Gender Identity and Erotic Story Authorship

[SimonDoom]

This is a question to those of you who publish stories "out there" in the real publishing world and are trying to make some money off your works. Does it make a significant difference whether one publishes under the name of a man or of a woman? My impression is that most erotic story authors are women, or at least present themselves that way, which is quite different from what one sees at Literotica. Does it make a difference what genre of erotica one writes?

 

[Winter_Fare]

I know it wasn't a question directed at readers, but as a reader, I mind. Fair enough if it's just a pen name, but when writers deliberately fake it, avoid interviews etc, it's shit.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I can only reply as a reader since I don't write anything commercial. I find it preferable if the author of a story with strong sexual content is a woman. I am not saying this in the sense that they write better smut, I am just saying that my brain loves the idea that something sexual that I like was written by a woman... preferably a hot one
In the case of some long fantasy or SciFi series, regardless if it's a Lit story or something mainstream, I prefer male authors.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Many of us who publish out there in the real world and here are either self-published or have a small imprint handling their work. Those in that category don't do interviews because the level of success isn't generating enough income to worry about interviews. Often, we use pen names because we aren't interested in fame. We love writing. Because we love writing, we don't publish as a living but as a side interest. Those who do interviews have publishing contracts with large companies. In the erotic world, that doesn't happen often. The major publishers look for romance with an erotic flare, not romantic stories dominated by eroticism. No major publisher does cuckold stories. Erotic Horror for a major publisher is backward. It's Horror with an erotic element.

I don't care what sex a writer is nor what they say they are. I want stories that give me some emotion when I read them.

 

[SimonDoom]

I find it preferable if the author of a story with strong sexual content is a woman.

Why? I think your attitude is not unusual, but it's an interesting point to explore.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Why? I think your attitude is not unusual, but it's an interesting point to explore.

I edited the post, see if you find an answer there. If not, I can expand on it.

 

[djrip]

I doubt it would really impact sales unless you were selling yourself/image along with your books. That said, gender neutral names are probably the way to go. Least likely to piss anyone off if/when your real gender is revealed.

Moon Unit? X Æ A-12?

 

[MillieDynamite]

No one who reads my stories cares about me as a person. None of my contacts about my writing (outside of here) ask me much about my life. They ask where my ideas come from. Or when a new story will come out. When they do ask about my life, it's very creepy. There have been a few oddish fans, mostly from here.

 

[SimonDoom]

I doubt it would really impact sales unless you were selling yourself/image along with your books. That said, gender neutral names are probably the way to go. Least likely to piss anyone off if/when your real gender is revealed.

That's an interesting idea.

 

[SimonDoom]

I was thinking Alex, Kelly, River, etc

I looked it up. The following are examples of popular gender-neutral names. They rank relatively high on the lists of names chosen for both boys and girls in the USA:

Parker
River
Rowan
Quinn
Cameron
Avery
Emery
Hunter

 

[AchtungNight]

I personally don’t write commercially, but I do read stories from a lot of people. And I try to do so without a gender bias. It’s stupid to have one imo. Robert Galbraith and Joyce Kilmer have both been bestselling authors and they used pen names. They’re actually the opposite gender you might expect. There are also more gender neutral names out there than you might think. Lindsay is a woman’s name, or so I thought until I learned of musician Lindsay Buckingham. A popular male first name in our era, Douglas, was given to girls in olden times. I also usually am more interested in a writer’s storytelling ability and style than their gender. I’ve read a lot of good books and put down a lot of bad ones from both men and women. Other identifying characteristics too.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Using initials has been a time-honored way of hiding your gender and is used by both men and women. However, more often, women than men. Right now, all I can think of is a fictional writer, though she did have a few real books published (all written by a ghostwriter) J.B. Fletcher.

 

[KeithD]

I have a pretty steadily subscribed light lesbian mystery series publishing to the marketplace with a dozen novellas on offer thus far. I publish that under a female name. When someone commented on Amazon that they were upset when they found out the author was a man (I've attended book festivals in person on this book series, so I wasn't keeping it too much in secret). After that, sales dropped off noticeably, but not completely.

I do try to match author gender to the content of the books I have published to the marketplace.

Some well-selling GM books in the marketplace have female author names, so gender may not mean much there. But I write my GM stories with active gay males as the target reader/buyer. I'm fine with women reading the works, but I directly target them to active gay males.

 

[AchtungNight]

I should also mention that some writers have written successful stories from a perspective that does not match their gender. Stephen King has put out great work with a female lead many times. JK Rowling also for female to male. Some writers switch perspectives and I honestly don’t give much thought to differentiate men and women in long lists of characteristics. Also, writing teams do exist who publish their work under only one name. David Eddings was the only name on the Belgariad fantasy novels when they were first published. Later he revealed that his wife Leigh had been his co-author all along.

 

[PeytonMirabelle]

Using initials has been a time-honored way of hiding your gender and is used by both men and women. However, more often, women than men. Right now, all I can think of is a fictional writer, though she did have a few real books published (all written by a ghostwriter) J.B. Fletcher.

J.K. Rowling is the obvious choice here. If I remember correctly, she said she did because her publisher afraid mid-grade fantasy written by a woman about a boy wouldn't be taken seriously -- not an unreasonable assumption in the 90s. Fantasy used to be regarded as a men-'s only playground for authors, though the last decade has seen significant improvements.

Nora Roberts wrote some books under the name J.D. Robb, though I don't know her motivations.

 

[MillieDynamite]

And there is L.J. Smith's Vampire Diaries, though some of the books were ghostwritten because of a dispute with the publishing agent (not the publisher) Alloy Entertainment an acquisition company that commissioned her work.

J.K. Rowling is the obvious choice here. If I remember correctly, she said she did because her publisher afraid mid-grade fantasy written by a woman about a boy wouldn't be taken seriously -- not an unreasonable assumption in the 90s. Fantasy used to be regarded as a men-'s only playground for authors, though the last decade has seen significant improvements.

Nora Roberts wrote some books under the name J.D. Robb, though I don't know her motivations.

 

[alohadave]

Using initials has been a time-honored way of hiding your gender and is used by both men and women. However, more often, women than men. Right now, all I can think of is a fictional writer, though she did have a few real books published (all written by a ghostwriter) J.B. Fletcher.

C.S. Friedman, V.E. Schwab, and A.C. Crispin are three women authors I've read using initials.

Andre Norton was the pseudonym of a woman sci-fi/fantasy author who had a decades long career.

 

[MillieDynamite]

H.G Wells. Crap, we can do this all day long, can't we.

 

[AchtungNight]

C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien are two examples of successful male writers who have used initials.

 

[SimonDoom]

I understand that people have different perspectives on the issue personally, but my concern is with AUTHORS' experiences with how readers, en masse, respond to male and female names. Whether it makes a difference for someone who wants to publish erotic stories and attract an audience to do so under a male or female name.

 

[MillieDynamite]

@SimonDoom, I can't tell you about erotic writing besides the comments I've received. "I like that you wrote this story. A woman with such a dirty mind turns me on," is the most common response that tells it matters. That's from here and from story feedback directly to me, I have up for sale. There is some anecdotal evidence for Romance that makes a high difference. Most male writers of romantic (and erotic) literature use women's names or just initials and a last name for their pen names. I watched an HBO documentary about the subject, and they interviewed five writers who used women's first names. Without exception, they said they would've failed if they had used their real names. Two were gay (admitting to it) three weren't admitting to being gay.

I understand that people have different perspectives on the issue personally, but my concern is with AUTHORS' experiences with how readers, en masse, respond to male and female names. Whether it makes a difference for someone who wants to publish erotic stories and attract an audience to do so under a male or female name.

 

[KeithD]

@SimonDoom, I can't tell you about erotic writing besides the comments I've received. "I like that you wrote this story. A woman with such a dirty mind turns me on," is the most common response that tells it matters. That's from here and from story feedback directly to me, I have up for sale. There is some anecdotal evidence for Romance that makes a high difference. Most male writers of romantic (and erotic) literature use women's names or just initials and a last name for their pen names. I watched an HBO documentary about the subject, and they interviewed five writers who used women's first names. Without exception, they said they would've failed if they had used their real names. Two were gay (admitting to it) three weren't admitting to being gay.

This is my working assumption in the marketplace.

 

[Bramblethorn]

C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien are two examples of successful male writers who have used initials.

They did, but I don't think that's the same thing. In the present day when an author goes by initials, it often is about gender ambiguity, but back in the early-mid 20th century it was just the way a lot of men styled themselves - J.B.S. Haldane, D.W. Griffiths, W.G. Grace, H.V. Evatt, J.J. Thompson are a few examples I can think of, and they'd all have been assumed male. Tolkien himself seems to have consistently used "J.R.R. Tolkien" rather than "John Tolkien" in academia etc.

Some discussion here: https://literature.stackexchange.com/questions/1925/why-did-tolkien-publish-as-j-r-r-tolkien

 

[ElectricBlue]

I looked it up. The following are examples of popular gender-neutral names. They rank relatively high on the lists of names chosen for both boys and girls in the USA:

Parker
River
Rowan
Quinn
Cameron
Avery
Emery
Hunter

Interesting. Rowan, Cameron and Hunter are fairly common boy's names here in Oz, the others I'd identity more readily as women. Except River Phoenix, I guess, but he probably doesn't count any more. Okay, Cameron Diaz, but she's American.

 

[sapphyrix]

i try to remain completely gender ambiguous on most places i post nsfw art/writing. kind of a don't ask don't tell scenario. tbh i try to present myself in such a way that people would assume i'm a heterosexual guy. i have a feeling that a woman writing/drawing the things i write/draw, for a primarily male audience, would get sexually harassed to hell and back if the followers knew she was a woman.