A. A. Milne, J. K. Rowling, J. M. Barrie, G. K. Chesterton, E. B. White, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, T. S. Eliot, P. G. Wodehouse.
Why do so many authors use initials instead of their first names as their author name?
In the past, it had been said that many men wouldn’t pick up a book written by a woman. Another stream of thought was that male reviewers might be biased against a female author; two good reasons to keep gender from being obvious. Another thought is that the author disliked his given name, or that it was too long for a book cover. And there is a school of thought that thinks initials create an aura of mystery. Certainly, initials add an aura of formality, so a writer might think he’d be taken seriously from the get-to.
While we would like to think the days of sexism in reading and publishing are in the past, the reality is that there still is plenty of thought given to this idea.
Consider Joanne Rowling, whose Harry Potter books are known world-wide under J. K. Rowling. But despite a few web sites assigning Joanne the middle name of Kathleen, the reality is that Bloomsbury Publishing asked her to use initials, as their target audience were young boys who might not pick up Joanne’s book. They added the K to help it flow. Hasn’t hurt her one bit, I might add, but apparently sexism is alive and well in the world of publishing.
C. S. Lewis was christened Clive Staples Lewis, but hated the name Clive and used it extremely rarely. He was actually known to close friends as “Jack.”
Similarly, Elwyn Brooks White loathed his first name and used his initials but was called “Andy.” He was a Cornell graduate, where any male student whose last name was White was nicknamed Andy in honor of that college’s first president, Andrew Dickson White. He much preferred Andy to Elwyn, with good reason.
Since using initials adds a sense of formality, it was vastly preferred by writers especially in the late 19th to early 20th century. J. R. R. Tolkien, whose moniker is John Ronald Revel Tolkien, was called “Ronald” by those close to him. Thomas Stearns Eliot used T. S. Eliot; Edward Morgan Forster is known to us all as E. M. Forster. A. A. Milne was Alan Alexander Milne, which I expect looked long for a book cover.
P. G. Wodehouse was (Sir) Pelham Grenville Wodehouse. He loved initials and they are often seen in his Jeeves/Bertie writings. To his friends, he was simply called Plum.
Once I asked P.D. James why she chose that for her covers. Phyllis Dorothy James Bantry told me there was no notion of avoiding her sex; any reviewer or reader would quickly learn her identity. She also felt that women crime writers were highly regarded, as evidenced by Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Josephine Tey, Ngaio Marsh, etc. She said she always planned to use her maiden name, and so she wrote down all the permutations when her first book was ready to be sent off: Phyllis James; Phyllis D. James; P. D. James.
In her autobiography, Time to be in Earnest, the Baroness notes:
“… I decided the last and shortest was enigmatic and would look best on the book spine…I have never regretted my choice, particularly now, when I may have to sign as many as three hundred books at an American signing. That is seldom a problem here; the British are much less addicted to standing in long lines to meet an author.”
Since my first name is Marnette, I took her advice upon publication of my first mystery, and have been M. K. Graff ever since, but in my case, the “K” really is for Kathleen!
MIss Demeanors
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MIss Demeanors
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And let’s not forget George Elliot… As difficult as it is for me to always spell my name and explain how it’s pronounced, I think I’d be kind of sad to have to change it or use initials. Every time I considered it, I got unhappy. So, I’ll be me for at least one more book!
I love your names!
I’m always intrigued with why authors use initials. I guess because I tend to write cozy things, S.J. Breen doesn’t seem quite right.
I find the lengths women are forced to go to in order to be taken seriously in publishing appalling, especially when you consider that most readers are women.
Initials always feel more superior to full names but seems like British writers favor the initials more than other writers.