by Madison James

Only now within the last couple years working on the business side of the romance book industry have I discovered that some romance authors are frauds. Yes the gig is up, they use multiple pen names. Why would they do that, you say? Why to confuse us, of course. No, although it might seem so sometimes. It is actually extremely common, but most readers don’t know of it and the reasons. The reasons are numerous, but the most common is because the author wants to write more books than their publisher can market and to avoid the legalities of the original contract, it’s easier to write under a second name when you move to a different publisher.

A second reason is that big book buyers have a habit of purchasing only the same number of books that an author sold on their last release. If it was a bad release, then the store will only by that many books of the next release, but if it’s an unknown author, the stores will buy more in the hope that it will be a blockbuster. So you write under a different name, they get a better shot at selling through their books.

A third reason an author might take a pen name is because they are writing for a different audience. Going from contemporary to YA mature isn’t a big jump, but if the writing style changed dramatically, a pen name might prevent readers who didn’t like the switch from jumping ship from the very author that they loved. Another reason might be that an author might take a pen name because they value the anonymity that a pen named brings. Depending on what they write their reputation might be at stake.

NYT bestselling author Nora Roberts also writes under J. D. Robb. According to her website a pseudonym offered her the opportunity to reach a new and different group of readers. The first suspense J. D. Robb book was published in paperback in 1995, and readers were immediately drawn in. While fans had their suspicions, it wasn’t until the twelfth book in the series, (2001), that the publisher fully revealed that J. D. Robb was a pseudonym for bestselling author Nora Roberts.

Jayne Ann Krentz has a whopping seven pseudonyms. Her contemporaries she uses Jayne Ann Krentz, she publishes historicals under Amanda Quick. She is also published under the names Jayne Bentley, Jayne Castle, Jayne Taylor, Amanda Glass, and Stephanie James.

Here are some other examples of some well-known authors and their pseudonyms:

  • Sandra Brown wrote under the names Erin St. Clair and Rachel Ryan, and Laura Jordan.
  • Diana Palmer published under Diana Blayne, Kate Curry and Susan Kyle.
  • Barbara Delinsky scribbled under Billie Douglass and Bonnie Drake.
  • Bestseller Janet Evanovich also publishes under Steffie Hall.
  • Victoria Holt also writes under the names Phillipa Carr and Jean Plaidy.
  • Harlequin author Marie Ferrarella also uses Marie Charles, Marie Michael and Marie Nicole.
  • Meg Cabot of Princess Dairies’s fame also scribes under Meggin Cabot, Patricia Cabot and Jenny Carroll.

If you have any other authors to add, by all means please add them to your comment. What do you think of authors having multiple pen names, is it confusing? Does it make sense to you? Comment and enter to win PASSION AND PRETENSE by Susan Gee Heino and The UNQUIET by J.D.Robb.

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By Berkley, Giveaways33 Comments on Is your favorite author faking it???

33 Replies to “Is your favorite author faking it???”

  1. You know what I have no problems with authors having another pen name. If it makes them happy more power to them. I personally like living ignorant bliss, so I wouldn’t push the issue.

  2. It doesn’t bother me when authors use pen names. I don’t think they’re hiding what they are doing or trying to confuse readers. Most are upfront about the different names they use. Authors have been using pen names forever–O Henry (William Henry Porter,) Saki (H. H. Munro.)

    Here are a few others to add to your list:
    Kim Harrison/Dawn Cook
    Elizabeth Hoyt/Julia Harper
    Jennifer Ashley/Allyson James/Ashley Gardner
    Colleen Gleason/Joss Ware

  3. I wouldn’t hold it against an author for choosing multiple pen names! If I like the writing, I will read. If I don’t, then I won’t. Whatever floats their boat, LOL. Seems like a lot of extra work on their part for the marketing side.

    Hugs,
    Krystal Shannan

  4. I think that knowing the your favourite Authors’ alias is good so that you will know what other Authors to look for. It helps in knowing what to buy if you like their writing style; i.e how good of a writer they are.

  5. Jennifer Ashley also writes under other pen names. Allyson James and Ashley Gardner. I like that she does it that way only because each name is for a different type of book. I pretty much only read her historical’s under Jennifer Ashley. I really don’t read the other types of books and it would be so confusing for all of them to be under Jennifer Ashley. But if the author writes the same kind of books for each name I wouldn’t like that, because it would be to hard to keep up with the names and I would miss out on a book by that author.

  6. LOL! Loved your post!! Yes, I do have one of my fave’s faking it big time! Jade Lee!!!! Also writing as Kathy Lyons! And although I have some of her KL books, I have yet to read them.

    Mel
    melanieDOTfriedmanATsbcglobalDOTnet

  7. Sherrilyn Kenyon also writes as Kinley MacGregor. I like to know my favorite authors pseudonyms so I I have more books to look for and read.

  8. Kare Rose Smith –Kari Sutherland
    Candance Proctor C.S. Harris
    Penelope Williamson-Penn Williamson, Elizabeth Lambert
    Candace Camp, Kristin James

  9. It makes sense and I can understand why they do it but that being said, Nora is probably the only one I can remember lol. If I like their voice I would probably buy any and all of their books if I knew.

  10. I have no problem with it, but I find many authors don’t hide their pen names as often as in the past.

    Barbara Dawson Smith/Olivia Drake
    Lorraine Heath/J.A. London
    J.R. Ward/Jessica Bird

  11. I don’t have a problem with pen names. I can understand why they want to keep their genres separate.

  12. Geralyn Dawson is also Emily March and yes these different name confuse me. I have problem keeping up with pen names.

  13. I don’t mind the pen names,but it sometime get confusing.
    Courtney Milan\Christina Brooke
    Gayle Callen\Julia Latham

  15. Oh I can so see the valid reasons behind multiple names. It doesn’t bother me, as long as an author I likes doesn’t try to hide it so I can easily find the other books under the other name. If I like an author I don’t care what they write, just let me find it. =)

    (no need to enter me in the drawing, just having fun commenting)

  16. I don’t mind pen names. I would like to know the other names. If I like an author’s writing style, I would definitely look for the other books.

  17. I really do not mind when authors choose to have different pen names.
    If I like the author a lot I do follow her other genres.
    I just keep track of what goes where and who connects to them.
    It’s easy-peasy for me.

    Along with some mentioned above, here are some other ones ~

    Karen Ranney/Katherine Storm
    Vanessa Kelly/V.K. Sykes
    Sue-Ellen Welfonder/Allie MacKay
    Mia Marlowe/Emily Bryan
    Glynnis Campbell/Sarah McKerrigan/Kira Morgan
    Isobel Carr/Kalen Hughes
    Jenna Petersen/Jess Michaels
    Sara Bennett/Sara MacKenzie

  18. In the case of Amanda Quick, I think she has several pen names to differentiate between the different genre that she writes. I only read her works as Amanda Quick (historical) —

    Here are a few more:
    Jenna Petersen = Jess Michaels
    Ashley March = Elise Rome
    Andrea Pickens = Cara Elliott
    Sabrina Jeffries = Deborah Martin
    Lara Adrian = Tina St. John

  19. I know a lot of authors reinvent themselves and may change names, I have no problem with this.

    Melody Thomas/Lori Renken/Lori Morgan
    Lorraine Heath/Rachel Hawthorne (Young Adult books)

  20. I don’t have a problem with authors using different pen names, especially for different genres. If I like the author, then I’ll follow them with the other books and genres. It is sometimes hard to keep up with all the different names.

  23. Christine Wells = Christina Brooks
    Gayle Callen=Amelia Grey
    Lori Foster=LL Foster

  24. Claudia Dain= Claudia Welch
    Jennifer St. Giles =Jennifer Saints , J.L. Saint
    Leslie Kelley=Leslie Parrish

  25. It doesn’t bother me that authors use pen names. It does get confusing sometimes though. I am also afraid I miss some of my favorite authors books because I don’t recognize the other name/names.

  26. I think if an author is going to really stretch themselves into another genre after being established in something very different, I’d prefer them writing under another name. For example, I’d hate to see one of my favorite historical romance authors start to write erotica, or science fiction.

  27. I too, don’t mind authors using different names, After all, who am I to object ,when it’s the author who has done all the work? I gotta say, that if it was me, I’d probably have my name in so many places on the book, readers would be begging me to use another name. Never mind flowers, or models, I’d have my name so big it would barely fit on the cover 🙂

  28. I like the idea of an author writing under a different name when she is writing a different type of story. This means when I buy a book from him/her I known exactly what I’m getting.

  29. Most I know have already been mentioned. I understand the reasoning behind using a different pen name, but it is often confusing unless publicized nd well known. If it is a different genre, it prevents confusion for the reader. If I like an author, I want to know if they are trying a new genre so I can try it. Keeping the names “hidden” prevents that.

  31. I know that at one point Jayne Ann Krentz said that the biggest reason that she uses pen names is to separate her different sub-genres. She has found that people become confused (via some experimentation without her pen names) when she publishes a book as, say, Jayne Ann Krentz (which she uses for contemporary romance) and it is a historical romance. People who already like what she has written as JAK think that if they pick up another JAK book, it will be the same genre, and get confused when it is historical instead of contemporary. So she separates them with pen names.

    A favorite author who uses pen names:

    Barbara Samuel/Barbara O’Neal/Ruth Wind

  32. I’ve read that bookstores like an author to use different names for different categories of books (romances, mysteries, sci-fi, etc). That makes sense to me for finding the books on the shelves.
    Linda Lael Miller (contemporary) and Lael St. James (Historical)
    Kristina Cook (Regency) and Kristi Astor (Edwardian)

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