By: Hibbah Ayubi
March 23, 2025
While studies have shown that, globally, women are at a greatest risk of being illiterate, they are also more likely to be avid readers and read on a day-to-day basis - and it’s no secret that female authors currently outsell and outnumber their male colleagues. Most of the 2023 bestselling novels were authored by women, and in 2024, they made up most of the New York Times weekly bestseller list in the fiction genre.
While women currently dominate the literary world, it’s important to remember they were shut out from writing until quite recently, and even after they were allowed to publish their own works, many women wrote under male pseudonyms. That’s not to say there weren’t any female authors in the past, or none that were open about it—because there were—but many women were either forced or ‘chose’ to either remain anonymous or write under a male pen name.
Women have always contributed to the publishing industry; they would write, print, and engrave for magazines, newspapers, and pamphlets, but they weren’t allowed to be legally recognized as publishing professionals. Many women working in their family businesses would publish under the name of their male relatives, resulting in their efforts being falsely accredited.
One such woman was Elizabeth Timothy - America’s first female newspaper editor, publisher, and one of the first female journalists ever. Her husband, Louis Timothy, signed a six-year contract with Benjamin Franklin wherein Louis would own and publish the South Carolina Gazette, with Franklin receiving a third of the profit. Louis died in 1738 with a year left on his contract, which stipulated that his son, Peter, must carry on in his stead.
Peter, who was only thirteen years of age, was too young and inexperienced to take over the business. His mother, Elizabeth would write, edit, and publish pieces for the South Carolina Gazette, starting from 1739 until 1746. Though she was listed as editor, her son Peter was credited as the paper’s publisher, since the publisher had to be male.
Canada’s first female publisher - and the first black woman to be a publisher in North America - was Mary Ann Shadd Cary. Also the second black woman to attend law school in the United States, Mary Ann established the Provincial Freeman, a weekly anti-slavery newspaper - and the first Canadian newspaper to be published by a woman - in southern Ontario that advocated for integration, the equal treatment of races, and even championed the rights of women.
Mary Ann knew her being a woman would deter people from reading her paper, so she solicited the aid of Samuel Ringgold Ward and Rev. Alexander McArthur; they contributed to the paper alongside Mary Ann Shadd, but only their full names were featured on the masthead, whilst Mary Ann identified herself only with ‘publishing agent’ and her first two initials. In 1854, Mary Ann removed the men from the masthead and replaced it with her own, being met with much public outcry which forced her to resign the following year.
Jane Austen, one of the most famous and beloved writers in history, never saw her name on the cover of any of her books. Novel-writing was seen as unfeminine as it brought notoriety and attention onto women. Austen wrote anonymously, she did not employ a male pseudonym, and her first novel (Sense and Sensibility) was published as having been written ‘by a lady.’ Her identity was revealed posthumously by her brother Henry, with the publication of Northanger Abbey and Persuasion.
The Brontë sisters all published their works under male pseudonyms - Charlotte went by Currer Bell, Emily went by Ellis Bell, and Anne went by Acton Bell - in order to increase their chances of being published, and in order to avoid prejudice by critics, especially seeing as their work did not fall in line with what was considered ‘feminine’.
Lucy Maud Montgomery, more commonly known as L.M. Montgomery published the beloved Canadian classic ‘Anne of Green Gables’ in 1908, and even she felt the need to use her initials rather than her name, so as to conceal her gender from her readers.
There is no question surrounding the legitimacy or the influence of the longstanding and enduring legacy of women in the literary industry—whether that be concerning their role in newspapers, pamphlets, or novels—but even as we celebrate our favourite female authors and journalists, it’s important we take a step back and acknowledge the women who helped pave the way so that women can no write and publish their works under their names.
