Carolyn Keene

Carolyn Keene is the house name of authors who wrote children’s novels, including all of the various the Nancy Drew series as well as the Dana Girls and River Heights series. The house name was created by the Stratemeyer Syndicate (the same group responsible for the Hardy Boys, Tom Swift , the Rover Boys, the Bobbsey Twins and more) and is most associated with Mildred A. Wirt , who wrote the first Nancy Drew books. Other authors who would later use the house name include Harriet Stratemeyer, James Duncan Lawrence, Walter Karig, Nancy Axelrad, Priscilla Doll, Charles Strong, Alma Sasse, Wilhelmina Rankin, George Waller Jr., Margaret Scherf, and Susan Wittig Albert . At the start, the authors were paid $125 per book, surrendered all rights to the intellectual property and maintained confidentiality.