EDWARD STRATEMEYER

'Edward Stratemeyer' (October 4, 1862–May 10, 1930). Born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, he was an American publisher and writer of books for children. He wrote 150 books himself, and created the most famous of the series books for juveniles, including the ''Rover Boys'' (1899 and after), ''Bobbsey Twins'' (1904), ''Tom Swift'' (1910), ''Hardy Boys'' (1927), and ''Nancy Drew'' (1930) series, among others.

Contents

Career

Arthur M. Winfield

Notes

References

External links

Career

Stratemeyer pioneered the technique of producing long-running, consistent series of books using a team of freelance authors to write standardized novels, which were published under a pen name owned by his company. Through his Stratemeyer Syndicate, founded in 1906, Stratemeyer produced short plot summaries for the novels in each series, which he sent to other writers who completed the story, writing a specified number of pages and chapters. Each book would begin with an introduction of the characters and would be interrupted at the first cliffhanger for a quick recap of all the previous books in the series.
Stratemeyer's series were also innovative in that they were intended purely as entertainment, with little of the moral lessons or educational intent found in most other popular fiction of the early twentieth century. Instead, he produced straightforward action or mystery stories centered on idealized heroes and heroines.
Stratemeyer's series included, besides the famous ones, many that are now forgotten except by collectors: ''The Motor Boys'' (1906 and after), ''Honey Bunch'' (1923), ''The Blythe Girls'' (1925), ''Bomba the Jungle Boy'' (1926), and many more (''The Motor Girls'', ''Baseball Joe'', ''The Outdoor Girls'', ''The Moving Picture Girls'', etc. etc.). Between 1894 and 1930 he produced 81 different fiction series. Though they sold millions of copies and were wildly popular with their target audiences, the Stratemeyer books were heavily criticized by educators and librarians for their perceived deficiencies in quality and good values.^[1]
After his death in 1930, Stratemeyer's syndicate operation was continued by his daughters Harriet Stratemeyer Adams and Edna Stratemeyer Squier. Throughout its history the syndicate has produced over 700 separate titles in series books.^[2]
Stratemeyer is buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Hillside, New Jersey.

Arthur M. Winfield

Strameyer used a number of pen names, including 'Arthur M. Winfield'. He wrote his first book and submitted to a publisher under this name which he is said to have chosen partly as a joke because it is a play on words, with "Arthur" being close to "author" and "Winfield" indicating his willingness to "win" and become famous as a children's book author.

Notes

1. Peter A. Soderbergh, "The Stratemeyer Strain: educators and the juvenile series book, 1900–1980." In: Sheila Egoff, G. T. Stubbs, and L. F. Ashley, eds., ''Only Connect: Readings on Children's Literature,'' New York, Oxford University Press; second edition, 1980; pp. 63-73.
2. Soderbergh, pp. 64, 73.

References

★ O'Rourke, Meghan. 2004. "Nancy Drew's father: the fiction factory of Edward Stratemeyer." ''The New Yorker''. November 8:120-129.

External links

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★ Stratemeyer Syndicate Info Page

★ Nancy Drew has two mommies