For those of us who not only love reading books, but also writing them, we’re quite familiar with pen names, also known as a nomme de plume.

Why do authors use pen names?

There are a variety of reasons such as they wish to venture into a different genre (how different depends entirely on the author), or they write controversial subject matter or write in genres that are considered riske, for want of a better term, such as erotica. Using a pen name can allow an author to remain a bit or very anonymous and therefore help their book sales.

I will soon be switching to the pen name of Michael Slavin for my historical fiction books that I intend to write over the next few years.