Pen Names

Some authors write under a variety of pen names. A few do it when they experiment with a different type of literature and don’t want to initially expose their previously known name, e.g., J. K. Rowling (publishing The Cuckoo’s Calling under the name Robert Galbraith) and Nora Roberts (J. D. Robb). Others use different pseudonyms because their publishers want them to. My fellow Colorado mystery author Cricket McRae has series under the names of Cricket McRae, K. C. McRae and Bailey Cates.

I have two different types of mystery novels published, The Paul Jacobson Geezer-lit Mystery Series and a paranormal mystery, The V V Agency. Coming later this month is a third type of mystery, a paranormal geezer-lit mystery, titled, The Back Wing. These are through three different publishers, but I’ve chosen to use my same name for all three—Mike Befeler.

I suppose there are valid reasons why someone might use different names, for example, if you’re writing both children’s books and erotica, but for the most part, I think it’s kind of silly to use different names. Readers are smart. They’ll figure it out. And in many cases the bio at the end of the book identifies who the author really is anyway, so why do it?

What’s your opinion on authors using different pen names?