OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna Penn
I have been debating the gender issues in the perception of books for a while now, and I have finally made a decision.
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!]
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.
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?
View Comments (145)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1 2 3 … 9 Next »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.
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 :) hence the change!
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.