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Apologies for the length of this. 
Celia Cyanide and I have been having an in-depth discussion about a dead author who hasn't stopped writing since the day of her death -- V. C. Andrews (TM), author of "Flowers in the Attic" and others. In fact, this case gets really complicated. When did she die? I always thought she died in 1986, but Celia pointed out that she may have actually died in 1979 -- perhaps even before "Flowers in the Attic" itself (her first book) came out. (Talk about the writer's nightmare! Finally, fame and bestsellerdom, but you're already dead.) I knew the VCA story was complicated, but until Celia brought some of this out, I never knew it was that complicated. And it brings up all sorts of interesting questions for writers.
For years after her death (whenever she really died), the publisher pretended she was still alive. Then they claimed that they were publishing the manuscripts VCA left behind. Then they claimed the ghostwriter was working from detailed outlines VCA left behind. Finally they gave up and admitted that the ghostwriter (Andrew Neiderman, who has published lots of novels under his own name) was writing the newer books from scratch. Which books were really written from unpublished VCA manuscripts (if any) or from detailed outlines she left behind (if any) is a question.
Of course, V. C. Andrews was not the first deceased author who kept writing after she was dead. (Look at the James Bond books penned by other writers as an example.) L. Ron Hubbard even won an award as "most prolific dead author." But like the Elron books mysteriously writing themselves, something about the way the VCA books have been kept alive is special. It's one thing to read a James Bond book written by John Gardner, and entirely something else to buy a book that says "V. C. Andrews" (or L. Ron Hubbard) on the cover and gives no credit to the ghostwriter.
I think this may have paved the way for more publishers to keep publishing books in their popular authors' universes after those authors died. It seemed to be far less common in the past -- or maybe fans were more likely to be kept in the dark. Agatha Christie published only two novels after her death (both books she had saved to be published upon her death), and there have been no "new" Christie novels mysteriously appearing since then. Today, the "prolific dead author" phenomenon is common. We have new books continuing the legacies of Elliott Roosevelt, Lawrence Sanders, Robert Ludlum, Marion Zimmer Bradley, etc. In some cases, the books are published as "written by" the deceased author. In others, publishers list the name of the real author -- maybe this is based on the prominence of the ghostwriter. Today, these books often come out in hardback and hit the best-seller lists. I wonder how many fans realize these authors are dead, or if it really matters as long as they can keep reading "Bourne" books. Heck, today authors don't have to be dead to have ghostwriters co-writing their books. (Tom Clancy and James Patterson anyone?)
But to me, there's something special about the V. C. Andrews phenomenon. It sounds like a plot from one of her novels, full of mysterious secrets. Like Elron, there are even questions about the real date of V. C. Andrews' death. What little biographical information there is seems contradictory -- with one source claiming that the books were autobiographical, another claiming they were based on her family's history, and yet another claiming they were totally made up.
As a writer, what do you think of this? Do you want somebody to keep publishing novels under your name after your death? And if not, how do you prevent it? On the other hand, having your work "kept alive" has its positive sides. The continued work will support your families, and it's a sign that your fans still love you. (And VCA fans are an especially serious and devoted type of fan indeed.) And if new books keep coming out under your name after you die, your original work is more likely to be kept in print -- this is good both for your heirs and for your fans. Any of us can name authors whose books pretty much disappeared from their shelves the moment they died (such as fantasy author Robert Adams).
On the other hand, there's the idea that fans are getting ripped off by buying books they think are by you, only to get a ghostwritten book. Even if they know the books are ghostwritten, they're hoping it will live up to your work, and in many cases, it will be at best a pale shadow if. But in the case of VCA, the lines are so blurry that we're not sure which books the ghostwriter really wrote. It's possible he actually wrote all but the first book, and he certainly wrote some of the most popular books. In the case of Neiderman, things get even stickier when you see some of the lawsuits and other complications. (The editor of the V. C. Andrews book was charging Neiderman, the ghostwriter, a fee?! There must be something more to this!)
Also, what about the ghostwriters? Some of them get cover credit, but like Andrew Neiderman, not all of them get that privilege. In the case of Neiderman, he gets the blame for the bad books and rarely gets the praise for the better ones. One of the most recent "Ludlum" novels was written by Eric Van Lustbader -- someone capable of writing a best-selling thriller on his own. Lustbader's fans probably hate seeing him "waste his talents" writing a Ludlum book when they want to see new Lustbader books instead. Many think some ghostwriters are wasting their talents writing in someone else's pastures. On the other hand, many writers are grateful for the work.
But in fact, going back to V. C. Andrews, she may not have even existed, leading to the question of... If she never lived, who was she?
Manufactured authors such as house names have long been a part of publishing, even in the days of penny dreadfuls. Nick Carter was one of the most prolific. In fact, house names are common with men's adventure and adult Western series. There have been cases of a few fictional characters (such as soap opera characters) have "published" novels. But manufactured authors who come with biographies, birth dates, and author photos -- and who even give interviews -- are pretty rare. The only other case I can think of is the "housewife" who was promoted as the "author" of Naked Came the Stranger, which later turned out to have been written by several reporters working together. That housewife was actually an actress hired to play the part of the housewife/author.
What do you think about creating an author out of whole cloth? Would you ghostwrite books for a fictional author? Would you create a fictional author to pen your own work?
By the way, here are a couple of blog entries about the prolific dead author question:
http://blog.stephenleary.com/2006/07/who-is-writing-robert-ludlums-books.html
http://blog.stephenleary.com/2007/04/ludlum-betrayal.html
Here's an article about ghostwriting:
http://www.caslon.com.au/ghostingnote.htm
Celia Cyanide and I have been having an in-depth discussion about a dead author who hasn't stopped writing since the day of her death -- V. C. Andrews (TM), author of "Flowers in the Attic" and others. In fact, this case gets really complicated. When did she die? I always thought she died in 1986, but Celia pointed out that she may have actually died in 1979 -- perhaps even before "Flowers in the Attic" itself (her first book) came out. (Talk about the writer's nightmare! Finally, fame and bestsellerdom, but you're already dead.
) I knew the VCA story was complicated, but until Celia brought some of this out, I never knew it was that complicated. And it brings up all sorts of interesting questions for writers. For years after her death (whenever she really died
), the publisher pretended she was still alive. Then they claimed that they were publishing the manuscripts VCA left behind. Then they claimed the ghostwriter was working from detailed outlines VCA left behind. Finally they gave up and admitted that the ghostwriter (Andrew Neiderman, who has published lots of novels under his own name) was writing the newer books from scratch. Which books were really written from unpublished VCA manuscripts (if any) or from detailed outlines she left behind (if any) is a question.Of course, V. C. Andrews was not the first deceased author who kept writing after she was dead. (Look at the James Bond books penned by other writers as an example.) L. Ron Hubbard even won an award as "most prolific dead author."
But like the Elron books mysteriously writing themselves, something about the way the VCA books have been kept alive is special. It's one thing to read a James Bond book written by John Gardner, and entirely something else to buy a book that says "V. C. Andrews" (or L. Ron Hubbard) on the cover and gives no credit to the ghostwriter.I think this may have paved the way for more publishers to keep publishing books in their popular authors' universes after those authors died. It seemed to be far less common in the past -- or maybe fans were more likely to be kept in the dark. Agatha Christie published only two novels after her death (both books she had saved to be published upon her death), and there have been no "new" Christie novels mysteriously appearing since then. Today, the "prolific dead author" phenomenon is common. We have new books continuing the legacies of Elliott Roosevelt, Lawrence Sanders, Robert Ludlum, Marion Zimmer Bradley, etc. In some cases, the books are published as "written by" the deceased author. In others, publishers list the name of the real author -- maybe this is based on the prominence of the ghostwriter. Today, these books often come out in hardback and hit the best-seller lists. I wonder how many fans realize these authors are dead, or if it really matters as long as they can keep reading "Bourne" books. Heck, today authors don't have to be dead to have ghostwriters co-writing their books. (Tom Clancy and James Patterson anyone?)
But to me, there's something special about the V. C. Andrews phenomenon. It sounds like a plot from one of her novels, full of mysterious secrets. Like Elron, there are even questions about the real date of V. C. Andrews' death. What little biographical information there is seems contradictory -- with one source claiming that the books were autobiographical, another claiming they were based on her family's history, and yet another claiming they were totally made up.
As a writer, what do you think of this? Do you want somebody to keep publishing novels under your name after your death? And if not, how do you prevent it? On the other hand, having your work "kept alive" has its positive sides. The continued work will support your families, and it's a sign that your fans still love you. (And VCA fans are an especially serious and devoted type of fan indeed.) And if new books keep coming out under your name after you die, your original work is more likely to be kept in print -- this is good both for your heirs and for your fans. Any of us can name authors whose books pretty much disappeared from their shelves the moment they died (such as fantasy author Robert Adams).
On the other hand, there's the idea that fans are getting ripped off by buying books they think are by you, only to get a ghostwritten book. Even if they know the books are ghostwritten, they're hoping it will live up to your work, and in many cases, it will be at best a pale shadow if. But in the case of VCA, the lines are so blurry that we're not sure which books the ghostwriter really wrote. It's possible he actually wrote all but the first book, and he certainly wrote some of the most popular books. In the case of Neiderman, things get even stickier when you see some of the lawsuits and other complications. (The editor of the V. C. Andrews book was charging Neiderman, the ghostwriter, a fee?!
There must be something more to this!)Also, what about the ghostwriters? Some of them get cover credit, but like Andrew Neiderman, not all of them get that privilege. In the case of Neiderman, he gets the blame for the bad books and rarely gets the praise for the better ones. One of the most recent "Ludlum" novels was written by Eric Van Lustbader -- someone capable of writing a best-selling thriller on his own. Lustbader's fans probably hate seeing him "waste his talents" writing a Ludlum book when they want to see new Lustbader books instead. Many think some ghostwriters are wasting their talents writing in someone else's pastures. On the other hand, many writers are grateful for the work.
But in fact, going back to V. C. Andrews, she may not have even existed, leading to the question of... If she never lived, who was she?
Manufactured authors such as house names have long been a part of publishing, even in the days of penny dreadfuls. Nick Carter was one of the most prolific. In fact, house names are common with men's adventure and adult Western series. There have been cases of a few fictional characters (such as soap opera characters) have "published" novels. But manufactured authors who come with biographies, birth dates, and author photos -- and who even give interviews -- are pretty rare. The only other case I can think of is the "housewife" who was promoted as the "author" of Naked Came the Stranger, which later turned out to have been written by several reporters working together. That housewife was actually an actress hired to play the part of the housewife/author.
What do you think about creating an author out of whole cloth? Would you ghostwrite books for a fictional author? Would you create a fictional author to pen your own work?
By the way, here are a couple of blog entries about the prolific dead author question:
http://blog.stephenleary.com/2006/07/who-is-writing-robert-ludlums-books.html
http://blog.stephenleary.com/2007/04/ludlum-betrayal.html
Here's an article about ghostwriting:
http://www.caslon.com.au/ghostingnote.htm
Somehow I can't imagine he'd interview a dead person. He'd need a monkey's paw for that, and most people in the horror field know better than to handle those.
