I am specifically aiming for the male skewed action-adventure lists – it’s different by genre.
Certainly J.K. Rowling was advised not to use Joanne.
On romance, Nicholas Sparks is one of the most highly paid and successful romance authors – I didn’t say it couldn’t be done but I’m not at the top yet
I had this discussion once I realised Child of the Hive was going to actually be published. Did I put my name on the cover? Did I go with a pseudonym? Did I use my initials?
In the end, I decided to use my full name. I figured if the book would have my photo in the jacket and if I was going round doing talks and signings to promote it, it would be obvious pretty quickly that I was female. I decided there was no point in using a male name if I then turned up publically as female.
The fact that I’m female doesn’t stop me killing two people and burning a house down on the first page. Why should it stop people reading my book?
I have no issue with putting my photo on the back cover. I’m not denying I am female, I just don’t want it to be the first thing that crosses people’s minds.
This is a subject I’ve been wrestling with over the last few months, given that I intend on publishing my first novel this year. The reason, however, is a little different.
For some unknown reason, people seem to stumble over the double S’s in my name, and I end up being called “Wilcox” or “Filcox” instead of “Silcox”. Apparently, the second S becomes silent (meh, I have no idea why either) and people just add in whatever they think they’ve heard instead.
I’ve also had people struggle with the first S if all they hear is “Silcox”, so I’ve been called Lisa, Leena, Sally and Leah, among others.
In order to reduce that confusion, I have also decided to publish under my initials – SR Silcox – since the R seems to break the S’s up enough for people to get it right.
I did toy with using a completely different and made up name, but my mother would never forgive me
Nice one Selena, I can see the issues with your name – it’s why a lot of authors with “foreign” names often anglicise as well.
Usually, I read all the other posts before considering commenting. This time, I will when I’m done. I only have a few words to say. You Go Girl! Your work is what matters. It’s still your name.
Thanks Nancy, I’m glad you see I am not denying my name, I am using my real initials
Hello Jo,
I am a woman but basically I am human being and want to function and be seen as one. creativity, passion, dreams are not gender based and I never wished to be anything but a woman but I am darned not willing to be categorised. Thanks for a beautiful site, and exciting introduction to life I had lived for 35 years. Yes I have been writing for 35 years, been published and produced but I never saw myself as a woman writing but a human working in the Muse factory. I am definitely a fan now even if I come from a side of the world you probably never saw nor ever would visit. Keep up the creative work, best wishes from a human in Africa.
Hi Biola, Thanks for your support. I actually went to school in Blantyre, Malawi so I have a lot of fond memories of Africa.
J.F. Penn — looks good, strong, straight to the point. If swapping your name for initials helps sales/boosts fame, go for it!
It’s just a shame that (some!) male readers are so narrow minded. Do female fans of traditionally feminine genres such as romance have the same attitude, I wonder?
It’s good to wonder, but we all have stereotypes in our minds all the time. Most of it is unconscious I’m sure, but it happens. That’s also why writers have to use pseudonyms when they become famous in one genre – so the reader doesn’t “tarnish” their name with expectations that are incorrect. I try not to think narrow-minded – just different.
Great article, J. Points well made. I was debating just this last week when I wrote about a man who is refusing to use initials because he wants to make a stand about gender bias:
http://jbrubacher.blogspot.com/2012/01/gender-honesty-and-descrimination-in.html
But I think that these writers who used initials and showed their books belonged in stores made a greater point. Or at least a more effective point.
Interesting… but strange the writer didn’t go with initials as it’s clearly not lying. I AM J.F.Penn – if I had made it a male name like Jonathan Penn then fair enough – but the author mentioned didn’t even try that. But each to their own…
A very interesting decision, Joanna. I actually love your name — Joanna Penn, what a dream name for a writer — but I can understand your decision as a thriller writer. In fact, as a fan of fantasy, I’m quite used to female writers (you mentioned the great Ursula K Le Guin) and, as a man, am keen to read across the gender line, just as when I write, I hope to challenge preconceptions about what ‘masculine’ writing should be.
I’ll be fascinated to see how this pans out for you, both in terms of sales and feedback. Good luck.
Isn’t Penn the dream name, not so much Joanna?
I shall report progress as ever…
Hi J F interesting topic. I have called myself C R Wills on my book (and will continue to do so on future books) for almost the same reason; I don’t want gender to be an issue, as I find I am writing about female characters. This is a conscious effort to write about characters who are not me. In my mind I am a bit like what the male protagonists in thrillers will become when they retire; if they live that long.
(I did say in my mind….)
Cool, I like CR Wills – again, could be either…
A side note -
I’ve been reading for decades and used to enjoy picking up a work of fiction without looking at the author’s name. Usually after a few pages I could tell if it was written by a man or a woman. That distinction became harder to notice some time during the 1990′s.
In some ways I miss the two voices of male and female in the generas I read. It can be like a chorus. On other ways – it’s no biggy. The quality of the journey is more important that the gender of the author.
p.s. I love your site. Keep up the good work.
I’m interested to know if you have read my books what I sound like – as per the comments, most people think I write like a man
It will be interesting to see what people think as they read.
You work is on my list of things to-do. In addition to preparing my second novel I have an IT job that has kept me distracted. I’ll write when things settle down, if you really want.
What I’ve seen is a general blending of writing/speech patterns with both genders moving towards common ground. There are of course exceptions and sometimes I may be surprised to find an article with a distinct “feminine” tone was actually written by a man.
In my case I was a little surprised to find such a strong feminine voice in my work – Not that I could do it, but that the women took over such large tracts of the text.
Thanks,
-Jeff
I filtered out the girl-sounding part of my name many years ago, when I wrote tech stuff. Since I often worked as a contractor for agencies and rarely had to take meetings, most of the clients didn’t realize I was female. I was all about getting and doing work–you know what freelance life is like!
To be honest, my given name is a drab bit of social history, and one that I just don’t like. Even my initials sound soft, and Hunter is rather trite for a mystery writer, so the name you see here is probably not going to last. I’ve been looking through the Social Security listings for rare, four or five letter surnames to use. Those book “covers” on Amazon are tiny! Penn is a terrific name.
These days, too, you have to find a name that hasn’t been taken if you want to brand your website/URL properly.
FWIW, I prefer books written by women, if they get the science and fighting right, because many male writers turn out such hideous “love” scenes!
Wonderful photo of you with the long gun! Rather against stereotype, that!
I’m from a tech background as well, often the only woman in a large department. I wonder if that rubs off on the way we communicate. I avoid love scenes in general, sexual tension is better than sex (in books clearly!)
I can’t remember where, but I read about a study once where researchers surveyed men and women on the last authors they’d read. Women reported male authors about half the time, while men almost never reported female authors. My guess is that it’s something about how men are socialized in this culture– they’re expected to be “manly” all the time, and are made fun of for consuming “girly” media. Regardless, I think you’ve made the savvy choice. It’s too bad that women have to “trick” reviewers and male readers into paying attention to them, but better a reader sneakily gotten than a reader not gotten at all. Once you’ve hooked them, they should keep coming back even after they’ve learned your dark secret!
I’ve pretty much decided to use K. Traylor for my fantasy efforts. It’s actually K.A., but there’s already a K.A. Applegate and a J.A. Jance. The ironic thing is that I mostly write YA (at least so far), which is one of the few literary fields currently dominated by women. Don’t want to limit myself, though, so staying gender-neutral seems wise!
I haven’t read your books yet, but they sound fascinating. Will definitely check them out!
I like the K – I think we need a few syllables so I needed the ‘F’ in mine otherwise it was too short, but yours works with just K. Thanks for checking out the books!
I totally and completely agree with your decision. When I started my first novel I knew right off the bat I didn’t want use my full first name on the book. I’m writing a fantasy novel with a female protaganist and I didn’t want people to expect a paranormal fantasy book or YA book. right off the bat (otherwise they would be very dissappointed!) It stinks that we as women are not ‘expected’ to write the types of novels that a man would but I look at it this way – you have to play the game in order to change it and for right now I’ll play it. When I get big, just as the writer behind Mens with Pens which I had no idea was a woman, I’ll let the world know who I am and by then it wouldn’t matter because my work stands for itself.
Great post and I love the pen name!
Thanks Margaret – expectations do play a huge part in reader’s choices. Your name Margaret is also sophisticated and mature so for YA, perhaps you’re right and something better would work. I love that we have these choices!
Hi Joanna,
I recently bought Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson. After reading the first 2 pages I was convinced that the author was female. The first person P.O.V. was a woman and the topic was a domestic thriller. I bought the book at the Brisbane Writers Festival where the author was in attendance. I asked Steve (S.J. to his readers) if it was deliberate that only his initials appeared on the cover. He replied that it had been his publisher’s idea. I think that it was the right idea.
Both my wife and I loved the book.
Cheers,
Clwedd
It is a great book, I loved it too although I guessed the ‘twist’ pretty early on – is that the curse of being a writer? you anticipate what other writers will do? I do this with TV and film as well these days.
I think this was a good move. You’re adapting to the market you are writing in. Is there a bias? Sure there is. If I were to write in a female dominated genre, I’d come up with a pseudoname to fit.
When I published my first (and really only good) novel (published, that is), there seemed to be a sort of consensus that I would be V. S. Anderson. I can’t remember, honestly, whether this was my idea or my publisher’s (St. Martin’s). It’s a pretty gritty story of horse racing, with what in those days passed for tough dialogue and violence (mild by today’s standards). (Lots of smoking–that’s one thing you don’t see as much any more.) I was subsequently asked at a writer’s conference why I had tried to disguise my gender. All I could think was that I thought readers would think the kinds of things I wrote about were the kinds of things only a man would be able to write about knowledgeably. I know: that’s nuts. But not so long ago I came across an agent at a conference who insisted that a woman could never write convincingly from a man’s pov and vice versa. I could only laugh, remembering how many people said on discovering who I was that I “wrote like a man.” The upside: my book got placed on the shelf next to books by V. C. Andrews, and a lot of people seemed to think that was who I was.
I hate to use the term, Joanna, but this really is a no-brainer. Twenty, thirty years ago there might have been an issue, but not now. My best wishes in your new persona and make sure that your male characters don’t have remotely feminine names – things haven’t moved on that far…unless of course, they have gender issues in the story
Interesting that you are using initials here J.D. so perhaps there’s an issue on all sides??!
Joanna, in my professional life I was known as JD, but I don’t care if my readers – male or female – know I am male. The photo tends to give it away a little. And as has been pointed out, female readers will read male writers, so there is no issue.
Which raises the question, will you use your photo on the cover if print, or on your blog if epubbing?
yes, of course, you can see I’m a woman here and also on my http://www.JoannaPenn.com blog. It’s also in the Author Blurb at the back of the book. I just want it to be the first thing people judge.
…which reminds me, one of my characters does…
Wow! It looks like this a topic of serious interest to your readers, Joanna! I agree with your choice and I remember when you first mentioned you were thinking about doing this. I guessed right, that your middle name is Frances! JF Penn is more masculine sounding and if it helps you erase the gender issue, so be it. I hope it works well for you.
From a “branding” standpoint JF Penn sounds strong with a tad bit of mystery. From your stated purpose for writing, “I want them to have a great fun read and escape the world for a time.” adding mystery by way of JF Penn seems like a plus.
It has the Ed McBain sound. That “Bond, James Bond” feel. A J.F. Penn has to write thrillers. J.F. Penn has class but can still cut you nine ways from Sunday. Penn is explosive. Something on the order of C4, wrapped carefully with ribbon and a rose.
On the other hand, and again from the marketing standpoint, I would almost try to convince you, at some point to place a picture of yourself with your shot gun on the back cover without a cutline. Not to be critical, but if I did the photo work it would be full length. We need to see your footware.
Get the latest issue of Cowboys and Indians. This is an elegant high end bi-monthly focused on the West. They carry an excellent photo essay of women and their firearms. When you find it tell me if these are not pictures of beauty and power. Most of the shotguns have break actions and are held open. Very powerful. Some of the women favor pistols. Usually the Colt .45. They wear them holstered.
I know your thrillers are not westerns. But, I think once you see the photos you will see the possibilities.
Anyway, I ramble on.. Good luck with the change.
Curtis
Thanks so much Curtis. I feel like a femme fatale now
Thanks.
I really enjoyed the day’s shooting but it wouldn’t be so easy to get any shots here in England as they are very protected. I shall certainly consider a pro photo shoot one day – maybe when I make it to Texas
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