# Prolific Authors like Tom Clancy **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 18, 2007, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-like-tom-clancy/426920 "2007-11-18T13:12:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-like-tom-clancy/426920/41 "2007-11-19T18:29:49Z")
How lame do you have to be as a celebrity to not put the writer’s name on the cover of your book? I mean, everyone knows that celebrity books are ghostwritten, so “By Brittney Spears and Exapno Mapcase” isn’t exactly giving away state secrets. To not even publicly acknowlege the writer is just pathetic. I can understand why big name writers don’t put the names of their “research assistants” on the front covers, because it’s about the brand, but surely celebrity memoirs aren’t harmed by putting the writer on the cover, are they? ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-like-tom-clancy/426920/42 "2007-11-19T18:50:02Z")
It’s been rumoured that Victoria (Posh Spice) Beckham not only didn’t write a word of her autobiography, she has never even read it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-like-tom-clancy/426920/43 "2007-11-19T18:54:25Z")
[QUOTE=Rayne Man] It’s been rumoured that Victoria (Posh Spice) Beckham not only didn’t write a word of her autobiography, she has never even read it. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Which is a joke that has been used about every celebrity autobiography. Starting with Moses. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-like-tom-clancy/426920/44 "2007-11-19T20:55:30Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] Is it wrong to be so annoyed when people don’t bother to read threads before they post? And then don’t even get it right? [/QUOTE] Yeah, pretty much. :rolleyes: A series being ghost-written by a team of writers under a single name is pretty much “writing by committee”. Did those authors work in complete isolation throughout the whole series? If not, then you’re kinda talking out of your arse. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-like-tom-clancy/426920/45 "2007-11-19T21:58:23Z")
[QUOTE=e-logic] Yeah, pretty much. :rolleyes: A series being ghost-written by a team of writers under a single name is pretty much “writing by committee”. Did those authors work in complete isolation throughout the whole series? If not, then you’re kinda talking out of your arse. [/QUOTE] The authors worked in complete isolation throughout the whole series. The standard working of Stratemeyer and his successors was to use a single author for a series until that author could no longer do the work. At that point a substitute author was found and continued the series. I’m sure that out of the dozens of series that were done, some few can be found that had a rotating crew of several hands working on the books, but those were exceptions. And those still were a series of individuals who worked on individual books. The series authorship should be thought of in terms of serial monogamy. They were not in any way like a harem. And they cannot be compared to any definition of committee that would be in normal use. See how much changes when you know what you’re talking about? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-like-tom-clancy/426920/46 "2007-11-20T00:18:45Z")
I’m sorry to do this, but it drove me crazy all through this thread: Michener. ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-like-tom-clancy/426920/47 "2007-11-20T02:53:51Z")
[QUOTE=Lemur866] How lame do you have to be as a celebrity to not put the writer’s name on the cover of your book? I mean, everyone knows that celebrity books are ghostwritten, so “By Brittney Spears and Exapno Mapcase” isn’t exactly giving away state secrets. To not even publicly acknowlege the writer is just pathetic. [/QUOtE] If you’re talking about Spears, sure. But what if you’re a [political candidate](http://www.amazon.com/Living-History-Hillary-Rodham-Clinton/dp/0743222253) or a [popular talk radio host](http://www.amazon.com/Way-Things-Ought-Be/dp/0671751506/) or a [self-help guru](http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Weight-Solution-Keys-Freedom/dp/B000FUTQBY)? The authority of your message could be undermined if your readers knew you didn’t write your own book. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-like-tom-clancy/426920/48 "2007-11-20T03:56:21Z")
[QUOTE=anson2995] But what if you’re a [political candidate](http://www.amazon.com/Living-History-Hillary-Rodham-Clinton/dp/0743222253) … ? The authority of your message could be undermined if your readers knew you didn’t write your own book. [/QUOTE] [What if, indeed!](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/031107.html) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-like-tom-clancy/426920.md?page=2)