The Creative Penn

Writing, self-publishing, book marketing, making a living with your writing

  • Write A Novel
  • Write Non-Fiction
  • Publishing
  • Marketing
  • Make a Living Writing
  • Author Mindset
  • Start Here!
  • Books
  • Podcast
  • Blog
  • Audio
  • Courses
  • Merch
  • Tools
  • About
    • Speaking
    • Press
  • Contact

Gender Issues In Publishing. Using Initials As A Female Thriller Writer

January 30, 2012 by Joanna Penn 155 Comments

Tweet153
Share40
Pin6
Share
Email
Pocket
Buffer15
Share6
Reddit
220 Shares

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is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date.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.

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.Β  ‘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?

 

Tweet153
Share40
Pin6
Share
Email
Pocket
Buffer15
Share6
Reddit
220 Shares

Filed Under: Publishing Options Tagged With: gender, pseudonyms

Comments

  1. Carole Alexander says

    November 25, 2017 at 12:12 pm

    Hi Joanna – I’m debating whether to use initials for my thriller fiction books or a shortened first name – would this be considered a pen name? eg Cas Cat Cara etc – I was under the impression we couldn’t use a photo of ourselves if we use a pen name but many authors do so is this okay?

    Reply
    • Joanna Penn says

      November 26, 2017 at 2:49 am

      You can be completely ‘out’ about your pen name – as I am with J.F.Penn, and use your pic etc – or you can keep it a secret. Whatever suits you. There are no rules πŸ™‚ Just make sure there aren’t other books using that name on Amazon and that you can get the URL.

      Reply
  2. Carole Alexander says

    November 27, 2017 at 11:25 am

    So if I can’t find the URL and have to use a different first name, will this be considered a pen name? btw I’m dying to know what your pen name is for your romantic novels πŸ™‚

    Reply
« Older Comments

Leave a Reply to Carole Alexander Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Become a more successful author

Looking for something?

Subscribe to the blog by email, or connect with me on social media

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Get started right now with links to the best content below!

Need a professional editor?

Need a professional book cover design?

Inspiration and Information every Monday!

Need help with book marketing?

Want to make a living writing? Here are some ideas how you can

How to set up your own author website in under 30 mins

Useful Books on Writing, Publishing, Marketing and Making Money Writing

My J.F.Penn author blog, for fans of my thriller novels

Stronger together! I’m a proud member of The Alliance of Independent Authors

Topics

  • Author Entrepreneur
  • Creativity
  • Ebooks and Technology
  • Intellectual Property Rights
  • Marketing and Promotion
  • Publishing Options
  • Writing

Recent Posts

  • Writing Tips: What Writers Can Learn From Bodybuilders
  • How To Effectively Work From Home With Amanda Brown, The Homepreneur
  • Writing Tips: Common Mistakes In Police Procedurals
  • Writing With A Family. Productivity Tips With Andrea Pearson
  • Tips For Self-Publishing In Translation: Adventures With AI and German
  • Writing Tips: Using Beats To Keep Readers Emotionally Engaged
  • How To Sell More Books With Reader Funnels With Mark Dawson
  • How To Outline A Non-Fiction Book So Readers Can’t Put It Down
  • How To Write Your Darkness With David Wright
  • Book Marketing: Engineer Your Book Launch Success With A DIY Strategy
  • From Bestselling Book To Netflix Series With Vikram Chandra, Author Of Sacred Games
  • 5 Tips To Help You Write A Novel In A Month #NaNoWriMo
  • Writing Tips: 6 Ways To Give Perfectionism The Boot
  • How To Be A Free Range Human With Marianne Cantwell
  • 12 Book Translation Tips For Authors

Archives

Thanks for visiting The Creative Penn!

Most of the information on this site is free for you to read, watch or listen to, but The Creative Penn is also a business and my livelihood. So please expect hyperlinks to be affiliate links in many cases, when I receive a small percentage of sales if you wish to purchase. I only recommend tools, books and services that I either use or people I know personally. Integrity and authenticity continue to be of the highest importance to me. Read the privacy policy here. I hope you find the site useful! Thanks - Joanna

Connect with me on social media

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Β© Copyright Joanna Penn. The Creative Penn Limited. All rights reserved.

Search The Creative Penn

Inspiration and Information every Monday in The Creative Penn podcast

Thanks for visiting The Creative Penn

Most of the information on this site is free for you to read, watch or listen to, but The Creative Penn is also a business and my livelihood. So please expect hyperlinks to be affiliate links in many cases, when I receive a small percentage of sales if you wish to purchase. I only recommend tools, books and services that I either use or people I know personally. Integrity and authenticity continue to be of the highest importance to me. Read the privacy policy here. Read the Cookie policy here. I hope you find the site useful! Thanks - Joanna

Copyright © 2019 · Beautiful Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

I use cookies to ensure that I give you the best experience on this website. If you continue to use this site, I will assume that you are happy with this. Thank you. OkRead more