Quote Originally Posted by Cyclops View Post
I've never understood why the use of 'alts' should be an issue.

This is a list of some of my favourite authors: Alexander Kent, C S Forester, Ed McBain, James Herriot and John Le Carre.

Guess what they all have in common!

I've never read any criticism of why Cecil Smith et al used nom de plumes.

So why have some authors adopted other name(s)?

One of the main reasons is because they are writing in a different genre - Douglas Reeman wrote books from WW2; Alexander Kent from early 19thC. So a poster may want to present a different personna for different types of posts (ie posting Photoshop images)

Sometimes sales have been slow and publishers suggest a change of name might help future sales as that could break any association with poor books in the mind of readers. Thus a poster may have an unfortunate rep and in order to be better accepted, he/she changes their name.

It's not as if a posters first name is their own......
Did Douglas Reeman and Arthur Kent get into written discussions with one another?