Even J.K. Rowling used a pen name when she wanted to publish different kind of book that had nothing to do with Harry Potter. Stephen King has used a pseudonym because he wanted to write more books than his publisher was willing to release under his own name. It makes us wonder how many author names on book covers actually are real names, and how many are pen names?

Mark Twain is a pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, but how did he invent the name? The story goes that when he was working on Mississippi river ships, he heard boys who were measuring water depth often shouting “twain” (two).

Infographic by Lovereading via Visually.

Some books produced by Klaava are also authored by pseudonyms. Can anyone tell which ones?

Writing World has an excellent article on when a writer may want to use a pseudonym: another career, already established in another genre, problem with a real name, a team of writers take a pen name, or writing for multiple competing publications. The article wisely reminds writers that a pseudonym doesn’t protect anyone from legal actions, and the publisher always has to know the real identity of the author (if the author wants to get paid).