The REAL Silver Elite controversy

It's not about the author.

If you’ve been anywhere near BookTok lately, you’ve probably heard of Silver Elite by Dani Francis.

It’s a romantasy with a big marketing push a real-life plot twist: no one knows who the author actually is. Dani Francis is a pen name.

Naturally, this has led to tons of speculation. Is it a famous author? A cancelled author hiding from pitchforks? AI? Some kind of IP project?

I don’t know. But that’s not what I find interesting about Silver Elite.

Because while everyone’s asking “Who is Dani Francis?”, the question I want to ask is:

Why do publishers insist authors need robust social media platforms when Silver Elite proves otherwise?

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Pen names are fine, actually.

Let’s just get this out of the way: Authors are absolutely allowed to use pen names.

Sometimes it’s about branding. Sometimes it’s about genre-hopping. And sometimes, it’s about safety.

I knew an author once who published their debut under a pseudonym because if people in their real life found out about it, their physical safety would’ve been at risk.

So sure, the guessing game is fun. But let’s keep in mind: pen names are often about privacy, not marketing gimmicks.

That said, the publisher is making this pen name a marketing gimmick, which is…a choice. More on that later.

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The “midlist comeback” theory is… kind of hilarious

One theory is that Dani Francis is a midlist author getting a “second chance” under a new name.

As an editor who has explicitly asked about this on behalf of my authors, let me tell you: That’s not how it works. Alas.

Publishers do not give midlist authors second chances. They don’t offer them new pen names. They don’t rebrand them and invest six figures in a relaunch. In most cases, once they’re done with you? They’re done.

When a midlist author gets a breakout book, it’s often in spite of the publisher—just a combination of author hustle, good timing, and reader support.

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The real controversy is the double standard

Here’s what actually bothers me.

Whoever Dani Francis is, they have done zero marketing for this book that they’ve had to put their own name, words, and face to. No TikTok. No newsletter. No carefully curated Instagram grid. No BlueSky memes. Nothing.

And yet—Silver Elite is selling like hotcakes.

Why?

Because the publisher decided to get behind it. Full stop.

For the past decade, authors have been told:

“If you want to succeed, you have to build your platform. You have to be online. You have to do the marketing yourself.”

But clearly… that’s not true. And look, I’m not saying all authors can just be off grid and not have any online presence at all. I’m not saying it can’t help. But it is not, not, the end-all-be-all. And using an author’s meager online following as a reason to reject an otherwise great book is…well, stupid.

If a publisher puts real money behind a book, it will find its readers. The author’s name, past sales, and online presence are important, sure, but the budget is and always has been the secret sauce.

So why are we still being told otherwise? And why is our online hustle (or lack thereof) being used to reject our books from the start?

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Why won’t publishers invest in their own midlist authors?

Here’s the part I cannot stop thinking about. I’ve had so many conversations with authors, editors, publicists, marketers—no one can explain it.

Why are sales and acquisitions teams so averse to helping midlist authors?

Readers don’t care about BookScan. They’re not researching past sales before buying a book. They’re browsing. They’re picking up books that look cool or sound interesting. That’s it.

Look at Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. It didn’t launch with a massive publisher-funded campaign. Readers talked about it. BookTok made it a hit.

And here’s the thing: Fourth Wing wasn’t her debut. She had a whole backlist—and now that backlist is selling, too. Imagine that!

So… wouldn’t it make sense for publishers to invest in great books by their existing authors? You’d get the frontlist and the backlist boost.

Right? Right? Bueller?

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So what is the real controversy?

Not who Dani Francis is. Not whether Silver Elite was ghostwritten, packaged, or produced by AI.

The real controversy is what this book proves.

It proves that authors don’t need an active online presence to have a breakout book. Or indeed, any presence at all.

It proves that when publishers get behind a book, that’s what makes it take off.

So if anyone out there in publishing can tell me why midlist authors are rejected based on past sales as if their previous books are a collective albatross dragging them to the depths of the sea and making it impossible for their future books to thrive, I’m listening. My comments are open. Feel free to use a pen name.

Want me to critique your work? Query and synopses critiques are $30; email me at mischubooks@gmail.com!

The posts I publish here will remain free. But I have a series called Ask the Editor, which will publish every other Friday. The short pitch: Dear Abby for writers.

The longer pitch: paid subscribers ($5/month or $50/year, cancel anytime) will receive a link to a form where they can submit pretty much anything within a two page limit. Things like…

• Queries

• Synopses

• Pages from their novel

• Questions about writing or traditional publishing

• A current problem or situation in their writing journey (ie: trying to decide if an agent is a schmagent, disagreeing with beta feedback, etc)

• A rant about this whole “trying to get published” endeavor to a sympathetic ear

Every other Friday, I’ll respond to/critique as many submissions as I can and publish them together in one post. Because they’ll be behind a paywall, there’s some privacy—your query, pages, or rant about that one really horrible rejection won’t be online for editors to discover when they Google you.

That’s it! I hope to see you over there. :)

Michelle