diff --git a/hooks/pre_gen_project.py b/hooks/pre_gen_project.py
index a65fedae8..c48ce0ad8 100644
--- a/hooks/pre_gen_project.py
+++ b/hooks/pre_gen_project.py
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ project_slug = '{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}'
 if hasattr(project_slug, 'isidentifier'):
     assert project_slug.isidentifier(), "'{}' project slug is not a valid Python identifier.".format(project_slug)
 
+assert "\\" not in "{{ cookiecutter.author_name }}", "Don't include backslashes in author name."
+
+
 using_docker = '{{ cookiecutter.use_docker }}'.lower()
 if using_docker == 'n':
     TERMINATOR = "\x1b[0m"