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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!]
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?
LRHunter says
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!
Joanna Penn says
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!)
K. Traylor says
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!
Joanna Penn says
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!
Margaret McGriff says
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!
Joanna Penn says
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!
Clwedd says
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
Joanna Penn says
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.
Mark Landen says
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.
Virginia Anderson says
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.
J.D. Hughes says
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 🙂
Joanna Penn says
Interesting that you are using initials here J.D. so perhaps there’s an issue on all sides??!
J.D. Hughes says
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?
Joanna Penn says
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.
J.D. Hughes says
…which reminds me, one of my characters does…
Marcia Richards says
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. 🙂
Curtis says
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
Joanna Penn says
Thanks so much Curtis. I feel like a femme fatale now 🙂
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 🙂 Thanks.
Jeni Mawter says
For my publishing debut my publisher HarperCollins suggested that I be gender-free and J.A. Mawter was born. I wrote humour, male humour, and encountered incredible bias as a female writing in a male domain. For the first time in my working life gender became a huge issue.
This Friday 10 Feb, I have a young adult digital novel being published which is a young male’s story. It is with a different publisher and I have decided to return to my full name, Jeni Mawter. To be honest, I’m extremely apprehensive. However, I am optimistic that in this digital age the audience will embrace the story – not the creator. Time will tell.
See Kiss Kill (www.reallybluebooks.com) by Jeni Mawter 🙂
All the best J.F.
Belinda Pollard says
Who cares about gender stereotypes–JF Penn is a fantastic author name! You go girl! (or, um, boy) 😉
Joanna Penn says
I’m glad you like it Belinda!
Bianca says
I was pretty proud of you for having the name Joanna on your books! I felt like you were smashing stereotypes!
But, if this will help with sales. I understand. Good luck with the name change!
Donna B. McNicol (@DonnaBMcNicol) says
Reading this now since I just found your blog. I had already made the decision to publish romance under my full name (with middle initial), mystery/thrillers under my initials and erotica under a pen name. The hardest thing right now is keeping them separate online. LOL!
RLB says
Thank you so much for this post. I am a writer but in academia. I would always get comments from men about my name. Two months ago I started signing all documents, manuscripts, and correspondence with my first two initials and last name (JK Rowling style). I was shocked to discover any time a publisher, university, or archive contacted me in response they addressed the letter to “Mr.” The automatic assumption was that I was a man. I’ve also noticed a fairly large uptick in men responding to my inquires. I was definitely surprised. Best of luck!