# Is V C Andrews the greatest author ever? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 1, 2001, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-v-c-andrews-the-greatest-author-ever/52733 "2001-02-01T16:56:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2001, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-v-c-andrews-the-greatest-author-ever/52733/1 "2001-02-01T16:56:15Z")
I mean she keeps writing books despite being dead for 15 years. Actually I know the books are written by someone else ,but the serious question is why is it not false advertising or fraud for the publishing company to have her name on novels written by someone else? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2001, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-v-c-andrews-the-greatest-author-ever/52733/2 "2001-02-01T17:01:16Z")
1. Because the publisher owns the rights to the name. It’s like McDonalds owns the rights to the name “McDonalds”, in the context of hamburger joints. 2. Because the authors who actually do write the books consent to be published under the name “V.C. Andrews”. They sign contracts and everything. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2001, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-v-c-andrews-the-greatest-author-ever/52733/3 "2001-02-01T17:23:02Z")
I understand #2 but McDonald’s is not trying to imply that McDonald is actually cooking the burgers. Could they put out new novels by Mark Twain or records by John Lennon? ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2001, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-v-c-andrews-the-greatest-author-ever/52733/4 "2001-02-01T17:34:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by puddleglum \* > **I understand #2 but McDonald’s is not trying to imply that McDonald is actually cooking the burgers.** Neither is the publisher. The covers contain a prominent copyright symbol next to the V.C. Andrews name. It’s little more than a brand name now, like Harlequin. Don’t the books contain a disclaimer near the front that say something about authors being contracted, blah blah blah? I’ve never read one. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2001, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-v-c-andrews-the-greatest-author-ever/52733/5 "2001-02-01T17:41:23Z")
V.C. Andrews didn’t write ANY books. All “her” books have disclaimers that state they were written by ghostwriters. ---
**Author:** ![Bubble\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c0e974/32.png) [@Bubble\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bubble_Girl)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2001, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-v-c-andrews-the-greatest-author-ever/52733/6 "2001-02-01T18:10:30Z")
**RickJay** that is not true. She did write her own books until her death in 1986. There is now a [ghostwriter](http://www.palmspringsbrewery.com/andrew.htm) who writes the books. She still had orignal work published even after her death. If I remember correctly before her death she had started _at least one_ ,if not more, other book that was later finished by the ghostwriter and published. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2001, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-v-c-andrews-the-greatest-author-ever/52733/7 "2001-02-01T18:49:10Z")
I have done a little research and found that in a hardback of one of the books is a letter from the Andrews family acknowledging that someone else wrote the books. In a paperback of another there is nothing at all to indicate that Andrews did not write the book. The brand name explanation makes sense. The publishing business seems to be a squirelly one, just think about all the politicians who claim to have written books. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2001, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-v-c-andrews-the-greatest-author-ever/52733/8 "2001-02-01T19:38:29Z")
That’s right. Andrew Neiderman is the ghostwriter. Virginia wrote Flowers in the Attic and the rest of the series (although the last MAY have been finished by Neiderman), My Sweet Audrina, parts of the Heaven series, etc etc. So she did INDEED write the first books, which kicked serious ass. From the Cutler Series on, they are ghostwritten. (And lately, they suck). [http://www.simonsays.com/vcandrews](http://www.simonsays.com/vcandrews) BTW, I’m a member of the online V.C. Andrews fan club, if anyone wants any information. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2001, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-v-c-andrews-the-greatest-author-ever/52733/9 "2001-02-01T20:18:29Z")
15 years? Bah! That’s nothing! Franklin W. Dixon is still cranking out Hardy Boys books despite the fact that he’s been dead since 1934! ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2001, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-v-c-andrews-the-greatest-author-ever/52733/10 "2001-02-01T20:37:38Z")
{trying desperately to think up a good dirty joke about Franklin W. Dixon and Carolyn Keene} ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2001, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-v-c-andrews-the-greatest-author-ever/52733/11 "2001-02-01T23:11:54Z")
Actually, Franklin W. Dixon never existed. Both this and Carolyn Keene (author of the Nancy Drew series) were pseudonyms of a man named Edward L. Stratemeyer. Stratemeyer wrote the first few books in each series along with numerous books in other series, and then employed several other writers to continue cranking out series books under the same names. Refer to: [http://www3.sympatico.ca/alanbrown/Kids/Directory\_Franklin\_W\_Dixon.htm](http://www3.sympatico.ca/alanbrown/Kids/Directory_Franklin_W_Dixon.htm) for more information. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2001, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-v-c-andrews-the-greatest-author-ever/52733/12 "2001-02-01T23:21:55Z")
Oops, spoke too soon. What I said above is correct, except for the part about writing the first few books. Apparently the author was actually Leslie McFarlane. Stratemeyer provided the plot outlines. Sorry 'bout that. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2001, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-v-c-andrews-the-greatest-author-ever/52733/13 "2001-02-02T22:40:01Z")
Actually, Leslie McFarlane wrote the first books in the Hardy Boys set but the first couple dozen books in the Nancy Drew series were written by Mildred Wirt.