Support for Indie Authors discussion

OK I have discovered an issue. I'm not sure if it's a big issue or not. I have discovered that there is an author with the same pen name is me. She was published before I was, but I chose my pen name because it has significant meaning to me. I have never heard of her before so when I chose my pen name I didn't know it already existed. I thought I was being unique in choosing my name. Since I am also a poet I have a poem that defines why I choose my pen name. When I went to check ibooks to see if my book was listed, her books are also listed under my books since we have the same name. My question is should I change my name? I don't want to because people know me by the pen name that I write under. I don't want there to be any confusion with our work either though. I think she is a traditionally published author. On good reads and amazon our work is separated, but on ibooks they are together. Do i have an issue ior not? I really don't want to have to change my name. I have been using this name for years even before i published.

There are tons of people with the same name. Heck, my name, which is my real name, is the same as a character in a traditionally published mystery series. Your bigger issue would be getting iBooks to unlink the books. I assume they have your name and info, so they should realize these are different authors.

I don't know if they have my info or not. My book was published to iBooks through smash words.

I am a slightly sawed off, middle aged, white dude named Dave Chapelle. I do feel your pain. It's sort of fun sharing the name; except for the three a.m. phone calls asking me if I'm baked.
Before the world came to know Dave Chappelle ( the actual famous guy has two the "PP" thing happening with his spelling ) I started acting under the name D.Chapelle. I've opted to use the same name for my fiction. When I do an amazon search for D.Chapelle I show up there alongside with the tall guy and the photographer David LaChapelle. The spellings on the three of us are all different yet there we are... all together. The good news ... somebody might stumble across you and become curious.

D. wrote: "I am a slightly sawed off, middle aged, white dude named Dave Chapelle. "

Wanna hear something funny? I clicked on this link 'cause it said "D. Chapelle commented on..." and I thought, "Dave Chapelle joined SIA? The Dave Chapelle?" So, now that I see that there is a difference in the spelling of your names, you will be THE Dave Chapelle and that other guy can be the Dave Chappelle.

--Signed, SIA's original sawed-off, middle aged white dude. Now, if you're rotund, too, I am suing you for stealing my thunder.

Ok i'm guessing i have nothing to worry about then. Lol. How do I get IBooks to separate our books?

Blaque wrote: "Ok i'm guessing i have nothing to worry about then. Lol. How do I get IBooks to separate our books?"

My guess would be to ask via customer support. Since you're distributing through Smashwords, you may want to check with them.

Another option would be to add a middle iinitial if you really wanted to separate yourself from the other author. Just a random thought if you were still worried about it.

I write under my real name and there is another author published after me who also has the same name. The only issue I have had is getting my books removed from her pages (Amazon, Goodreads etc) but that gets easier each time...