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Jake, a valid and interesting question.
I have used a female pen name, and I have been criticized for it. But then that is my own fault for revealing my true gender, when I thought it appropriate to do so.
Some time ago I discontinued publishing my stories and I have not done much writing since. So, bare with me as I respond to your query.
Over the years, for one reason or another, writing became to great of a distraction to continue. But rather than leave my stories, I purged all and canceled my account. When I found time to write again, I would use a new Pen Name. The second Alias I wrote under was female. which occured purely by accident. I must say my writing was much better received using a female alias.
My skill level is reasonable to above average, with relation to creativity, but my spelling, grammar and structure required improvement. Funny thing, while using two different male pen names, I received very few offers of tutelage, but as a female, the offers were numerous. However, many fans wanted too offer more than just offer assistance, and I couldn't allow myself to misslead them further. I revealed my true gender, which with a couple fans, proved to be an error.
After taking a short break, I began writing under a male pen name, third alias now, and was actually trying to gauge the answer to your question, whihc I had myuself.
I did write again with a fourth pen name, which I thought impossible to distinguish gender. But many fans made the assumption that it was female. Even though my first story was told from a male POV. Again those stories were well received. But again, writing was interfering with business, and something had to give.
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Maybe I should clarify what I mean by well received. Under my first alias, each of my stories had received an averaged vote just above 9, although I have no idea what my cumulative average was. My second attempt using the Female Alias, my stories averaged much higher, albeit I had improved my grammatical skill set -- somewhat. Upon posting my 6th story, I received congratulations for being among the top 100 authors, something I had not even realized existed, I was ranked 22nd. That got me hooked, I wrote several more stories and I finally interrupted my addiction while bouncing between the 8th and 10th seat. Not only was I well received based on average vote, I was also climbing the Favorite Authors list.
During my stint writing under a female alias, I had received both solicited and unsolicited assistance with improving my skills. That is why I began writing under a new male alias, as a test. My stories were well received, my average vote wasjut slightly lower, but the number of reads and votes per story was about half or less.
Using a non-gender specific pen name the results were much the same as using a male's pen name. Average score was similar but the total votes and number of reads was lower in comparison to the female name.
All of that said, a number of variables could be responsible for the results, such as; choice of subject matter, creative fatigue, seasonal adjustments for readership, etc. etc.
Now I feel like finishing a story and posting it... What gender to use for a pen name???
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