Submission Tips

The Name Game: Pen Names Exposed

What do Mark Twain, Sophie Kinsella, Stephen King, George Orwell and Lemony Snicket all have in common? They’re all well-known writers of course but they’re also all pen names. Sarah Downey delves into the phenomenon of pseudonyms for writing.ie.

So what’s really in a name? Quite a lot it would seem. Down through the centuries pen names have been employed for a myriad of reasons from concealing a writer’s identity to hiding their true gender. Famously the Bronte sisters wrote under the names Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell to publish their books in a literary landscape dominated by males.

You may judge a book by a cover but do you also judge an author based on their name? These days authors choose pen names relating to words that rank highest in Google searches, because they are easier than their own names for readers to remember,  and also to appeal to the book’s particular audience - J. K. Rowling, for instance, created a gender-neutral version of her name so that boys would be more likely to read her books.

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Leigh Fallon's Guide to Getting Your Work Published

Yay! I’m published.  I sold my book to HarperCollins, one of the big six publishers.  Carrier of the Mark has been translated into several languages and will be sold in ten countries, with more on the way.  It’s been featured as a Buzz Book and BEA (Book Expo America) the biggest book conference in North America, and where people stood in line for hours to get a signed.  I scored an Editor who has a string of New York Times bestsellers on her list, and now have literary agents in New York and London, oh and an agent managing movie and TV writes for me in LA.  I’ve just signed contracts for my next book and the future looks promising.  Sounds amazing, doesn’t it? I still have to pinch myself. This can’t really be happening to me, can it?

But it is! Two years ago, none of this existed.   I had just finished writing my first book and was floundering about what to do next.  I bought a copy of the Writers Handbook 2010 and started reading.  I tried my hand at a few queries to Irish publishers and agents, but failed miserably.   Despite rejections from early queries, I’d always felt quietly confident that I would eventually get my debut novel, Carrier of the Mark, published.  I knew that when I got my rejections it wasn’t all down to the manuscript, while it was in need of much editing, it was my lack of knowledge of how the publishing industry worked that was my greatest obstacle. 

Read more: Leigh Fallon's Guide to Getting Your Work Published

From Contract to Publication – Demystified

The phone rings…

The moment you’ve dreamed of has arrived…

A publisher is on the other end of the line telling you very calmly that they love your manuscript and want to offer you a book deal…

Do you scream and scare them off indefinitely?

Say yes immediately?

Faint?

Explode into uncontrollable tears?

Read more: From Contract to Publication – Demystified

How I Got Published Without an Agent - Derbhile Dromey

Two publishing deals were struck in the week running up to Easter 2011. One was splashed all over the media, a €500,000 struck by agent Marianne Gunn O’Connor, the queen of the zillion-euro book deal. The lucky author was Kathleen McMahon, a radio reporter with the national Irish broadcaster RTE.

The other was the deal that I struck with an independent publisher called Book Republic. Let’s just say that mine was somewhat more low-key. No advance and no fanfare, apart from the trumpets myself and Book Republic blew on our social media pages.

I can’t lie. When I started to send out my novel, The Pink Cage, I wanted a deal like McMahon’s. Certainly, I felt I needed an agent to make sure I didn’t get ripped off and that my novel found a good home.

Read more: How I Got Published Without an Agent - Derbhile Dromey