Edward Stratemeyer

Person

Edward Stratemeyer

• Tom Swift

October 4, 1862

Edward Stratemeyer was an American publisher, writer of children's fiction and founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate. He is one of the most prolific writers in the world, having penned over 1,300 books and selling more than 500 million Edward Stratemeyer | Children’s author, Series books, Detective stories | Britannica copies.

Key Facts:
Personal Life:

Born October 4, 1862 in Elizabeth, New Jersey; died May 10, 1930 in Newark, New Jersey Edward Stratemeyer | Children’s author, Series books, Detective stories | Britannica
Son of German immigrants who owned tobacco shops
Married Magdalena Van Camp on March 25, 1891. The couple had two daughters: Harriet Stratemeyer Adams (1892–1982) and Edna C. Squier (1895–1974) Edward Stratemeyer | Children’s author, Series books, Detective stories | Britannica

Career Breakthrough:

At age 26, he sold his first story, Victor Horton's Idea, to the children's magazine Golden Days for $76, over six times the average 1888 weekly paycheck Edward Stratemeyer | Children’s author, Series books, Detective stories | Britannica
Started writing while working in his father's tobacco shop

Famous Series He Created:

The Rover Boys (his personal favorite)
Nancy Drew
The Hardy Boys
Tom Swift
The Bobbsey Twins
Many others under various pseudonyms

Revolutionary Business Model:
Stratemeyer formed the Stratemeyer Syndicate in 1905 and hired journalists to write stories based on his ideas. He paid them a flat rate for each book and kept the copyrights to the novels Edward Stratemeyer | Children’s author, Series books, Detective stories | Britannica. This "literary factory" approach allowed him to produce hundreds of books across multiple series simultaneously.
Legacy:
His daughters took over the business after his death, and In 1984 the publisher Simon & Schuster acquired all rights to the Stratemeyer Literary Syndicate - Edward Stratemeyer & the Stratemeyer Syndicate. Many of his series are still being published today, making him arguably the most influential figure in American juvenile fiction.
Stratemeyer essentially created the modern children's series book industry and the concept of shared pseudonyms for ongoing series.