Pseudonym helped Rowling publish 'without expectation'

JK Rowling has secretly released a crime novel under the guise of a male debut writer Robert Galbraith.

The book topped the bestseller chart on Amazon after the Sunday Times revealed Galbraith's true identity.

Speaking to the Today programme, Carmela Ciuraru - author of Nom de Plume: A (Secret) History of Pseudonyms - said: "Sometimes it's pure fun, and it's a way of sticking it to the literary establishment, having a secret of your own.

"In Rowling's case, she said it was publish without hype and expectation and she was able to have her book judged on its own merits."

First broadcast on the Today programme on Monday 15 July.