# How many novelists are completely anonymous?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-novelists-are-completely-anonymous/487993
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [March 2, 2009, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-novelists-are-completely-anonymous/487993 "2009-03-02T11:31:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2009, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-novelists-are-completely-anonymous/487993/1 "2009-03-02T11:31:12Z")
How many novelists’ real identities are only known to their agents or publishers or very close family? The source material for many writers is their family, friends and colleagues. Presumably some would not wish to let these people know what they really think of them, for all sorts of reasons. Obviously you can change details to mask the source of ideas, but I would have thought that sometimes it would feel easier or safer just to publish under a different name and not let yourself be photographed. The downside to that would be to lose potential sales by not being able to do promotional work such as interviews or book signings. Does anyone know whether this sort of thing happens much?
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### Author:  [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2009, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-novelists-are-completely-anonymous/487993/2 "2009-03-02T12:59:25Z")
I would say [Thomas Pynchon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Pynchon) sounds like exactly the sort of person you’re after.
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### Author:  [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2009, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-novelists-are-completely-anonymous/487993/3 "2009-03-02T14:14:48Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#):
>
> I would say [Thomas Pynchon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Pynchon) sounds like exactly the sort of person you’re after.
Thomas Pynchon is his real name and, while he doesn’t make public appearances, he is living his life under that name. He’s not anonymous, he’s just a very private person.
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### Author:  [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2009, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-novelists-are-completely-anonymous/487993/4 "2009-03-02T14:40:48Z")
Another example of an author who’s not anonymous but is very private is J. D. Salinger:
> **[J. D. Salinger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._D._Salinger)**
>
> Jerome David Salinger (/ˈsælɪndʒər/; January 1, 1919 – January 27, 2010) was an American author best known for his 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye. Salinger published several short stories in Story magazine in 1940, before serving in World War II. In 1948, his critically acclaimed story "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" appeared in The New Yorker, which published much of his later work.
> The Catcher in the Rye (1951) was an immediate popular success; Salinger's depiction of adolescent alienatio...
A case that we discussed in a recent thread is James Tiptree, Jr.:
[James Tiptree Jr. - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Tiptree,_Jr).
Alice Sheldon, who wrote under that name, managed to keep her identity secret for a while.
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### Author:  [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2009, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-novelists-are-completely-anonymous/487993/5 "2009-03-02T14:41:16Z")
Wasn’t the real identity of spy novelist Trevanian (wrote _The Eiger Sanction_ among others) unknown for most of his life? I know William Poundstone even speculated on his identity in one of the _Big Secrets_ books.
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### Author:  [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2009, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-novelists-are-completely-anonymous/487993/6 "2009-03-02T14:50:42Z")
Trevanian’s the one I came in to mention. I didn’t know he was trying to keep his identity secret until someone told me about his Nicholas Seare books.
On a related note, does it bug you if you read something by one of your favorites – when writing under another name – and you don’t recognize it? It does me. I wouldn’t have guessed Richard Bachman was Stephen King.
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### Author:  [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2009, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-novelists-are-completely-anonymous/487993/7 "2009-03-02T15:15:19Z")
[B. Traven](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._Traven)?
Joe
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2009, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-novelists-are-completely-anonymous/487993/8 "2009-03-02T15:38:15Z")
It happens very rarely. Authors do use pseudonyms so their real name is not known to the general public (for instance, Robert Jordan), but it’s hard to keep it a secret within the field or from a diligent researcher.
I seem to recall one author who wrote under a pseudonym because he wrote some fairly adult stuff and was also a elementary school teacher and didn’t want people to get the wrong idea. It doesn’t really matter much if your real name is known to other authors; it’s important that people who might know you in real life don’t automatically make the connection.
And, of course, the reasons for pen names vary by author. Most commonly, it’s because your name is too much like another author (e.g., Lawrence Watt-Evans and Michael Kube-McDowell (who doesn’t care for his pen name at all)) or just to make it sound different (C. J. Cherryh). Anonymity is not the most important reason.
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### Author:  [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-novelists-are-completely-anonymous/487993/9 "2009-03-02T16:19:17Z")
> [@wheresgeorge04](#):
>
> [B. Traven](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._Traven)?
>
> Joe
Wow. I didn’t know there was so much mystery attached to his identity. That’s fascinating.
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### Author:  [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-novelists-are-completely-anonymous/487993/10 "2009-03-02T16:23:34Z")
Thanks for these replies.
> [@RealityChuck](#):
>
> I seem to recall one author who wrote under a pseudonym because he wrote some fairly adult stuff and was also a elementary school teacher and didn’t want people to get the wrong idea. It doesn’t really matter much if your real name is known to other authors; it’s important that people who might know you in real life don’t automatically make the connection.
This is the sort of thing I was wondering about. JD Salinger’s almost the opposite in that his identity is really well known but if anyone gets to read his stuff it’s only family and trusted friends.
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### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-novelists-are-completely-anonymous/487993/11 "2009-03-02T16:41:20Z")
The first name I thought of was [V C Andrews](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V._C._Andrews)
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### Author:  [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2009, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-novelists-are-completely-anonymous/487993/12 "2009-03-02T16:49:52Z")
I doubt I am what you’re looking for, but I’ve published a couple of works of book-length fiction pseudonymously because of…um…discretion.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2009, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-novelists-are-completely-anonymous/487993/13 "2009-03-02T16:51:32Z")
Well, on that basis, then Victor Appleton, Victor Appleton II, Carolyn Keene, and Franklin W. Dixon fit.
V.C. Andrews was a real author’s name. After she died, her heirs kept it as a house name and hired ghostwriters to write sequels. However, this is less the writer’s decision than it is the heirs’: they’re using V.C. Andrews as a brand name, much like the Stratemeyer Syndicate did with the other names I mentioned.
As far as the OP is concerned, I do have on opposite example of what you’re asking: Somtow P. Sutchuritkul used the pen name of S. P. Somtow for his horror, since it was felt his real name would scare off some readers. Of course, anyone who knew his real name realized that S.P. Somtow was a pseudonym.
Hal Clement took that as a pen name to avoid issues with his writing conflicting with his work as a prep school teacher. He also painted under the name George Richard so that his paintings would be judged without knowing who did them. But both pen names became public knowledge.
In addition, some writers used to moonlight writing porn under a pseudonym, for obvious reasons.
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### Author:  [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-novelists-are-completely-anonymous/487993/14 "2009-03-02T16:56:41Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#):
>
> I doubt I am what you’re looking for, but I’ve published a couple of works of book-length fiction pseudonymously because of…um…discretion.
No, I think that possibly is the type of situation I have in mind. Is your work available in shops? Could someone who knows you personally buy it and read it without knowing you’d written it?
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### Author:  [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-novelists-are-completely-anonymous/487993/15 "2009-03-02T17:00:58Z")
> [@G. Odoreida](#):
>
> No, I think that possibly is the type of situation I have in mind. Is your work available in shops? Could someone who knows you personally buy it and read it without knowing you’d written it?
Yes to the first. As to the second: **Mrs. Rhymer** was unable to figure out which was mine until I told her. I don’t know if my sisters, nieces, or stepdaughter could, and frankly I hope to never find out.
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### Author:  [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-novelists-are-completely-anonymous/487993/16 "2009-03-02T17:29:06Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#):
>
> Wow. I didn’t know there was so much mystery attached to his identity. That’s fascinating.
[This](http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Sierra-Madre-Man-Traven/dp/0156799995/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236014848&sr=8-4) is an interesting book about the search for the man behind the name. It left me with a bit of “Just leave him alone, already!” feeling, but is very interesting.
Joe
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### Author:  [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2009, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-novelists-are-completely-anonymous/487993/17 "2009-03-05T02:57:11Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#):
>
> In addition, some writers used to moonlight writing porn under a pseudonym, for obvious reasons.
I still do.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2009, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-novelists-are-completely-anonymous/487993/18 "2009-03-05T04:05:01Z")
“A.J. Quinnell” was another author who kept his real identity private during his lifetime. His real name, Philip Nicholson, was not widely known until after his death in 2005.
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### Author:  [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2009, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-novelists-are-completely-anonymous/487993/19 "2009-03-05T07:55:06Z")
**John Twelve Hawks** , author of The Traveler and The Dark River, falls under the anonymous author umbrella. However, I’m pretty sure it’s all just a gimmick to sell his books.
> **[John Twelve Hawks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Twelve_Hawks)**
>
> John Twelve Hawks is the pseudonym of an author of four novels and one short non-fiction book. His legal name and identity are unknown.
> His first published novel was the dystopian The Traveler and its sequels, The Dark River and The Golden City, collectively comprising the Fourth Realm Trilogy. The trilogy has been translated into 25 languages and has sold more than 1.5 million books. The trilogy was followed five years later by a fourth book, Spark, and a non-fiction eBook, Against Authority.
> ...
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### Author:  [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2009, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-novelists-are-completely-anonymous/487993/20 "2009-03-05T14:37:50Z")
The anonymity will only continue until I manage to sell something. Dammit.
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