on The Book Designer:
Anyone who’s published a piece of writing since people started passing around their favorite reads on clay tablets has considered using a nom de plume or pen name.
George Eliot, Mark Twain, George Orwell, Dr. Seuss and many, many more famous authors published not under their given names, but an alias.
I’ve certainly thought about it myself, so I understand the impulse. I am, however, going to offer an argument for not using a pen name — or, at least, for sticking to just one.