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Some writers have had prolific careers with hundreds of their works being published. While some best-selling authors have written a small number of books that have sold millions of copies, others have had lengthy careers and maintained a high level of output year after year. Dame Agatha Christie, the most-published novelist in history, is estimated to have sold 4 billion books, having written 69 novels and 19 plays. [1] Her works were published between 1920 and 1976, equating to around three publications every two years. Dame Barbara Cartland has also sold millions of copies of her books but wrote many more than Christie. She spent 80 years as a novelist with 722 books published, averaging one book released every 40 days of her career. [2] While Cartland wrote a significant number of full-length novels, other authors have been published many more times but have specialised in short stories. Spanish author Corín Tellado wrote over 4,000 novellas, selling 400 million copies of her books. [3]
Not all authors work alone. Groups of writers, sometimes led by one central figure, have published under shared pseudonyms. The Stratemeyer Syndicate, started by Edward Stratemeyer in 1905, created numerous book series including 190 volumes of The Hardy Boys and 175 volumes of Nancy Drew . More than 1,300 books were published by the group, and although Edward L. Stratemeyer wrote several hundred, he also employed ghostwriters to keep up with the demand. These writers were given storylines and strict guidelines to follow to ensure a level of consistency within each series. Amongst the writing team was Howard R. Garis, who contributed several hundred books to the collection, one of the most active authors. Sales were estimated at over two hundred million copies before the syndicate was sold to Simon & Schuster in 1984. [4]
Name | Language | Birth | Death | First publication | Last publication | Published works | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Corín Tellado | Spanish | 25 April 1927 | 11 April 2009 | 1946 | 2006 | 4000+ [3] | She wrote over 4000 novellas and magazine's short stories. She was listed in the 1994 Guinness World Records as having sold the most books written in Spanish, and earlier in 1962 UNESCO declared her the most read Spanish writer after Miguel de Cervantes. |
Warren Murphy | English | 13 September 1933 | 4 September 2015 | 107+ [5] | He co-authored (with Richard Sapir) wrote over 100 novels in "The Destroyer" Series. It centered on a US Secret Agency, called "The Cure" and their agent, a martial artist named Remo Williams. Most novels were social commentary. After Murphy and Sapir died, ghost writers continued the series. Over 150 novels were written, not including the movie script, entitled "Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins". | ||
Rolf Kalmuczak | German | 17 April 1938 | 10 March 2007 | 2900+ [6] | More than 100 pseudonyms [7] | ||
Lope de Vega | Spanish | 25 November 1562 | 27 August 1635 | 2200~ [8] | Playwright | ||
François-Marie Arouet (Voltaire) | French | 21 November 1694 | 30 May 1778 | 1718 | 1778 | 2000+ | Voltaire was a versatile and prolific writer, producing works in almost every literary form, including plays, poems, novels, essays and historical and scientific works. He wrote more than 20,000 letters and more than 2,000 books and pamphlets. |
Nicolae Iorga | Romanian etc. | 17 January 1871 | 27 November 1940 | 1886~ | 1940 | 1,359 [9] | Another count has "1300 volumes and 25000 articles" [10] |
Mohammad Shirazi | Arabic and Persian | 1928 | 2001 | 1953~ | 2001 | 1,300 [11] | He made contributions in various fields ranging from jurisprudence and theology to politics, economics, law, sociology and human rights. |
Charles Hamilton (bibliography) | English | 8 August 1876 | 24 December 1961 | 1894 | 1961 | 1,200 | Estimated to have written 100,000,000 words using around 20 pseudonyms, primarily for boys' weekly magazines, including public-school stories [12] |
L. Ron Hubbard | English | 13 March 1911 | 24 January 1986 | 1934 | 1987 | 1,084 | Science fiction, adventure, westerns, mystery, religion. |
Ryoki Inoue | Portuguese | 22 July 1946 | Living [update] | 1986 | 1000+ | Brazilian surgeon turned pulp novel author, acknowledged by Guinness as world's most prolific writer. [13] Wrote almost a thousand novels in 6 years, under his own name or 39 pseudonyms. [14] | |
Manuel Jacinto Coelho | Portuguese | 30 December 1903 | 13 January 1991 | 1935 | 1991 | 1,000 | Brazilian leader of a religion called Cultura Racional ("Rational Culture"). For 56 years, he wrote a one-thousand-volume encyclopedia called Universo em Desencanto ("Disenchanting Universe"), which covers a very wide range of subjects. |
Prentiss Ingraham | English | 28 December 1843 | 16 August 1904 | 1,000 [15] | Wrote around 600 novels and 400 novelettes | ||
Antonio Vera Ramírez | Spanish | 2 July 1934 | 1958 | 1,000 | He wrote 500 novels in Brigitte Montford Series and other 500 novels by other genders. | ||
Jacob Neusner (bibliography) | English | 28 July 1932 | 8 October 2016 | 1962 | 950+ | ||
Lauran Paine | English | 25 February 1916 | 1 December 2001 | 900+ [16] | |||
Kathleen Lindsay | English | 1903 | 1973 | 900+ [17] | 11 pseudonyms [17] | ||
Ishtiaq Ahmed | Urdu | 1944 | 17 November 2015 | 1972 | Continuous | 800+ | Spy thriller crime series |
Edwy S. Brooks | English | 11 November 1889 | 2 December 1965 | 1907 | 1966 | 800+ [18] | Brooks published his first short story, in July 1907, when he was seventeen. |
Juan Lozano Rico | Spanish | 1933 | 1952 | 1983 | 800+ | He wrote over 800 novellas mainly under the pseudonym of Carlos de Santander. | |
Enid Blyton | English | 11 August 1897 | 28 November 1968 | 1922 | 1968 | 762 | Children's literature, adventure, mystery, fantasy. |
István Nemere | Hungarian | 8 November 1944 | Living | 1974 | 732 [19] | Science fiction, crime, historical, mystery, romance, and more. | |
Barbara Cartland (bibliography) | English | 9 July 1901 | 21 May 2000 | 1923 | 722 [2] | Holds the Guinness World Record for the most novels (23) written in a single year | |
Paul Little | English | 1915 | 1987 | 700+ [20] | Many pseudonyms | ||
Jallaludin Suyuti | Arabic | 1445 | 1505 | 700 | Islamic Ideological Books, Fiqh, Sufism and Tafseer Works including a six volume Tafseer and a three volume tafseer | ||
John Creasey | English | 17 September 1908 | 9 June 1973 | 600+ [21] | More than 10 pseudonyms | ||
Isaac Asimov (bibliography) | English | 2 January 1920 a | 6 April 1992 | 506 [22] plus The Return of the Black Widowers / 513 [23] | Published in 9 of the 10 Dewey Decimal System categories [24] | ||
Howard R. Garis | English | 25 April 1873 | 6 November 1962 | 500+ [17] | Member of the Stratemeyer Syndicate | ||
Ursula Bloom | English | 1892 | 1984 | 1922 | 500+ [25] | ||
Georges Simenon | French | 13 February 1903 | 4 September 1989 | 1921 | 500+ [17] | ||
Chico Xavier | Portuguese | 2 April 1910 | 30 June 2002 | 1932 | 500+ | Brazilian spiritist medium whose works are attributed to be psychographies written by spirits. He wrote over 500 books in many different areas of knowledge. | |
S Rob | English | 22 February 1975 | 2013 | 500+ | Mostly occultism, magick rituals books. The author of more occult books than anyone in history. Published by a range of publishers including Finbarr books, deamonic dreams, solar vision publishing etc... | ||
Kyokutei Bakin | Japanese | 4 July 1767 | 1 December 1848 | 470 [26] | |||
Józef Ignacy Kraszewski | Polish | 28 February 1812 | 1887 | 350+ | 200+ novels and 150 novellas, short stories, and art reviews | ||
R. L. Stine | English | 8 October 1943 | Living [update] | 1992 | 330+ [27] | The best-selling children's author of all time as of 2004, Stine estimates that he has over 330 children's books, [27] including the Goosebumps and Fear Street series. At one time he produced one book a month for each of those series. [28] Stine has also written many books under the pseudonyms Jovial Bob Stine [29] and Eric Affabee. [30] | |
L. T. Meade | English | 1854 | 1914 | 300+ | |||
Meish Goldish | English | Unknown | Living | 1989? | 300+ | Mostly books for schoolchildren | |
Alexandre Dumas | French | 24 July 1802 | 5 December 1870 | 277 [2] | |||
Surender Mohan Pathak | Hindi | 19 February 1940 | Living [update] | 1959 | 250+ [31] | Wrote over 250 novellas in crime fiction in India. He is known as a Grand Master of Hindi crime fiction. He has been writing for almost 50 years; his first short story was published in 1959 at the age of 19. | |
Muhammad Muhiyyudin Ibn ul Arabi | Arabic | 26 July 1165 | 8 November 1240 | 240 | Mystical Islamic Books e.g. A 7 volume Futuhat e Makkiya | ||
Andrew Murray | English | 9 May 1828 | 18 January 1917 | 1907 | 1966 | 240 [32] | Mostly Christian devotional books. |
Wolfgang Hohlbein | German | 15 August 1953 | Living [update] | 1982 | (Active) | 220+ [33] | Fantasy novels |
Terrance Dicks | English | 10 May 1935 | 29 August 2019 | 1974 | 223 | Mainly children's books. Includes 75+ based on the television series Doctor Who, for which he was a former script editor. | |
Jacob M. Appel | English | 21 February 1973 | Living | 1998 | 200+ | Has also received 21,000 rejection letters. [34] | |
Annie Shepherd Swan | English | 8 July 1859 | 17 June 1943 | 1878 | 1943 | 200+ [35] [36] [37] [38] | Wrote novels, serials, short stories and other works of fiction |
Nora Roberts | English | 10 October 1950 | Living [update] | 1981 | (Active) | 200+ [39] | Romance novels, published under at least four different names |
Abu Hamid Al Ghazali | Arabic | 1058 | 1111 | 200 | Fiqh, Sufism and Tafseer | ||
Angel Canann | English | Living | Living | 2016 | 170+ | A bestselling ghostwriter of fiction and non-fiction in several genres including fantasy fiction, sci-fi, romance, supernatural, self-help, biographies, and more. Only one book [40] has been published under the author's true name. All other books written by and for this author have been published under pseudonyms; the most well known being Dash Hoffman. The first Dash Hoffman book was written as the result of a viral meme. This author wrote the first 170+ novels within a six and a half year period and continues to write. | |
Charles Garvice | English | 24 August 1850 | 1 March 1920 | 150+ [41] | |||
Darya Dontsova | Russian | 7 June 1952 | Living [update] | 140+ [42] | A bestselling Russian author of detective novels and kitchen books. | ||
Dr. Krishna N. Sharma | English and Hindi | 24 December 1984 | Living | 2005 | (Active) | 132 as of 2017 [43] [44] [45] | He writes books on health, medical, music and literature. |
Mihail Sadoveanu | Romanian | 5 November 1880 | 19 October 1961 | 1904 | 1952 | 120 [46] | The count covers novels and short story collections |
^a Asimov celebrated his birthday on 2 January but his true date of birth is unclear.
Isaac Asimov was an American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. He was known for his works of science fiction and popular science. Asimov was a prolific writer. He wrote or edited more than 500 books. He also wrote an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards.
John Wood Campbell Jr. was an American science fiction writer and editor. He was editor of Astounding Science Fiction from late 1937 until his death and was part of the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Campbell wrote super-science space opera under his own name and stories under his primary pseudonym, Don A. Stuart. Campbell also used the pen names Karl Van Kampen and Arthur McCann. His novella Who Goes There? was adapted as the films The Thing from Another World (1951), Horror Express (1972),The Thing (1982), and The Thing (2011).
A pen name, also called a nom de plume or a literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name.
Tom Swift is the main character of six series of American juvenile science fiction and adventure novels that emphasize science, invention, and technology. First published in 1910, the series totals more than 100 volumes. The character was created by Edward Stratemeyer, the founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, a book-packaging firm. Tom's adventures have been written by various ghostwriters, beginning with Howard Garis. Most of the books are credited to the collective pseudonym "Victor Appleton". The 33 volumes of the second series use the pseudonym Victor Appleton II for the author. For this series, and some of the later series, the main character is "Tom Swift, Jr." New titles have been published as recently as 2007. Most of the various series emphasized Tom's inventions. The books generally describe the effects of science and technology as wholly beneficial, and the role of the inventor in society as admirable and heroic.
Mystery fiction is a genre of fiction that usually involves a mysterious death or a crime to be solved. Often within a closed circle of suspects, each suspect is usually provided with a credible motive and a reasonable opportunity for committing the crime. The central character is often a detective, eventually solves the mystery by logical deduction from facts presented to the reader. Some mystery books are non-fiction. "Mystery fiction" can be detective stories in which the emphasis is on the puzzle or suspense element and its logical solution such as a whodunit. Mystery fiction can be contrasted with hardboiled detective stories, which focus on action and gritty realism.
Dame Mary Barbara Hamilton Cartland, was an English novelist who wrote romance novels, one of the best-selling authors as well as one of the most prolific and commercially successful worldwide of the 20th century. Her 723 novels were translated into 38 languages and she continues to be referenced in the Guinness World Records for the most novels published in a single year in 1977.
A romance novel or romantic novel is a type of novel and genre fiction which places its primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and usually has an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending."
Robert Lawrence Stine, sometimes known as Jovial Bob Stine and Eric Affabee, is an American novelist, short story writer, television producer, screenwriter, and executive editor.
Edward L. Stratemeyer was an American publisher, writer of children's fiction, and founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate. He was one of the most prolific writers in the world, producing in excess of 1,300 books himself, selling in excess of 500 million copies. He also created many well-known fictional book series for juveniles, including The Rover Boys, The Bobbsey Twins, Tom Swift, The Hardy Boys, and Nancy Drew series, many of which sold millions of copies and are still in publication today. On Stratemeyer's legacy, Fortune wrote: "As oil had its Rockefeller, literature had its Stratemeyer."
A novelization is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of home video, but continue to find commercial success as part of marketing campaigns for major films. They are often written by accomplished writers based on an early draft of the film's script and on a tight deadline.
Walter Karig was a prolific author, who served as a US naval captain. Karig wrote a number of works on Allied naval operations during World War II. He also wrote scripts for the television series Victory at Sea. Besides his works on naval history, Karig was a novelist, publishing under his own name, and a journalist.
In literature, a serial is a printing format by which a single larger work, often a work of narrative fiction, is published in smaller, sequential instalments. The instalments are also known as numbers, parts or fascicles, and may be released either as separate publications or within sequential issues of a periodical publication, such as a magazine or newspaper.
Physician writers are physicians who write creatively in fields outside their practice of medicine.
A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to publish in the future. First-time novelists without a previous published reputation, such as publication in nonfiction, magazines, or literary journals, typically struggle to find a publisher.
Kathryn Lance is an American writer in many fields of fiction and non-fiction under her own name and various pseudonyms, as well as being the ghostwriter for numerous books purportedly written by other people. She has written dozens of young adult novels in the science-fiction, mystery, and horror genres, many of them in series as by Lynn Beach. She has also written magazine articles and stories for both adults and children. Her topics include diet, sports, fitness, sexuality, and biotechnology, in both corporate publications and such national periodicals as Family Circle, Parade, Self, Town & Country, Ladies Home Journal, and Writer's Digest.
Toni Lopopolo is a literary agent whose book publishing career began in 1970 in the publicity department of Bantam Books, where she helped publicize authors such as Philip Roth, Barbara Cartland, Isaac Asimov and Louis L'Amour.
A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to support themselves in this way or write as an avocation. Most novelists struggle to have their debut novel published, but once published they often continue to be published, although very few become literary celebrities, thus gaining prestige or a considerable income from their work.
Josephine Lawrence (1889–1978) was an American novelist and journalist. Her works chronicled the lives of common people, with stories often filled with a large cast of bustling characters, emphasizing the everyday lives of children and the elderly.
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