The Short Life of Scott Knox
You don't know him yet, but probably will...at some point...
I’d like to introduce Scott Knox—
Scott is an author and screenwriter, focusing on fiction with a speculative bent (think some Stephen King or Dean Koontz). His books are thrillers or crime/suspense novels that usually take an unexpected path; that afford the reader a fleeting glimpse of those dark things we fear in our closets or under our beds. There is usually an air of “otherness” about them, like looking through a fractured mirror. While traditional explanations are put forward, those explanations often don’t answer everything that happens in his stories.
Some things stay in the dark, some answers are never found...
One of the things I’ve contemplated over the last couple of months is writing certain books under an open pseudonym, the way Michael Koryta pens his Scott Carson stories. To some extent, you can draw a line between my first four novels and the latter two, which were increasingly “speculative;’ blurring the boundaries between crime and horror and thriller and horror. While Alma Katsu has successfully balanced her spy and historical horror novels under a single “Alma Katsu” banner, some agents and editors I’ve spoken to have raised this idea of better branding or differentiating my books.
Truthfully, the book I just sold is more of a “Scott Knox” book, although the novel we’re getting ready for submission and the one I’m currently penning (Black Horses) is more of “J. Todd Scott” work. I like them all (hell, I’m even tinkering with a fantasy novel), and want to continue to lean into different genres as long as I can, without driving my readers mad.
That’s why I was fully prepared to lean into the “Scott Knox” pen name for some future books—a way to split the steams, so to speak, to solidify the branding—although that’s now unlikely to take place with the book I just sold. The reality is J. Todd Scott has sold books (and written for TV) and Scott Knox has done, well, neither. My brand, such as it is, is me, and while I might slip and slide around genres, the things that (I hope) draw readers to all my stories remains constant, regardles of genre.
I still think there will be opportunities for SK going forward, I’m just not sure now is the time. But if you’re writer or have any kind of opinion about open pen names, pseudonyms, or the value of segregated branding, please comment or reach out. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
My co-writing partner and I got some notes on the feature film spec we’ve been working on, so we’re tackling those today. It’s so damn close…I hope in another week or two it’ll be out of our hands and out in the wild.
And finally, Happy Halloween—
As always, feel free to—
Love this. I actually just wrote (yesterday) a post about the names we use as authors and used you as a reference point. While not actually a pen name, I am writing under a format of my name that is not associated with who I am in real life. https://www.jedwardhunter.com/p/the-name-game