Writing different genres?

Question

I like to write many different genres in my fiction writing but I think that this would be confusing as an author's name becomes somewhat of a brand. Is it therefore a good idea to invent pen names where genres don't really gel so that the audiences aren't thrown off if they pick one of the books under a different genre they expected? Or is it possible to generate sub-brands for an author so that the readership are clear on which genre a book is under?What other methods are there for achieving this separation?

Answer 1

This is completely a personal decision. There are many authors who have published books using a pen name for various reasons without a problem (Stephen King, J.K. Rowling, Michael Chrichton, Patricia Highsmith, etc.). However, in your case I would not use a pen name simply to avoid confusion.

My thought is that it would be more trouble to expand your audience in one genre once you have established yourself in another; take a look at the publicity stunt (sorry, I’m a cynic) required in order to increase sales of the crime novels J.K. Rowling had published as Robert Galbraith, and decide for yourself whether or not it worked.