By Jennifer S. Wilkov, Host of the “Your Book Is Your Hook!” Show on WomensRadio, Book Business Consultant & The Literary Agent Matchmaker™

To listen to the show: http://wp.me/p1KmwD-69n

Today let’s talk about social proof and the value of having others review and recommend your book to more readers.

For many writers, an author platform is oftentimes more about being a town crier and begging people to buy their book than simply providing an invitation into a conversation that can be continued over time.

How you find out about a book will sometimes determine whether you’ll actually buy it – and read it. For example, if your trusted friend who loves to read other books you have enjoyed told you about a new book she just loved and couldn’t put down, chances are you would either ask to read it when she’s done or possibly run out and get your own copy so you could read it too. Another example is when book clubs tend to make recommendations or select books for their club members to read. Chances are, you’re going to trust that recommendation and read that one too.

In the digital age we live in, there are more clubs, reviews and recommendations being made than ever before. Websites like today’s guest, Shelf Pleasure, and others including Goodreads, Shelf Awareness, Shelfari, AuthorsDen and more help you stay in the loop with books others are reading and enjoying – and those they’re not.

Social proof is a concept that may be unfamiliar by term to many authors but it is the author’s heartfelt desire to have it—and keep it. Social proof is when someone other than you talks with someone else about your book or project. Examples of this are when someone turns to someone else and says, “I just read this incredible book. Great read!” That’s word-of-mouth and that’s social proof. When you receive an endorsement or praise for your book, that’s social proof too. If someone or an entity recommends your book, like a book club or online community, that’s social proof too.

If we turn the words around, it means that your book or project has proven itself to society.

This does not require you shouting on Facebook, “Buy my book! Buy my book!” Instead, it invokes something much more powerful: the power of the relationship you build with readers – and that relationship gets built through your author platform.

By building a continuing conversation with readers, social proof naturally evolves as part of your platform and conversation that reaches more readers. The more they like it, the more people they tell!

As a society, we often look to others to determine what is valuable, correct or important – and what is not. It’s sort of like the old saying, “Well, if everybody’s buying it, it must be great!” Social proof is something we’ve seen probably all our lives. The advertising world thrives on social proof. Businesses rise and fall as a result of social proof.

Since your book is your hook—and a product worthy of social proof, the best thing you can do is get as many people as you can to talk about it, recommend it and review it so they can tell others about it. After all, the more people you can reach and let know about your book, the more people will know about it and, proverbially, buy it.

Stop shouting from the treetops and start using your book as your hook to extend your platform, raise more awareness about your book, and get more social proof through recommendations and reviews from others.

For more information on this Education Corner topic and others, please refer to www.YourBookIsYourHook.com/blog for more articles and resources to help you with your books.

By Jennifer S. Wilkov, host of the “Your Book Is Your Hook!” Show on WomensRadio

www.yourbookisyourhook.com

Click here to listen to the interview anytime after 9:00 am EST on Tuesday, May 14, 2013 on the WomensRadio Network.

Kristen Weber, co-founder of Shelf Pleasure a destination website for women who love to read, and Harvard Medical Professor and Author, Dr. Joseph Shrand, will appear as guests on the Your Book Is Your Hook! Show on WomensRadio.com

Ms. Weber will discuss how writers are able to leverage reader sites like Shelf Pleasure to support their writing careers and books. Dr. Shrand will discuss his new book, OUTSMARTING ANGER, and share how and why he wrote it, as well as how he got published.

To listen to the show: http://www.womensradio.com/2013/05/social-proof-online-book-club-harvard-author-dr-shrand/

New York, NY (May 14th — May 20th, 2013): Kristen Weber, co-founder of Shelf Pleasure, a destination website for women who love to read, will talk with radio personality and host Jennifer S. Wilkov about how to leverage reader sites like Shelf Pleasure to support their writing careers and books.

She’ll also discuss how readers in today’s digital world  are finding information about the books they read. Ms. Weber will also talk about how an author can work with Shelf Pleasure to productively promote their work.

Harvard medical professor and author, Dr. Joseph Shrand will discuss with radio personality and host Jennifer S. Wilkov his new book, OUTSMARTING ANGER, how and why he wrote it, and how he got published. He’ll also talk about the difference between anger and aggression and why books like OUTSMARTING ANGER can help us resolve the outrage we feel about recent national events. He’ll also share advice for new writers who want to write and publish a book about particular human experiences like anger in today’s publishing world

Host Jennifer S. Wilkov will discuss social proof and the value of having others review and recommend your book to more readers during her Education Corner segment during the show.

Click Here to Listen Now: http://bit.ly/167mbd5

If you have questions about any of these interviews or the education corner topic included in the show, please put them here in this discussion thread and I’d be happy to answer them.

By Jennifer S. Wilkov, Host of the “Your Book Is Your Hook!” Show on WomensRadio, Book Business Consultant & The Literary Agent Matchmaker™

To listen to the show: http://bit.ly/Zj5Ee0

Today let’s talk about how to take your creative ideas to the blog on your website.

Blogging is a core component of your author platform. It is a venue designed for connecting with your followers. Instead of a simple 140 character tweet on Twitter or a short post or picture on Facebook or Pinterest, blogging gives you a greater opportunity to express yourself, define your platform more clearly, and tell fans and followers in your own words about upcoming events, appearances and places where they can meet you offline and in person. It also creates a wonderful opportunity to say thank you to the venue that hosted your appearance and give them a shout-out on your blog!

Blogging also gives readers a place they know they can use to communicate with you publicly, and where they can refer others to so they can get to know more about you and your voice and overall platform. Readers can also comment on your blogs publicly, if you allow this open dialogue (more on this in a moment).

Blogging can be tricky and often confusing for many. Some don’t know what to write. Others don’t feel they have the time to write their blog posts, much less their books or screenplays.

Here are three reasons to keep your blog up to date and how to do it:

1. Let people know you’re active. Your blog is a simple sign of “activity.” Set a schedule and stick to it so you can regularly show up for those who are interested in following what you have to say and offer.
2. Highlight what you want people to know about and express your perspective on it. Make sure it is congruent with your platform, book and business or project. This blog post you are reading right now is a good demonstration of this. I blog here about topics related to writing, marketing and getting published. I also blog in other places and on sites related to other topics and platforms I have. My audience for the “Your Book Is Your Hook!” Show and others who may be interested in working with me in some way or attending a workshop can learn more about my experience and perspective on book publishing and author marketing platforms by reading one of my blog posts—like this one.

3. Mix up your content with pictures, videos and/or audio recordings that viewers can look at, watch and listen to. Variety is the spice of life, and the same goes for blogging.

No need to feel that you have to “write” your blog. Post pictures from an event with a short blurb about your experience there. Record a video while you’re out at an appearance or while visiting a venue relevant to your platform. Transcribe the recording and have that transcription become the fodder for the blog you write, instead of being forced to come up with it from scratch!

When you’re blogging or if you’re blogging for the first time as you kickstart or expand your author platform, here are a few don’ts to help you make your posts more effective and so you can avoid some common mistakes:

1. Don’t make your post too short. If you want your blog post to be picked up by Google and other search engine results, make sure it is 300 words or longer. If you don’t want your blog post to be picked up by Google or other Internet search engines, then write less than 300 words. This goes for the caption of a picture or video too. The text copy beneath it or around it needs to be 300 words or longer.

2. Don’t make your blog too long. Keep your blog posts short and punchy. Use bullet points (like I have here) to break up your content if your post is going to be a bit longer. The average post should be between 500 – 700 words.
3. Don’t allow comments to automatically post on your blog. Screen them first so you can post the ones that are relevant and delete those that are not.

4. Don’t blog about myriad topics that are not related to your platform. This creates confusion and a disconnect with followers. After several posts on different unrelated topics, they won’t be clear about what your platform is anymore.

If you are extending your platform to include a new area, say so in your post.

Blogging can support you with your author platform in ways some of the other online opportunities can’t. It can also help you to use your book as your hook to boost your platform and voice.

If you’re not blogging now or if you are skeptical about using this tool to reach your audience and build a bigger following, I encourage you to take a second look at blogging so you can use this essential and fun technique to drive your author platform.

Guest Blogger, Anita Katzen, CPA & Partner at Schulman Wolfson & Abruzzo LLP

To listen to Anita’s interview on the show: http://bit.ly/xnnKR4

When people think of the entertainment industry they think of the fame, privilege, perks, and financial success. What is not in the forefront are the team who help guide the entertainers such as agents, lawyers, stylists, personal assistants and business managers, to name a few. These professionals become not just business related necessities but confidants and an important part of managing fame.

Unfortunately, too often, we hear of entertainers who end up losing it all, filing for bankruptcy, and even some having no place to live. This can partly be the result of poor business management advice. Finding the right business manager is important to protect the things that are important: financial stability, planning for the future, and sustaining life while doing what you are passionate about.

In my over 25 years as a successful business manager for the day to day finances, finding the right business manager can come down to three areas: Helping you map out what is important to be financially content, helping you control your spending, and helping you save for not just the ups and downs but the future.

Here are a few things to take into consideration when looking for a great business manager:

Helping you map out what is important…

A good manager steers their clients to make their money work for them. Helping clients get a handle on purchasing what they need as opposed to what they want. It is important to find out “what are the top 5 things important to you?” The answers could range from the tangible such as clothing, travel, and entertainment to future security. The bottom line is they can always easily answer the question. My belief is they can have all they want, but they have to do away with everything else that you don’t really care about.

Helping you control spending…

It is vital to find someone who will help get control of spending, which in some cases could take years to stabilize. Many clients engage a business manager because they have found themselves in debt. Often, entertainers, especially early in their careers, spend more than they make. They don’t take into consideration the fees going out for the agent and manager; usually 10% for agents and 15% for managers. In some professions in the industry, such as models, the agent fees are sometimes 20%. After those fees they need to pay the expenses like everyone else which include taxes, personal expenses, and living expenses.

To combat with the fees, the entertainers’ mentality usually is I WANT IT NOW! Unfortunately so many don’t know what it means to do without or even just put off buying something on a whim. A good business manager will try to teach their clients the difference between wants and needs. This becomes especially important when most have an unsteady income. For example, an actor’s series ends; or musicians often have many sources of income that are unpredictable and erratic; producers and filmmakers work years on a project. Often there is not a big payday at the end of these projects. The concept of wanting it now can be particularly challenging in today’s world. We are constantly bombarded with advertisements, promotions, and tactics to show us what is available to buy, making it even harder for people who don’t have a controlled spending mentality.

Helping you plan for the future…

A good business manager pushes their clients to save money. That savings will help them carry through the tougher times, when the paychecks are not rolling in, and will help them maintain their cash flow in retirement. I always stress to my clients that you need to have your assets work for you. For example, if they have vacation homes, they could rent out when they are not using them. Entertainers who purchase many homes cannot necessarily afford to pay the overhead without receiving rental income.

A good manager is not afraid to say NO. They are there to pay the bills, make sure the entertainer is receiving their income through contracts, payroll, and residuals. They are most importantly there to make sure the entertainer is putting their money away for the future and for retirement.

I think the best example of what you are looking for can be found in this quote from my client, Melissa Archer, an actress on One Life to Live, “When I first met my business manager I didn’t know much about money except how to spend it. When someone could take me, the girl who spent money like tokens at the arcade, and put me on a budget that worked for my personality, and then saved me a ton of money, that to me is a good business manager. Someone you can trust and someone who wants you to do better”

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Contact Anita Katzen, Partner at Schulman Wolfson & Abruzzo, LLP – 212.868.5781 or akatzen@swallp.com

By Jennifer S. Wilkov, Host of the “Your Book Is Your Hook!” Show on WomensRadio, Book Business Consultant & The Literary Agent Matchmaker™

To listen to the show: http://bit.ly/zSpFrC

Today let’s talk about why publishing a book helps you help others.

Many people do a variety of things to help others. Some work professionally as teachers, trainers, consultants and coaches. Others work in the healthcare field. Some work in a non-profit organization. Others volunteer, and still others find ways to support their local communities in some meaningful way. Everyone wants to make a difference somehow some way.

Writing and publishing a book about an area you have a specialty in helps so many people in a lot of different ways. If you write a novel, you help people learn through stories about the expertise you have in an area affecting their lives. If you write a nonfiction book, you can strut your stuff in a how-to type of book, a cookbook, or a step-by-step guide to whatever your specialized insights apply to. If you write a children’s book, you help parents and children foster their relationships while supporting the child with an essential skill for success – reading.

I’ve met a lot of people in different professions who say they don’t have time to write a book, much less figure out how to publish it.

Options abound for those who want to write a simple book these days. With the advent of self-publishing being more available through venues like today’s show guest, LuLu.com, and with e-publishing being easier than ever to do, it’s never been a better time to be a writer! With so many avenues to get published, all you really have to do is want to.

Understand this: your book is your hook in your area of expertise. The most important thing you can do is write it. The second most important is to get it published.

If you’re not sure what to do, try this:

Sit down and think about what it is you have to say about a particular subject that you’re an expert in. It doesn’t mean you have to write a how-to book in that area. You could also fashion a fictional story about it that leads the reader to the same conclusion through storytelling.

Consider whether a writing career is really for you. Perhaps you could start with a short story and see how it feels. Try it on like a sweater and see if it fits you.

Whatever you write and publish, know this: books heal, help and haunt the reader. They make people laugh, cry, think, gasp and scream out loud. They touch our hearts. They heal our souls. They entertain us. They educate us and they enlighten us.

But the only way they do that is when you write one.

By Guest Blogger, Joanna Poppink, MFT, Psychotherapist, Author, Lecturer

To listen to Joanna Poppink’s interview on the “Your Book Is Your Hook!” Show:  http://bit.ly/zSpFrC

Conari Press wanted an eating disorder recovery self-help book for adult women. I wanted to write it. We were a match. In August, 2011 Healing Your Hungry Heart: Recovering From Your Eating Disorder reached bookshelves in stores throughout the United States and the United Kingdom.

As I wrote HHH, my book deepened and changed, and so did I.  I wrote too much and too little.  I told. I stopped telling. I shared and described. I kept the sharing but stopped describing and told stories.  I told stories I never dreamed I would tell.

The North Star I followed was an ever changing yet consistent image of my reader. I saw her living a life governed by an eating disorder. I had been that woman. I’ve seen her in my private psychotherapy practice. I’ve heard her speak in 12-step meetings. I’ve heard her on the telephone choking with tears. I’ve read her stories in letters she’s written to me for 25 years.  I’ve heard her loved ones tell me their stories and hers.

Throughout every phase of book creation I saw her – a living collage of womanhood yet always being herself.  I wanted to show her how she could work her way out of the horrors of an eating disorder and into freedom.

If you are writing a self-help book, please keep the person you want to teach close to your heart and clearly in your mind.  Have empathy for your reader’s experience as he or she tries to follow your guidance.

To win my reader’s trust, I told some of my story. The editor at Conari said I mentioned a Cornish lover. I either had to say more or cut it because, as it was, it teased the reader.  I decided to tell my private story because I believed that in the telling my reader would recognize herself too.

I realized my reader could tire as she worked her way through my book so I created a “Recovery Check-In” chapter. It’s a rest stop to review progress, reflect on success and gently contemplate challenges ahead.

As I wrote, I got news of a sexually exploiting situation between a professional in the field and a woman in early recovery. I had days of sorrow and rage at the betrayal. I told my publisher I needed to include sexuality in my writing. My editor said, “Follow your heart and write to your reader.”  I added a chapter called, “Sex, Stalking and Exploitation.”

As you write your self-help book, make your information accessible by keeping a clear picture in your mind and heart of your reader’s life, why they need what you are sharing, and how they feel as they follow your suggestions. Your reader is your North Star that leads you to the book you need to write and they need to read.

My hook? Healing Your Hungry Heart brings me clients, opportunities to speak, and new connections with wonderful people in the healing community.

By Jennifer S. Wilkov, host of the “Your Book Is Your Hook!” Show on WomensRadio

The Literary Agent Matchmaker™

www.yourbookisyourhook.com

As authors and writers, we’re always learning about resources and industry tools that we can use to improve our book project performance and the enjoyment of our writing and marketing experiences.  Today let’s talk about memoirs and why we write them.

As a new friend of mine likes to say, “It is all about me, isn’t it?”

When it comes to memoirs, the response I give to writers is…No, not exactly. It’s also about the reader.

I really enjoy working with memoir writers as a consultant. The biggest disconnect I often have to address for the writer is:

1) WHO are you writing your memoir for?

and…

2) WHY are you writing it?

Oftentimes, the answers to these two questions will also determine whether your memoir will sell.

See, as a memoir writer, you must write it for you – to document, clear, understand and process what has happened to you. A memoir by its very nature is cathartic.

If you want to do this for your own health and well-being, then go for it! I cheer you on and I applaud you for it.

If you want it to be a wildly successful book for others to invest 8 hours or so of their lives to read and benefit from yours, you may want to give it a bit more thought.

How you write your memoir and who you write it for will make a difference in whether a literary agent will want to represent your book and whether a publisher sees the value in publishing it.

Here are some guidelines to help you:

1)      Memoirs that are incident-based are more interesting to most people and most industry professionals. Books by business people like Sir Richard Branson or even some celebrities such as Jenny McCarthy’s book, Louder Than Words: A Mother’s Journey to Healing Autism or your favorite musician are not about their whole entire life from the moment they took their first breath. They are about the particular part of their lives they want to highlight and share.

The focus is on their career or a particular topic or time in their lives. The book and story serves the reader in some enlightening or entertaining way and has a clear beginning, middle and end.

2)      Be honest. No one wants to invest their emotions, time and money into reading a book and connecting with a story that is supposed to be true only to discover that it’s not. It’s not only disappointing for the reader, it creates a lot of disgust too. Just look at the reactions to what happened when questions were raised about Greg Mortenson’s book, Three Cups of Tea, James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces, and books from other writers that weren’t true.

3)      Determine if there is something more you can offer than just your story such as insights into what you learned and how the readers might practically apply this to their own lives.

4)      Decide if you want to share more than just your story. Do you intend to write more books? Books that take off from your story? A memoir is also a great start to a career or a compliment to boost your career as a speaker.

If you intend to do more with your story than just tell it, write it in a way that it can be leveraged. Think twice about your title, subtitle and chapter titles.

5)      Be responsible with family members and friends, especially if you want to take your memoir to film or television. If your memoir includes anecdotes about members of your family, close friends or co-workers, or if it reveals family secrets that others may want to keep hidden from the public, think twice about making your book a memoir. You may want to discuss that you are writing the book with the folks you intend to mention to at least make them aware of it and, if plausible, gain their support.

If you intend to pitch your book to the film or television industries, keep in mind that the producers may want a release signed by each person you name in the book to avoid legal issues or delays with the film later on.

6)      Invest in a great editor before you attempt to get published. Many writers make the mistake of not having their memoir reviewed by an editor prior to seeking a literary agent or publisher. Although you may want to “say it the way you say it,” if your grammar, spelling, punctuation and line of thought are off or distracting in your manuscript, no one is going to enjoy reading it.

If you value your story and your work, take the time and invest the money in a solid round of editing by a professional. This is not the area to cut corners or ask a favor from someone you know who teaches English during the school year to high school kids.

A memoir can be written in such a way that it benefits both you and the reader.

Your book can also be your hook to bigger opportunities and career growth.

The truth about memoirs is, like any bestseller, first you need to write a great book. Begin with the end in mind. Consider how your tale benefits others. Evaluate what you want to do with it and how you intend to contribute to the Greater Good with it.

Whether your story educates, enlightens or entertains the reader, when you write your story, there is no doubt you will leave a legacy for yourself, your family, and the human race.

How you choose to leave that legacy via the publishing world is entirely up to you.

If you want to be published with your memoir and have a literary agent represent you, use these simple guidelines to help you get a leg up with your book.

By Jennifer S. Wilkov, host of the “Your Book Is Your Hook!” Show on WomensRadio

www.yourbookisyourhook.com

Click Here to listen this interview any time after 9:00 am EST Tuesday August 2nd, 2011 on the WomensRadio Network

Robert Reid, Lonely Planet’s US Travel Editor and spokesperson, and Tom Wilson, the author of the cartoon strip Ziggy, will appear as guests on the Your Book Is Your Hook! Show on WomensRadio.com.

Mr. Reid will discuss his role in the publishing process, how he finds the authors who research and write the travel guides at Lonely Planet, and he’ll share his perspective of the future of the book publishing industry. Mr. Wilson will talk about celebrating 40 years of Ziggy and his memoir book, Zig-Zagging: Loving Madly, Losing Badly… How Ziggy Saved My Life. He’ll also share how he got published and how he’s using his books as his hook. He’ll also discuss what it’s been like to work on Ziggy with his father for 40 years. He’ll also share advice for cartoonists about today’s publishing world and for owners of a well-known entity like Ziggy who want to write and publish a memoir book.

NEW YORK, NY (August 2nd – August 8th, 2011): Robert Reid, Lonely Planet’s US Travel Editor and spokesperson, will talk with radio personality and host Jennifer S. Wilkov about his role in the publishing process, tips for travel writing and just who writes and researches the Lonely Planet guidebooks.

He’ll also share his perspective of digital books, freelance travel writing and the future of the book publishing industry.

Tom Wilson, the author of the cartoon strip Ziggy, will discuss with radio personality and host Jennifer S. Wilkov celebrating 40 years of Ziggy and his memoir book, Zig-Zagging: Loving Madly, Losing Badly… How Ziggy Saved My Life. He’ll also share how he got published and how he’s using his books as his hook. He’ll also discuss what it’s been like to work on Ziggy with his father for 40 years. He’ll also share advice for cartoonists about today’s publishing world and for owners of a well-known entity like Ziggy who want to write and publish a memoir book.

Host Jennifer S. Wilkov will discuss why we write memoirs and how you can make them sell during her Education Corner segment during the show.

Click Here to Listen Now: http://bit.ly/oXHUqK

If you have questions about any of these interviews or the education corner topic included in the show, please put them here in this discussion thread and I’d be happy to answer them.

By Jennifer S. Wilkov, host of the “Your Book Is Your Hook!” Show on WomensRadio

www.yourbookisyourhook.com

Click Here to listen this interview any time after 9:00 am EST Tuesday July 26th, 2011 on the WomensRadio Network

Michaela Hamilton, Editor In Chief at Citadel Press and Executive Editor of Kensington Publishing, and thriller author and award-winning poet & playwright C.E. Lawrence, will appear as guests on the Your Book Is Your Hook! Show on WomensRadio.com.

Ms. Hamilton will discuss her role in the publishing process, how she finds the authors she publishes, and what constitutes a good pitch for a book. She’ll also share her perspective of the future of the book publishing industry. Ms. Lawrence will talk about her new thriller book, SILENT VICTIM, and share how she got published with Kensington and how she’s using her book as her hook. She’ll also discuss her use of a pen name, how she researches her books, and the distinctions between play writing and book writing. She’ll also share advice for writers who want to write and publish a thriller book in today’s publishing world.

NEW YORK, NY (July 26th – August 1st, 2011): Michaela Hamilton, Editor In Chief of Citadel Press and Executive Editor of Kensington Publishing, will talk with radio personality and host Jennifer S. Wilkov about her role in the publishing process, the types of books she publishes at Kensington, and how she finds her authors.

As a guest speaker at writers conferences and pitch sessions, Ms. Hamilton will reveal what comprises a great pitch and advice about what writers need to know about getting published. She’ll also share her perspective of digital books and the future of the book publishing industry.

Thriller writer and award-winning poet and playwright, C.E. Lawrence, will discuss with radio personality and host Jennifer S. Wilkov how and why she wrote her latest book, SILENT VICTIM. She’ll also talk about how she got published with Kensington and how she’s using her books as her hook. She’ll also reveal how she does the research for her books and plot twists, why she uses a pen name, and the distinctions between play writing and book writing. She’ll also share advice with writers who want to write and publish a thriller book in today’s publishing world.

Host Jennifer S. Wilkov will discuss why some writers use a pen name during her Education Corner segment during the show.

Click Here to Listen Now: http://bit.ly/qxINxd

If you have questions about any of these interviews or the education corner topic included in the show, please put them here in this discussion thread and I’d be happy to answer them.

By Jennifer S. Wilkov, host of the “Your Book Is Your Hook!” Show on WomensRadio

The Literary Agent Matchmaker™

www.yourbookisyourhook.com

As authors and writers, we’re always learning about resources and industry tools that we can use to improve our book project performance and the enjoyment of our writing and marketing experiences.  Today let’s talk about why some writers use pen names.

A pen name or “nom de plume” is a pseudonym adopted by an author for their written work. As Wikipedia explains, “A pen name may be used to make the author’s name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her writings, or for any of a number of reasons related to the marketing or aesthetic presentation of the work. The author’s name may be known only to the publisher, or may come to be common knowledge.”

Sometimes authors use a pen name to avoid being confused with another writer with the same name. Other writers may write in more than one genre and may choose to use a pen name for each type of story or book.

Some pen names you may know and recognize include:

Samuel Langhorne Clemens – who wrote under the aliases “Mark Twain” and “Sieur Louis de Conte.”

Charles Dodgson – the mathematician and fantasy writer who wrote nonfiction under his own name and who wrote fiction with the alias “Lewis Carroll.”

Stephen King – published four novels under the name “Richard Bachman” because publishers didn’t feel the public would buy more than one novel per year from a single author.

C.S. Lewis – the famous author of The Chronicles of Narnia used two different pseudonyms: “Clive Hamilton” for his poems and “N. W. Clerk” for his book about grief and bereavement.

Eric Blair – used the pseudonym “George Orwell” for most of his books because he felt he wasn’t established enough in his writing career to publish under his real name.

Some famous female writers have used pen names for a variety of reasons too:

Mary Ann Evans – wrote as “George Eliot” in the 19^th century to be perceived as a male writer to ensure that her work would be accepted by publishers and/or the public.

Charlotte Bronte – published Jane Eyre under the pseudonym “Currer Bell.”

Emily Bronte – published Wuthering Heights under the pseudonym “Ellis Bell.”

Jane Austen – used the pseudonym “A Lady” as the author of her first novel, Sense and Sensibility.

Karen Blixen – Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke originally published the popular story of Out of Africa under the pseudonym “Isak Dinesen.”

Nora Roberts – who writes romance under her own name writes erotic thrillers using the alias “J.D. Robb.”

There are also series of books that you may have grown up with that are published using a pseudonym to represent several authors such as:

Nancy Drew – these mystery books are published as though they were written by Carolyn Keene

The Hardy Boys – these books are published as the work of Franklin W. Dixon

The Bobbsey Twins – this series is credited to Laura Lee Hope

Even the moniker “nom de plume,” while appearing as French, did not originate in France. H. W. Fowler and F. G. Fowler, in The King’s English state that the term nom de plume “evolved” in Britain, where people wanting a “literary” phrase, failed to understand the term nom de guerre, which already existed in French. Since guerre means war in French, nom de guerre did not make sense to the British, who did not understand the French metaphor. The term “nom de plume” was later exported to France.

Some authors like this week’s author guest, C.E. Lawrence, choose to use initials in their pen names for their work. Others use initials to abbreviate and disguise their real names (which are not considered pseudonyms) such as:

S. E. Hinton – Susan Eloise Hinton, the author of The Outsiders

J. K. Rowling – Joanne “Jo” Rowling, the author of Harry Potter, who incidentally had no middle name. She chose the “K” as the second initial of her pen name from her paternal grandmother Kathleen Ada Bulgen Rowling. She used the two initials because her publishers demanded it, fearing that the target audience of young boys might not want to read a book written by a woman,

Other authors have used pen names for other reasons such as:

Joseph Conrad – the British author of Heart of Darkness whose given Polish name was Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, too hard to pronounce, spell or remember and too long to print.

Silence DoGood – the pseudonym of Benjamin Franklin that he used to write letters to The New England Courant newspaper owned by his brother. Franklin created Silence DoGood as the persona of a middle-aged widow and the letters he wrote poked fun at the various aspects of life in colonial America.

O. Henry – William Sydney Porter’s pseudonym under which he wrote famous short stories like The Gift of the Magi. His moniker was applied to other writers’ works and became referred to as an “O. Henry ending,” pointing to his gift for the surprise endings to his stories.

Pseudonyms extend to children’s books and the comic book world too through:

Stan Lee – Stanley Martin Lieber, the comic book pioneer. He was the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics. In collaboration with several artists, he created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the X-men, the Avengers, Iron Man, the Hulk, Thor, Daredevil, Doctor Strange and many others.

Dr. Seuss – Theodor Seuss Geisel, the beloved writer and cartoonist who published 46 children’s books which were often characterized by imaginative characters and rhymes. He began using his pen name long before his books though when an incident in college had the dean force him to resign from all extracurricular activities including writing for the college humor magazine. At that time, he continued writing for the magazine and signed his work under his first pen name, “Seuss.”

There are many reasons why you may want to use a pen name for your work. As you can see, you won’t be the first, and you certainly won’t be the last.

As history has shown, even with a pen name, you can still use your book as your hook – and become a beloved writer.

Jennifer’s show can be heard every week on Tuesday mornings at 9am when it is broadcast on WomensRadio.com and syndicated on Google News and Live365.com. Each show is archived for replay listeners in different time zones and countries.

For more information on this Education Corner topic and others, please refer to www.YourBookIsYourHook.com/blog for more articles and resources to help you with your books.