JK Rowling named as the author behind The Cuckoo’s Calling, and the stratospheric success as a result, has raised a few questions over celebrity, gender and the act of publishing under an assumed name.
The New Statesman asks how helpful – or harmful – is Rowling’s seemingly impish act of literary transvestism?
It’s worth noting that Rowling’s success as a female author in the first place was in part dependent on her concealing her gender. At the behest of herHarry Potter publisher, she diminished Joanna to J so as to not put off young male readers.
… what the affair of The Cuckoo’s Calling really reveals is that, ultimately, celebrity trumps gender when it comes to literary success. But few successful, talented, published authors, of whom there are so many, ever achieve Rowling’s level of fame. So the message seems to be: if you want to get published, and sell well, be a man about it.
The full piece, including an interesting piece from The Guardian, here.