Carolyn Keene is the pseudonym of the authors of the Nancy Drew mystery stories produced by the Stratemeyer Syndicate.  Edward Stratemeyer, founder of the Syndicate, hired writers to write the manuscripts for the Nancy Drew books.  The writers were paid $125 for each book and were required by their contract to give up all rights to the work and to maintain confidentiality.  Writer, Mildred Wirt Benson is credited as the primary writer of Nancy Drew books under the pseudonym pen name, Carolyn Keene. Benson wrote 23 of the original 30 books.  Harriet Adams (Stratemeyer's daughter) rewrote the original books and added new titles after the withdrawal of Benson.  Also involved in the Nancy Drew writing process were Harriet Stratemeyer Adams' daughters who gave input on the series and sometimes helped to choose book titles.

In 1979, the Stratemeyer Syndicate changed publishers to Simon & Schuster, a move that the former publishers, Grosset & Dunlap went to court to prevent, claiming a breach of contract.  The decision was made in favor of the Syndicate stating they could choose which publisher they would like to sue for subsequent entries in the series.  In 1985, the Syndicate was bought by publishers Simon & Schuster.  The Drew books are not handled by Mega-Books, a New York book packager.  

First published in 1930, The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories have sold over 70 million copies and become a cherished part of our cultural landscape.  The teenage sleuth has been a noted inspiration for generations of young women. 

Happy 94th birthday to Nancy Drew! The first volume in the long-running girl detective series, "The Secret of the Old Clock," was published 94 years ago under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene. In a tribute to the iconic sleuth, author Theodore Jefferson writes, “Agency. It is that which forms the foundation for any hero’s ability to save the day. In America, agency for teenage girls in literature made its debut in 1930 in the person of Nancy Drew.” This original Mighty Girl character paved the way for many more heroic female characters and inspired generations of real-life girls and women.

Ghostwritten by Mildred Wirt Benson and later revised by Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, the first volume of Nancy Drew had a huge influence on young readers. Jefferson writes, Nancy Drew provided them with “stories of someone like themselves who had a positive effect on the world instead of passively sitting at home… She is a character with that magical ‘what if’ question woven into her identity, and one that effortlessly captures the imaginations of readers by allowing them to participate in a world where the answers to that question are just as entertaining as the stories themselves.”

At the time, some viewed Nancy Drew as a poor role model, “contradicting adults while she squared off with the villains.  She is mechanically inclined and at the same time doesn’t act like most people in the 1930s would have expected a teenage girl to act.” In fact, many libraries and bookstores refused to carry the Nancy Drew stories. Despite -- or because of that disapproval, kids collected the books voraciously, and in the midst of the Depression, used copies were shared and traded like trading cards are today. As a result, “any kid, even those who couldn’t afford new books, would very likely get to read every adventure starring their favorite character.”

The tremendous influence of Nancy Drew continues to this day states Jefferson.  “It is difficult to overstate how powerful Nancy Drew’s presence remains in literature and in other media. She has influenced film, comics, video games and animation for 94 years, and will continue to do so as long as teenage girls take the lead as our heroes in the imaginative worlds of adventure."

To share your love of the Nancy Drew series with a new generation, we recommend the beautiful box set of the first four classic Nancy Drew books at https://www.amightygirl.com/nancy-drew-mystery-stories

For long-time Nancy Drew fans who dreamed of cracking the case, there's a fantastic new immersive game, "Nancy Drew: Mystery at Magnolia Gardens," for teens and adults, 13 and up, at https://www.amightygirl.com/mystery-at-magnolia-gardens

There is also a 90th Anniversary 10-Book Collection of the Nancy Drew Diaries for ages 8 and up at https://www.amightygirl.com/nancy-drew-diaries-90th-anniversary-collection

For younger children, there is a box set of five Nancy Drew Clue Books, "Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew Collection" for ages 6 to 9 at https://www.amightygirl.com/nancy-drew-clue-crew-collection

For more girl-empowering books starring mystery-solving Mighty Girls for all ages, check out our blog post, “Elementary, My Dear Mighty Girl: 50 Books Starring Mighty Girl Detectives” at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=12393

To read Jefferson's entire essay on The Mary Sue, visit http://bit.ly/1bk0r1o

Above information found on Facebook .. A Mighty Girl. 

Sidenote:  Both the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series spawned from Edward Stratemyer's imagination and were fleshed out by ghost writers writing under the series' pseudonyms Carolyn Keene and Franklin W. Dixon, respectively.  Thus, some of the books may have been written by the same writers. In the beginning of the development of the series, some writers had more influence in the sculpting of the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys characters.  Mildred Wirt Benson and Harriet Stratemeyer Adams are credited with developing many plots and sculpting the character of Nancy Drew.  Leslie McFarlane is credited with writing many of the original Hardy Boys books.