Why do authors change their name?

Question

Like Mark Twain isn't his real name

Answer 1

They don't want people to know who they really are, I think mostly for privacy purposes.

Answer 2

Some times it's because the publisher advised the name change- like say a writer has had two kinds of books accepted by a publisher, and the publisher thinks a pen name will prevent confusion. But in Mark Twain's case, maybe he just hated his real name. Or maybe he thought a name such as Mark Twain would be more likely, to get accepted by a publisher. Or a writer might just want anonymity, and to avoid the paparazzi.

Answer 3

There are probably lots of reasons to use pen names (pseudonyms). An author that gets stereotyped in one genre may use a different name if they want to write in a different genre.
A female writer that writes a book in what might be considered a 'man's domain' (say, a war book, for example) might choose to use a male name.
Or if it's a controversial or 'touchy' subject, the author (or publisher) may feel it's better to change the name instead of risking a well-known name.
A young author whose books don't sell well, could choose a different name as they get older and better, so that people don't say "that author's no good" and refuse to look at their books based on past performance.
Sometimes, when two authors work on a book or series together, they may choose a single made-up name so as not to confuse people by having different authors.
Or maybe just to preserve their privacy.

Also, some books are written by 'ghost writers', which is not exactly the same as a pseudonym. A long-running series of books may have several different authors all using the same name, for the sake of continuity.

Answer 4

Most of the other answers I saw were OK. I'll add that Amantine-Lucile-Aurore Dupin chose "George Sand" as her nom de plume because female authors were not taken seriously in the mid nineteenth century.

For your example: Samuel Langhorne Clemens chose his name carefully. Even If you are only basically familiar with Twain's life and his works, some examination of the words "mark" and "twain" may prove interesting to you.

Answer 5

Because it's more catchy; also in mystery writing the same author may have several stories published in the same month's issue and the editor may request that he or she use a pseudonym for the second story to keep readership interested; or the writer may have two or more separate genres and needs to make sure the readership only identifies one kind of book with each separate author (Agatha Christie, Louise Westmacott); the author him or herself may be dissatisfied with early work and change their name permanently so the taint of bad literature does not hound them the rest of their career; and finally because they may be playing games to see who among the public can guess that they are writing under several names and to see if any can tell that the authorship of several specific books is actually by one and the same person.

Answer 6

Mark Twain was a synonym for something else but they usually change their names to protect their families from crazy people like us...

Answer 7

A variety of reasons - - I wrote my first book under an assumed name because I did not want to be seen as taking advantage of my brothers reputation as an author - - it was a mistake - - it is my name too..

but there are issues of anonymity and probably show biz as well.. in the same way that movie stars change their names too

Answer 8

Embarrassment -wrote something racy or politically incorrect
Different Genres- you don't want to be known for just one type of writing
Better shelf placement
Hard to say name
Wrong gender or race -George Eliot

Answer 9

because any time you open yourself up, there are people who are sadistic/weird/unfulfilled or abusive and they can use the opportunity to insult and harass you. what they do is counterproductive to the overall universal intelligence. but basically it is part of nature to have detractors anytime intellectual freedom is used. think about socrates. think about any thinker. even mere college students. but stupid people want to throw stones on them. sophists and corrupt individuals wish to oppress free thinkers and people who question things. so i believe authors hide their name in order to find the fullest freedom possible in the expression of their ideas.

Answer 10

Because like Lemony Snicket,author of "A Series of Unfortunate Events" series,when he came out w/his book "A Series of Unfortunate Events:The Bad Beginning",and if everyone hated it,then he would be known as "Lemony Snicket,the worst author ever."But if everyone loved it & it was a bestselling,then he would come out as his real name.so its like,a 2nd chance,or like just mainly to see if people would like his ideas and stuff like that.

Answer 11

privacy mostly. And it's really fun to change your name. You get to invent something really awesome sounding.

Also some people wouldn't want to be judged by the books they wrote(like if some one wrote something really dark and people automatically thought they were dark too.)