Author. He received notoriety as a prolific American author with at least 1,300 books written for a youthful audience of boys and girls. He made popular series books, such as "The Rover Boys, " The Hardy Boys," "Tom Swift ," "The Bobbsey Twins," and "Nancy Drew". Born the youngest of six children of German immigrants, his father was a tobacco store owner, who pushed his children to get an education. Even as a boy, he wrote stories. After being a clerk in his father's store, he began to successfully write stories for magazines. He became the magazine editor of "Good News" from 1893 to 1895, while continuing to write stories for the magazine. By 1896 he had his own magazine "Bright Days". His first book, "Richard Dare's Venture", was published in 1894 and in 1896, his first series was published. He founded in 1906 the Stratemeyer Literary Syndicate, which published various series, which were written by himself and others. The business sold over 500 million books. Many of his series were actual written using freelance authors for each book, but published as written by a single penname, which was owned by his company. He died of pneumonia. After his death, his daughter Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, continued the business and wrote more "Bobbsey Twins," "Nancy Drew" and other series using pseudonyms. The "Bobbsey Twins" series, which had 72 books, was popular for 75 years with the last published in 1979. In 1984, two years after his daughter's death, the business was sold to the publisher Simon & Schuster. A separate series, of 30 new books of the beloved "Bobbsey Twins" was published from 1987 through 1992.
Author. He received notoriety as a prolific American author with at least 1,300 books written for a youthful audience of boys and girls. He made popular series books, such as "The Rover Boys, " The Hardy Boys," "Tom Swift ," "The Bobbsey Twins," and "Nancy Drew". Born the youngest of six children of German immigrants, his father was a tobacco store owner, who pushed his children to get an education. Even as a boy, he wrote stories. After being a clerk in his father's store, he began to successfully write stories for magazines. He became the magazine editor of "Good News" from 1893 to 1895, while continuing to write stories for the magazine. By 1896 he had his own magazine "Bright Days". His first book, "Richard Dare's Venture", was published in 1894 and in 1896, his first series was published. He founded in 1906 the Stratemeyer Literary Syndicate, which published various series, which were written by himself and others. The business sold over 500 million books. Many of his series were actual written using freelance authors for each book, but published as written by a single penname, which was owned by his company. He died of pneumonia. After his death, his daughter Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, continued the business and wrote more "Bobbsey Twins," "Nancy Drew" and other series using pseudonyms. The "Bobbsey Twins" series, which had 72 books, was popular for 75 years with the last published in 1979. In 1984, two years after his daughter's death, the business was sold to the publisher Simon & Schuster. A separate series, of 30 new books of the beloved "Bobbsey Twins" was published from 1987 through 1992.
Bio by: Linda Davis
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