# What's In a Name?



## Philip Overby (Feb 8, 2014)

Wasn't sure where to put this, so Chit Chat it is! I thought this was an interesting post about the likelihood of readers picking up dark or epic fantasy from a male writer over a female writer. Most said it didn't make a difference, but Mark Lawrence covered what he thinks based on some polls he did.

Mark Lawrence: What's in a name?


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## Svrtnsse (Feb 8, 2014)

This got me thinking about how this would relate to my WIP. It's a mostly light and happy little story, dealing with romance and relationship issues. There's no violence and little to no action. I'd say it's about as far from grimdark as you can reasonably get without intentionally going for "anti-grimdark".

As a male, would I be better off going with a gender neutral or female pen name for it?


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## A. E. Lowan (Feb 8, 2014)

Hey!  This is awesome - and it's the other half of the discussion we're having in Marketing here - http://mythicscribes.com/forums/marketing/11233-being-woman-writing-dark-fiction-its-complicated.html

But all that's linked on Lawrence's end seems to be his survey.  I didn't answer it, so I don't know if it does anything else.  Thanks for posting this!


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## The Blue Lotus (Feb 11, 2014)

I did a ton of research awhile back because this was a question the bugged me to no end. 
I have seen well respected Authors say that women cannot produce quality work. Being a woman this pizzed me off a great deal.
So I went to the book store at random times and asked random people if they had to decide between two books, one written by a chick the other a guy which would they select?
 They all said the guy's book. Regardless of content, just based on the name alone.
I decided after getting the same reply on various platforms of social media that I would go with a name that could go either way. Any SNL fan will recognize it, it is simply "Pat" I decided to go with my maiden surname, "Jackson" as well because another personal poll showed that foreigners or even people with foreign sounding names don't get a lot of love either.

"What's in a name?" you ask...
I personally think it is sad that we still have to ask this question nearly 100 years after women won the right to vote here in the US of A.
FYI I hate the name Pat more than anyone can ever begin to understand.


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