The first five were written by Weldon James Cobb (1849-1922), the Syndicate’s first ghostwriter, followed by two books by Walter Bertram Foster (1869-1929), one book by John William Duffield (1859-1946), one by Roger Carroll Garis (1901-1967), and one by John Franklin Carter (1881-?). For example, the Chapman name was used on the Ralph of the Railroad series and five different writers were involved in the ten volumes in the series. One story may have been written by the founder of the Syndicate, Edward Stratemeyer (1862- 1930), but the others were by hired writers. The “Allen Chapman” name was used on several Syndicate series and many writers worked on books published under that name. Garis, wrote more than 315 books for the Syndicate. Some writers completed only a short story or a partial manuscript while some others wrote more than 100 volumes. Over the 75+ years of their operation, the Syndicate hired about 100 different ghostwriters for their series. The Syndicate produced some 1,600 volumes which were written from outlines by hired “ghostwriters” for a flat fee (ie no royalties). “Allen Chapman” was a pseudonym of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, a “book packager,” to use a modern phrase, which was responsible for many popular juvenile series books published between 19, including the Bobbsey Twins, Tom Swift, Hardy Boys, and Nancy Drew books, among others.
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