A lot of people think that if you use a pen name you have something to hide. That’s actually the farthest thing from the truth. There are several valid reasons why you would want to use a pen name.
The first is that one person can’t be an expert in several niches or topics. Of course that’s not true, but if someone sees you giving out home foot fungus remedies, online money making tips, how to get any woman you want, and advice on how to improve your golf swing, people will start to wonder if you’re actually doing your own writing and they’ll also question the effectiveness of your techniques.
Now if John Bigtoe wrote about home foot fungus remedies, Tim Moneybags wrote about online money making tips, Alberto Lovedoctor wrote about how to get any woman you want, and Frank Caddy wrote about your golf swing, than their information must be good, because that’s all they do.
Everything is about perception. If people perceive you to be an expert in one area, let them think that’s all you know, or slowly expand into other topics or areas of interest.
Some people are very prolific writers and can write about anything at the drop of a hat. Don’t let your great writing skills be held back. Just invent a pen name and start writing.
Remember all backlinks and information all points back to you, so no matter how you look at it you’re not losing anything by having pen name.
Here are some people that have used pen names:
Samuel Langhorne Clemens = Mark Twain = Sieur Louis de Conte
Stephen King = Richard Bachman
Joanne Rowling = J.K. Rowling
Isaac Asimov = Paul French
Robert Beck = Iceberg Slim
Theodor Seuss Giesel = Theo LeSeig = Dr. Seuss
Pauline Phillips and Jeanne Phillips = Abigail Van Buren = Dear Abby
Agatha Christie = Mary Westmacott
For more information on pen names and the reasons others use pen names you can read more here. For more famous pen names you can find some here.