Pseudonymity
Cool link of the day: The LJ Times (created by stevenf)
I get an about.com writing newsletter which isn’t particularly useful to me. The latest issue had an article about the whys and wherefores of pseudonyms which mentioned the issues of smut-embarrassment, genre-separation, whistle-blowing and privacy in general. It leaves out some important motives for name-changing - adopting a cooler, more memorable name, hiding your gender because girls don’t write scifi or boys don’t write Harlequins. Back in the pulp days, publishers had authors use multiple pseudonyms to give the appearance of a larger pool of writers. Today, being prolific just adds to your brand name.
I’ll be away for the weekend, so don’t bother watching this space.