Known 'facts' about Bachman were that he was born in New York, served a four-year stint in the Coast Guard, which he then followed with ten years in the merchant marine. King provided biographical details for Bachman, initially in the 'about the author' blurbs in the early novels. (The surname Stark was later used in King's novel The Dark Half, in which an author's malevolent pseudonym, 'George Stark', comes to life.) Bachman was inspired by Bachman–Turner Overdrive, a rock and roll band King was listening to at the time his publisher asked him to choose a pseudonym on the spot. Westlake's long-running pseudonym Richard Stark. Richard is a tribute to crime author Donald E. The pseudonym King originally selected (Gus Pillsbury) is King's maternal grandfather's name, but at the last moment King changed it to Richard Bachman. The Bachman book Thinner (1984) sold 28,000 copies during its initial run-and then ten times as many when it was revealed that Bachman was, in fact, King. King concludes that he has yet to find an answer to the 'talent versus luck' question, as he felt he was outed as Bachman too early to know. He says he deliberately released the Bachman novels with as little marketing presence as possible and did his best to 'load the dice against' Bachman.

In his introduction to The Bachman Books, King states that adopting the nom de plume Bachman was also an attempt to make sense out of his career and try to answer the question of whether his success was due to talent or luck. He convinced his publisher, Signet Books, to print these novels under a pseudonym. King therefore wanted to write under another name, in order to increase his publication without over-saturating the market for the King 'brand'. At the beginning of Stephen King's career, the general view among publishers was that an author was limited to one book per year, since publishing more would be unacceptable to the public.

Bachman books the long walk