Ghost Writers

In the last two decades, author V.C. Andrews has been on a tear, publishing 48 novels. It's an impressive run for any author, especially for one who died in 1986.

As befits a writer who specializes in creepy, tales, Andrews has been receiving assistance in the afterlife--mostly from ghostwriter Andrew Neiderman, who has penned, without receiving official credit, most of Andrews' posthumously published works. Andrews' fans don't seem to mind, turning the titles into bestsellers: The most recent, April Shadows, hit No. 12 on the New York Times paperback list.

Andrews isn't the only famous author who has managed, with some help, to keep writing after death. Some, like Theodor (Dr. Seuss) Geisel, leave behind incomplete works that others finish. Others, like Robert Ludlum, explicitly plan to have books written in their absence.

Publishers don't try to conceal the fact that a dead author has had an assist from the living. In the Andrews' titles written by Neiderman, Viacom's Simon & Schuster includes a simple disclaimer that says, The Andrews family worked with a carefully selected writer to organize and complete Virginia Andrews' stories and to create additional novels inspired by her storytelling genius.

Neiderman's job is made easier by the fact that Andrews' books tend to follow the same formula--three or four tales tracing a family saga, followed by a prequel.

Other authors leave a more explicit paper trail. In 1988, Geisel, who wrote under the pen name Dr. Seuss, told his editor at Random House that he was thinking of writing a story about a teacher, but he was worried educators wouldn't like it.

That was the last Random House heard of the project until after Geisel died in 1991. The children's author had left sketches for the book on his office walls, which his editors, with the blessing of his widow, Audrey, decided to finish. Children's poet Jack Prelutsky helped complete the verses, and artist Lane Smith was drafted to finish Geisel's drawings. Random House eventually published Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! in 1998.

Geisel's other two posthumous books, My Many Colored Days and Gerald McBoing Boing, were also works in progress when he died. McBoing Boing is based on a short film Geisel made about a boy who, instead of speaking in words, speaks in noises. Random House says they will be the last new Dr. Seuss titles.

Any new book that comes out now is reformatted from his classics to introduce Seuss to young readers, says Judith Haut, director of publicity for Random House Children's Books. We wouldn't write a new book and put his name on it. Absolutely not.

Robert Ludlum wasnt worried about publishers attaching his name to new books--in fact, he arranged for it. With his own legacy in mind, Ludlum he arranged for it. With his own legacy in mind, Ludlum created a series called Covert One, which features the adventures of Jon Smith, a doctor working for an agency called the United States Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases. Ludlum, who died of a heart attack in 2001 at the age of 71, never intended to write the books on his own. Instead, he would oversee them while others, such as Patrick Larkin, Gayle Lynds and Philip Shelby, did the actual writing. The series is still going strong four years after Ludlum passed away.

He really wanted to make sure his name stayed before the public as long as possible, says Henry Morrison, literary agent for Ludlum's estate.

To that end, Ludlum also stashed away several books that he started but never finished, with the intention that they would be edited and published after he died. Four of the books are now on the market. In all, Ludlum published 22 books while he was alive; since he died, eight more have been released.

Continuing an author's work after death isn't a new phenomenon. Ian Fleming died in 1964, but since then 28 James Bond novels have been published. Franchises like Nancy Drew have also been revived after the original writer died.

Expect to see more publishing from the crypt. Although Sue Grafton is only 65, she has eight books left in the alphabet mystery series she has been writing for the last 25 years.

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I live in Los Angeles and I'm lucky enough to write about the thing I love most: movies. I'm a graduate of Vassar College and Northwestern University and for 15 years I worked at Forbes mostly covering the entertainment industry. Although I've moved into the world of corpora...

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