How to decide on the author name?

[Iris Hunter]

Hi,

I am ready to publish my first book. But what to do about my author name?
I am from europe but most of the fans are from USA. Do I keep my real Dutch name 'De Jager' (translation: hunter) or change it for USA to english 'Hunter' ? What do you think? Let me know! Iris

[[deleted user]]

Unless there is a reason to change it because of personal, safety, or social reasons, then I would keep it. I use a Nom de Plume for personal reasons. I am a retired engineer, and over 40 years I have met quite a lot of personalities some of which I used in my books in some non-flattering ways. If these people knew my real name and read the books, I am sure they would get mad. I have legally protected myself, but I rather just avoid the trouble so I use another name. It is your work, if you are proud of it you should put it under your name unless there is a good reason not too.

[[deleted user]]

I say, use your real name, unless of course you have people running after you for some reason. I use my real name (which is a French-sounding one) and it doesn't appear to fluster my American readers the least. The only issue is that, when they communicate with me via discussion forums, some call me 'Michael' instead of 'Michel'. So, I believe that you should use 'De Jager' as your author's name. Be proud of it!