Special Coverage The Photo IssueThe Must List2008 Fall TV2008 Fall Movies2008 Fall Music
How dead authors are ''writing'' new books | ludlum_l
'IDENTITY' OR 'DECEPTION' The late Ludlum left some raw material which will probably be honed by a ghostwriter
Robert Ludum: Sophie Bassouls/Corbis Sygma

When Robert Ludlum, author of thrillers like ''The Bourne Identity'' and ''The Prometheus Deception,'' died in March at 73, he left behind one finished manuscript, ''The Sigma Protocol''; a wealth of rough material, and a publisher with one eye on the bottom line. Just last year, St. Martin's Press had wooed Ludlum away from Bantam in an eight figure deal for seven books. Only two have reached stores. ''Fortunately, he had been working on several books, and to honor him, we're going to continue to publish him,'' said his executive editor, Matthew Shear, in the New York Times obituary. But Shear admits a ghostwriter may soon slip into the author's well worn shoes.

''It's a sad time in the life of any publishing house when one of their franchise authors bites the dust, and I mean sad in the fiscal sense,'' says another editor. So publishers have a tradition of keeping their bestselling authors alive long after their deaths. Perhaps the most durable example is ''Flowers in the Attic'' author V.C. Andrews, who died in 1986 after publishing seven novels. Pocket Books has since churned out 33 additional Andrews books and continues to commission new ones, with only a fine print disclaimer acknowledging that its popular author has passed away.

''Margaret Mitchell wasn't a famous name,'' says Andrews' longtime ghostwriter, Andrew Neiderman, who says he taps the Andrews spirit from notes, outlines, even paintings she left behind. ''But who the heck doesn't know Scarlett O'Hara? People want characters -- they don't care who the author is.''

Not all publishers are so coy. Rae Lawrence was hired to rework a ''Valley of the Dolls'' sequel from a first draft Jacqueline Susann had handwritten in 1968. This June, Crown will include Lawrence's name on the cover, but will title the book Jacqueline Susann's ''Shadow of the Dolls.'' ''When people come into bookstores, they're not going to ask for a book by Rae Lawrence,'' says Lawrence. ''They're going to say, 'Give me the Jackie Susann book.'''

''In this age when millions of people buy their books based on a brand name, the handling of estates is a critical issue,'' cautions Doubleday executive editor Gerry Howard. As literary manager of her husband Louis' estate, Kathy L'Amour has insisted that the 13 new books (mostly short stories collected from his pulp magazine days in the '30s) since his death in 1988 be pure L'Amour. After the upcoming ''May There Be a Road,'' there's only material left for one or two more, and then the arrival of new L'Amour books will cease: ''My main focus has been keeping Louis' work alive. I don't feel the need to put his name on something that isn't his.''

But Ludlum's agent and literary executor, Henry Morrison, maintains he's following Ludlum's wishes. ''He'd been working very industriously since 1997,'' he says. ''If something happened to him, he wanted enough books coming out over the next few years to provide for his grandchildren.''


Posted Apr 30, 2001 | Order Article Reprints