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First thing that came to mind was Elena Ferrante, but also one of my favorite authors, K.J. Parker (who is no longer pseudonymous but was for a long time). But

First thing that came to mind was Elena Ferrante, but also one of my favorite authors, K.J. Parker (who is no longer pseudonymous but was for a long time). But why does it have to be fiction, and why does the author have to be anonymous? There's a big difference between being anonymous and being a social media influencer: I'd guess most of the best and most influential fiction and non-fiction authors have fallen in that range. The thing to avoid is a world where publishers would say "Sorry, Mr. Faulkner, we won't be publishing your little book until you get a few more followers."

ephbit 4y ago
> But why does it have to be fiction .. ? My immediate thought was: would it even work to publish a non fiction book anonymously? > There's a big difference between being anonymous and being a social media influencer. Agree. My reasoning was: even without any digital social media, charisma (and other factors such as having connections or previous success) is probably a trait that positively influences an author's success. If you want "pure quality of the oevre itself" to speak for itself, then shouldn't it have been published anonymously?
toyg 4y ago
Ferrante is extremely likely to actually be someone who was already connected to publishing (either the wife of a celebrated Italian writer, or a nome de plume for both of them), so it's hard to say "she" got there "on merits alone". But I agree on the rest of the comment.