Pen names and real names

[whiteowl]

I have multiple books from a self-publish web site when an author used a pen name.
Then the author switched to another self-publish web site and used same pen name with a different spelling.
And now he is publishing his works under a real name.

So my question is: how to tell Callibre that these three writers are actually books by the same author? I do not want to edit book description to reassign the author, I would prefer to keep each book under the original pen name. But on Author filter (Alt+A) and adding new book I would like for Calibre to recognize known pen names and act accordingly.

[theducks]

I originally started as just a Pen Name, but later used the column for a list of Authors in books with more than 3 (I was using a file path based reader at the time). I still use this today: I put the Editors name [ Editors Name (ed) ] or (My fav) prime Author into {authors} and the full authors list into {#pseudo4} (remember the names are separated by a & )

Image 0 is the custom column setup <this shows in the Tag Browser
Image 1 is the Grouped Search setup
Image 2 is the Similar books setting

The only thing missing is the ability to use the Authors database contents as a simple lookup for this column. (the ugly work around is a fake book with all authors needed )

BTW I use the same theory for 2nd Series that bridge (I don't worry about any more than 2: <Various> becomes the 2nd entry when that happens

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by whiteowl

I have multiple books from a self-publish web site when an author used a pen name.
Then the author switched to another self-publish web site and used same pen name with a different spelling.
And now he is publishing his works under a real name.

So my question is: how to tell Callibre that these three writers are actually books by the same author? I do not want to edit book description to reassign the author, I would prefer to keep each book under the original pen name. But on Author filter (Alt+A) and adding new book I would like for Calibre to recognize known pen names and act accordingly.

The JobSpy plugin has a tool for dealing with pseudonyms, see ==>> Index of plugins.

I generally put the authors real name in the Authors column (e.g. Joanna Rowling) and the pseudonyms (J.K. Rowling, Robert Galbraith) in a custom column that is in a search group with Authors.

That's very similar to what theducks does - I think

BR

[theducks]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

The JobSpy plugin has a tool for dealing with pseudonyms, see ==>> Index of plugins.

I generally put the authors real name in the Authors column (e.g. Joanna Rowling) and the pseudonyms (J.K. Rowling, Robert Galbraith) in a custom column that is in a search group with Authors.

That's very similar to what theducks does - I think

BR

Mostly.
The name on the Cover usually goes into the {Authors} (I do normalize minor variations: Initials are always formatted My Way.
I have never see a book with J.K.'s full name on the cover, so that on is a No Go for me. I do use Pen Names in {Authors} if that is what shows and Real name in {#pseudo4} IMHO {Authors} should match the cover

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by theducks

Mostly.
The name on the Cover usually goes into the {Authors} (I do normalize minor variations: Initials are always formatted My Way.
I have never see a book with J.K.'s full name on the cover, so that on is a No Go for me. I do use Pen Names in {Authors} if that is what shows and Real name in {#pseudo4} IMHO {Authors} should match the cover

I'm probably swayed towards real names because I read a lot of biographies. And I find some pseudonyms quite irritating - e.g. Rowling's appropriation of John Kenneth Galbraith's name. Using J.K. was 'bad' enough but using the Robert G… handle was for me, a step too far.

Added : I also use my 'other_names' column for nicknames, e.g. Jessica Mitford wrote under that name, but she was also known as "Decca Mitford".

BR