Merge profiles, or links in author description?

[Liralen]

I'm looking at the books of an author who previously published under

1) Firstname Lastname

and is now publishing under

2) Firstname Marriedname and
3) Firstname Lastname Marriedname.

Same genre, etc. Better to consolidate the profiles to Firstname Lastname Marriedname (since 1 and 2 will be still be searchable that way), or to keep the separate profiles and link to the others on the author pages?

Thanks!

[Miriam]

Are any of the profiles claimed?
Are the books/series shared between the profiles?
Are books being republished under the new names?
How many books have they published?

Lots of factors to consider. It's really a case by case basis in these kind of situations.

[Liralen]

No claimed profiles. No series—it's all memoir, and all with similar themes.

Five books to date: one published with Firstname Lastname (unlikely to be republished), two or three with Firstname Marriedname, and one or two with Firstname Lastname Marriedname (one book doesn't have a publicly available cover yet, so not sure what the final name on the cover will be).

There are multiple publishers at play here, and my impression (just a guess) is that the publisher using Firstname Lastname Marriedname wanted Lastname on the cover, since the family is in the public eye.

[Miriam]

I would just link the profiles in the description since the books are crossing over between profiles.

If the books were being republished under the newer names it would make more sense to combine the profiles (the most complete name).

[Liralen]

Thanks - that makes sense, and it's also the option that's easier to change in the future if something warrants it.