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Carolyn Keene is the pseudonym of the authors of the Nancy Drew mystery stories and The Dana Girls mystery stories, both produced by the Stratemeyer Syndicate. In addition, the Keene pen name is credited with the Nancy Drew spin-off, River Heights, and the Nancy Drew Notebooks.
Nancy Drew is a fictional character appearing in several mystery book series, movies, video games, and a TV show as a teenage amateur sleuth. The books are ghostwritten by a number of authors and published under the collective pseudonym Carolyn Keene. [1]
- Who Was Carolyn Keene?
- So Who Wrote The Nancy Drew Books?
- Why Are There Different Versions of Nancy Drew Books?
- Who Wrote The Hardy Boys?
- Further Reading
Carolyn Keene did not exist. The name is a pen name that was used for the series, which was written entirely by ghostwriters.
The Backstory
Edward Stratemeyer (October 4, 1862–May 10, 1930) essentially invented book packaging. His company, the Stratemeyer Syndicate, sold book series to publishers. Those series included The Bobbsey Twins, Tom Swift, The Hardy Boys, and Nancy Drew. Stratemeyer developed the series concepts and wrote detailed outlines of the books before handing them off to a ghostwriter, who wrote to his specifications, which were often exacting. Stratemeyer’s daughters, Harriet Stratemeyer Adams and Edna Stratemey...
Nancy Drew Publishers
Stratemeyer Syndicate created and owned the Nancy Drew brand, but they were not a publishing house. Grosset & Dunlap published the Nancy Drew books from 1930 until 1979. Simon & Schuster took over in 1979 (Grosset & Dunlap sued, but the court found that Stratemeyer Syndicate had the right to choose their publisher). The books were published under the Wanderer imprint until 1985, at which time Simon & Schuster purchased the Stratemeyer Syndicate and began publishing the Nancy Drew books under...
The First Carolyn Keene
Mildred Wirt Benson (July 10, 1905–May 28, 2002) was the original Carolyn Keene, and eventually wrote 23 of the original Nancy Drew series, beginning with the very first, The Secret of the Old Clock. She is the person who really set the voice of the Nancy Drew books, and in my mind is theNancy Drew author. (She also wrote other Stratemeyer Syndicate series, including The Dana Girls, also by Carolyn Keene.) Mildred initially earned $125 per book, later taking pay cuts. Her contract prohibited...
As well as writing new books in the Nancy Drew series, Harriet did indeed rewrite the earlier books to update them, giving them a modern (to the time) setting, an aged-up Nancy (from 16 to 18), and various other details so they would match the new books in the series. The rewrites began in 1959 and occurred concurrently with new books in the series...
The Hardy Boys were also created by Edward Stratemeyer, a few years before Nancy Drew. Their popularity likely led to Nancy’s creation. After Simon & Schuster took over publication of both series, the three sleuths had their first crossover, in 1981’s Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys: Super Sleuths. The publication of the Hardy Boys books followed muc...
This article relied heavily on material in the wonderful book Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Herby Melanie Rehak. I strongly recommend purchasing this book—or borrowing it from your library—to get the full story, as well as Rehak’s thorough bibliography. I also strongly recommend looking through the sources listed on the Nancy Dr...
- Annika Barranti Klein
Works under the Pseudonym. Ghostwriter Mildred Wirt Benson and the Stratemeyer Syndicate. Mildred Wirt Benson surrounded by many of the books she has written. Photo taken from: Rediscovering Nancy Drew. University of Iowa Press, 1995, p.61.
Apr 30, 2020 · Each series stuck to a basic formula and was published under a pseudonym, allowing him to shift ghostwriters as needed. Much of the work was coordinated from his home in Newark, before he opened...
Carolyn Keene is the pseudonym used by various authors of the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories and other Nancy Drew books. Edward Stratemeyer, the founder of the Syndicate, hired writers to write the manuscripts for the Nancy Drew books using the pseudonym Carolyn Keene. The writers initially were...
Mar 28, 2010 · By Jennifer Fisher. March 28, 2010 12 AM PT. Get a clue -- it’s Nancy Drew’s 80th birthday and it’s time to solve a mystery. Who is Carolyn Keene, author of the Nancy Drew mystery...
