I never thought you could quantify missionary zeal, but apparently you can:
The Gospel by the bushel
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3 responses to “The Gospel by the bushel”
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Hi hurree, you havent answered my question.
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Falkor–my apologies, first, for taking so long to respond. About whether it’s still possible to publish work anonymously/ pseudonymously:Most publishers prefer to use the author’s own name for various reasons–it’s cleaner on the legal front, it’s easier to build a “brand” around the author etc. There are some exceptions. If the publishers feel that the author genuinely needs protection or anonymity (as in the case of Primary Colours), and better yet, if the publishing house can also turn the anonymity to good account, they’ll go along with it.Sometimes, the pseudonym is worth a lot in itself, as was the case with Riverbend, the Baghdad Blogger–she preferred not to use her own name, and since most readers of that blog knew her as Riverbend, the pseudonym itself had considerable “brand equity”.In rare cases, an already established author might want to publish a work anonymously or behind a pen name if it is substantially different from earlier work.In a more general sense, you need to have a good reason: being shy and reclusive really doesn’t count, unless your name is Thomas Pynchon, but being a married woman who’s spilling the beans about her active extramarital sex life (The Bride Stripped Bare) would.Cheers,Hurree
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Speaking of pseudonymity — I had SO wanted to use a make-believe handle for myself at the time that MOUSE ATTACK was published! But my UK publisher politely turned down my request (I was about to reveal what my name-to-be might have been, but realized that it would be a mistake in case some FUTURE pub agrees to my request! Wouldn’t want that handle to be snitched before I could use it …).I believed I had an impeccable argument — LEMONY SNICKET, author of the best-selling series about the Beaudelaire orphans (I’m trying to avoid repeating the word “series”), has used a very obvious-sounding pseudonym and has done very well thank you. But the Brits were not to be moved. After all, “… Unfortunate Events” was not a British publication and they chose to pretend they hadn’t heard of it. We compromised with “Manjula Padma” but it didn’t fool anyone and sounds quite wimpy besides.*sigh*
nilanjana s roy 
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