Plenty, apparently. There are a slew of female authors who go by initials. Men have done this too, but for women the reason is often to disguise the fact that they are, in fact, women. J.K. Rowling, J.D. Robb (who is, in fact Nora Roberts, if you didn't know), S.E. Hinton...even Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women, started her career as a man--A.M. Barnard.
I'm sure that not all female writers who go by their initials made the choice because being mistaken for a male author sells more books. But the fact is that many do, and that's a sad account of history. Still, it's not the only reason authors choose initials. Sometimes, it's for a certain anonymity. Authors tend to be an introverted lot--I know I am, and as unlikely as it may be, none of us want to become the victim of our number one fan, as with King's memorable character from Misery, Annie Wilkes. Many authors choose a pseudonym for this reason, among several others too. Stephen King chose to write as Richard Bachman for a time. It has been told that part of the reason King chose to do this was because he wanted to see if his work would sell without his quickly famous name attached to it. Other well known authors have done the same because their name may be synonymous with a genre of book, and they want to branch out. Dean Koontz has done this, as has Anne Rice.
Sometimes an author will choose a pseudonym that rings true to the genre of books they write. Peter B. Germano, for example, wrote under the pseudonyms of Barry Cord, James Kane and Jack Slade. He wrote westerns. The world of romance novels is rife with male authors hiding behind feminine names, because come on. Would you rather read a romance by Bill Spence or by Jessica Blair?
As an author who chose my given name, I have experienced a different problem. Diane Johnson is a well known author. Le Divorce and Flyover Lives are well known best sellers. Some authors might change their name for this reason. I added my middle initial because I wanted to be me and because I wanted to make my mom proud if I ever happened to pen a best seller. Regardless, with or without the M., Diane Johnson is an all too common name. I also have a relative named Anne Perry -- she's not that Anne Perry either.
The one author who I am NOT is Diane Johnson-McFadgen. This may seem like a tangent, but it's true. At the time I write this, if you were to Google any of my books, Google would tell you that they were written by Diane Johnson-McFadgen. I will guarantee you that Stephen King or Anne Rice or Anne Perry do not have this problem. Such is the life of a self published indie author. What's weirder is that Google can't seem to figure out that the search brings up more about Diane M. Johnson than it does Johnson-McFadgen. Google needs to do something about this, and if they have finally taken my request off the back burner, this blog is sure to confuse their algorithms all the more.
Let it be known that I have nothing against the author Johnson-McFadgen. She wrote a book, and if you are looking for some Christian spiritual insight, by all means click on this link: Today's Stones at B&N.
