7 Prolific Authors

As an author I am intrigued by how much other authors write. A few weeks ago I wrote a blog post about the longest and shortest amount of time authors have taken to pen a novel. This week’s blog post is devoted to seven of the most prolific English language authors ever.

Enid Mary Blyton (1897-1968) – 800+ Books – This highly productive English writer wrote about subjects as diverse as natural history and the Bible, but she is best remembered for her children’s books, particularly The Famous Five and The Secret Seven. In the early 1950s’ Blyton was publishing more than 50 books a year – a remarkable feat, even if some could be argued to have questionable literary merit (Noddy).

Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) – 468+ books -
Russian born author and professor Isaac Asimov was a prolific writer of both science fiction and science of the non-fiction variety. After the invention of the word processor, Asimov estimated that he published on average 1,700 words a day. The iconic writer is perhaps best remembered for I, Robot, a collection of nine science fiction short stories about interactions between humans and robots.

Barbara Cartland (1901-2000) – 723 books – Not only was Cartland the most prolific writer of historical fiction ever, she also wrote health and cookery books, as well as plays. The British society figure’s prolific output was due in part to her long life. Cartland’s accolades include holding the Guinness World Record for the most novels published in a single year – 23.

Lauran Bosworth Paine – (1916-2001) – 1000 books (approx.) – This American born author’s prodigious writing output consisted largely of Westerns, as well romance, mystery, science fiction and numerous non-fiction titles. Paine had more pen names (70) than most authors have titles. Many of Paine’s books, which were published in the UK, never graced the shelves of bookshops in his native land.

John Creasey (1908-1973) – 600+ books – John Creasey was an English writer of science fiction, Westerns, romance, plays, short stories and books for children, who is best remembered today for his crime novels, many of which have been adapted for television. He used 28 different pseudonyms during his celebrated writing career. Creasey founded the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) in 1953.

Ursula Bloom (1892-1984) – 560 books
- Bloom was an English romance novelist, who was published under numerous pseudonyms. She also wrote non-fiction books and radio plays. Bloom wrote her first book at the tender age of seven and never looked back. At one time the English author was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the British author with the greatest number of published full-length titles.

Kathleen Lindsay – (1903-1973) – 904 Books – Kathleen Lindsay was according to the 1986 version of the Guinness Book of Records, the most prolific novelist in history. Though this remarkable feat has since been surpassed, this prolific English romance author, who used eleven different pseudonyms, still has a place in the hearts of romance writers around the world.