J. K. Rowling posing as a man

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Ming
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J. K. Rowling posing as a man

Post by Ming »

I wonder what people here think of J. K. Rowling posing as a man to publish her new book The Cuckoo's Calling?

http://shine.yahoo.com/work-money/was-j ... 21483.html

I have just written a long rant on Facebook, and I am pasting it here, I'd be interested to know what others think.
It's a pity, shameful, even, that even someone like Joanne Kathleen Rowling attempts to hide behind a male pseudonym because she's worried that her writing won't sell if boys see that the book they have picked up was written by a woman. The article highlights the Bronte sisters who wrote under the names of Currer, Ellis and Action Bell, as was the custom of their time. THEIR time. Early 19th century. They were raving successes under their pennames, and remained so after their anonymity disappeared.

Let's look at some more recent examples - Agatha Christie, who wrote under her real name, was hailed as the "Queen of Crime", with an astounding readership. Her play, "The Mousetrap", is the longest running play in history and her books, with a maximum estimated sales of 4 billion, is only outsold by the Bible and Shakespeare. She wrote under the penname Mary Westmacott for a time, and remained just as successful.

Enid Blyton, the most prolific children's author of the 20th century, wrote under her real name and was quickly lauded as the woman responsible for getting children to read. True, towards the end of her career, libraries banned her works but even so her readership continued to grow and even now is perhaps most children's introduction to reading independently. She didn't need to hide behind a male pseudonym at all. Oh wait, she DID hide under a pseudonym, once, Mary Pollock, just to see whether her books were selling for their own merit or for her name. Critics said, "Enid Blyton had bettter watch out for Mary Pollock." Tada! Women ARE taken seriously, and they were, even in the 20th century.

Why did Rowling feel the need to pose as a man? In my opinion, it is less to do with alienating readerships and more to do with trying to sound like J. R. R. Tolkien. Someone as talented and intelligent as her should FURTHER Christie's and Blyton's examples by using her full name and proudly letting the world know that a woman wrote books as excellent as the Harry Potter series, and this new novel.

The article states, '“It sometimes makes sense for a female author to use a pseudonym, particularly when the main characters are male, or when it's a genre with a strong appeal to men, like military science fiction, certain types of fantasy or gritty thrillers," Penguin editor Anne Sowards told the Wall Street Journal last year.'

Umm... okay? Let's take a look at female director Kathryn Bigelow, history's only female winner of the Academy Award for Best Director, whose two best known films The Hurt Locker, and Zero Dark Thirty, focus on wars, military fiction, bombs - all the works that would strongly appeal more to men than to women.

Perhaps while writing the Harry Potter series, she took Bloomsbury's advice, but with The Cuckoo's Calling, she's just getting some attention.

(I would like to stress than I am an admirer of her writing, just not her publicity stunts).
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Re: J. K. Rowling posing as a man

Post by Soenke Rahn »

As I was a kid, I thought Enid Blyton was a man but I was not sure.... ;-) (I saw no picture etc. only the name. The name Enid is not frequently to find in Germany.) ;-)
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Re: J. K. Rowling posing as a man

Post by Zar Quon »

Ming wrote:I wonder what people here think of J. K. Rowling posing as a man to publish her new book The Cuckoo's Calling?
I think you miss the point. Rowling published via intermediaries & undr a pseudonym to ensure it sold (at least to start with) on it's own merits & not because it was anothe JK Rowling book.

See also Gerald Wiley.
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Re: J. K. Rowling posing as a man

Post by Ming »

Certainly, and I am perfectly all right with her writing under a pseudonym. I just don't like the way critics hailed her for writing under a male pseudonym because "it makes sense when the male character is male."
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Re: J. K. Rowling posing as a man

Post by Zar Quon »

The thing with said critics tho, is that *if* they knew what they were wittering on about then they'd be multi-milionaires, & not critics.

There are, of course, exceptions to that rule.
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Re: J. K. Rowling posing as a man

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

These days, perhaps it would be more apt to say "if they knew what they were Twittering on about"!
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Re: J. K. Rowling posing as a man

Post by Lucky Star »

And why has this come to light? Could it be that the book has sold "only" 1500 copies; but is now certain to sell millions? :roll: :roll:

I don't see much significance in the fact that her pseudonym was a male name. Others have done the same and many men have written under female names as well. I would have thought that it's about putting as much distance as possible between yourself and your assumed identity.
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Re: J. K. Rowling posing as a man

Post by Tony Summerfield »

Lucky Star wrote:And why has this come to light? Could it be that the book has sold "only" 1500 copies; but is now certain to sell millions? :roll: :roll:
I had understood that it was already a best seller before her name was revealed. It certainly had some great reviews before anybody knew who had actually written it, particularly from fellow crime writers.
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Re: J. K. Rowling posing as a man

Post by Lucky Star »

It has become a bestseller now; after it was revealed who wrote it. According to this article however it had sold only 1500 copies before that.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/ju ... bestseller" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: J. K. Rowling posing as a man

Post by Moonraker »

Ming wrote:
I have just written a long rant on Facebook, and I am pasting it here, I'd be interested to know what others think.
I thought you told me it was an article you quoted when I praised you for it????????
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Re: J. K. Rowling posing as a man

Post by Ming »

You were praising me? I thought you were praising the article, while I was quoting points from it and bashing them! I'm confused...
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Re: J. K. Rowling posing as a man

Post by Moonraker »

I was praising you, then you told me that it was just an article, and you hadn't written it. I then deleted/edited my comment only to find that I was correct all along. You just can't help some people.
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Re: J. K. Rowling posing as a man

Post by Zar Quon »

Lucky Star wrote:It has become a bestseller now; after it was revealed who wrote it. According to this article however it had sold only 1500 copies before that.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/ju ... bestseller" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
In the best traditon of useless statistics the Grauniad helpfuly says it only sold 1500 copies since April, but without saying that - Oh, I dunno, made-up-fact "compared to 'Finty Catches A Crim' by Bert Unknown, which sold 75, 000 copies since April".

So, it may well have made the best-seller list anyway, just taken longer. Also, vast swathes of so-called "best-sellers" end up in the charity shop in a months time, so it still proves nowt. Also also, I suspect these charts are all fixed anyway.
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