[arg_discuss] TINAG and the Curtain = silly

[despain at quantumcontent.com]

Actually, it's pretty easy to publish a book anonymously or
pseudonymously.   The publishing industry is set up to accommodate such
quirks.

Their official legal forms ask for a "contact" (which could be an agent,
for instance) not the real name of the person submitting the material.
They ask who the check should be written to, even if there's an obvious
"written by Wendy Despain" attribution all over everything.

Sure, someone probably knows who you really are (your agent for instance)
but you keep them on your payroll as part of the team. They're not going
to say anything out of turn.

The reason it doesn't happen more often is what Brian references. There
may have been reasons in the past, but today - why not put your name on
it?

(Pseudonyms get used most in the publishing industry most often when a
mid-list author is trying to breath some life into a stalled career, or
when they're slumming in a less glamorous genre than they usually write
in.)

All that said, I have to admit I agree with Brian. Curtains should be
considered carefully. Nobody needs to know exactly what's in the haggis
while you're eating it, but it seems to me that if you have to hide behind
a really thick curtain the world you're building is too far from reality.

Wendy Despain
quantumcontent.com



>>True, and I had thought of Primary Colors as I was writing the post.

>>But it's a lot harder.

>

> Why would one be more interested in publishing anonymously anyway? I mean,

> I

> can think of particular situations like Primary Colors ... but why is that

> a

> desired artistic goal?

>

>

> Brian

>

>

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