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IAP Political Forum > Social Discussions > Books and Literature > The Ludlum Conspiracy! What do you think?
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Author Topic: The Ludlum Conspiracy! What do you think?  (Read 590 times)
Jericoacoara
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« on: September 21, 2007, 03:21:45 PM »
One of the most popular fiction writers is Robert Ludlum, author of the Bourne Identity and other related Bourne Novels. On the back of the box office success with the Bourne movies, he has had success with his recent books, The Janson Directive, The Tristan Betrayal, The Ambler Warning and The Bancroft Strategy. All have turned out to be best sellers.

A really great effort. Even more great considering that the author Robert Ludlum, has been dead for the past 7 years!!

Which causes me to instantly have two questions;

1)Is it ethical for a publisher to publish a book under the name of an author who has deceased?

2)Given that ghostwriters can mirror image Robert Ludlum's style without his avid readers picking up any difference, how do we know that all of Robert Ludlums previous books wern't ghost written?


You may ask why they would publish books in the name of someone who has died. A very simple answer, money. The Bourne success has seen Ludlums name increase in millions. His name is worth a fortune to any book.People will buy a book just for that name. So there is a real commerical motivation in having the writer live on, even if he is dead. If you know what I mean.

So, what do you think about this? Is it unethical? Or is it not important, and a book should be judged by its content?

Interested to read peoples opinions on this. Smiley
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thief
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« Reply #1 on: September 21, 2007, 04:44:30 PM »
1) I think it is ethical I imagine Mr. Ludlum must have written the books before his death and the Publisher has decided to either Publish because of his success with Bourne or republish them. I also imagine they must have either already financial compensated him or if he works on a royalty basis the Royalties are going to his offspring. Either way not a bad thing.

2) If they are ghost writing the novels, I think that is unethical, deceiving the populace in general is definitely unethical.
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illhumanoddity
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« Reply #2 on: September 25, 2007, 01:52:39 PM »
Quote from: thief on September 21, 2007, 04:44:30 PM
1) I think it is ethical I imagine Mr. Ludlum must have written the books before his death and the Publisher has decided to either Publish because of his success with Bourne or republish them. I also imagine they must have either already financial compensated him or if he works on a royalty basis the Royalties are going to his offspring. Either way not a bad thing.

2) If they are ghost writing the novels, I think that is unethical, deceiving the populace in general is definitely unethical.

Either way the fans eat it up.
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Jericoacoara
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« Reply #3 on: October 13, 2007, 11:42:32 AM »
Quote from: thief on September 21, 2007, 04:44:30 PM
1) I think it is ethical I imagine Mr. Ludlum must have written the books before his death and the Publisher has decided to either Publish because of his success with Bourne or republish them. I also imagine they must have either already financial compensated him or if he works on a royalty basis the Royalties are going to his offspring. Either way not a bad thing.

2) If they are ghost writing the novels, I think that is unethical, deceiving the populace in general is definitely unethical.

There is no question the post Ludlum death books have been ghost written. And it is with Ludlums consent as well, as he instructed his estate before his death, to have ghost writers write new novels to keep the Ludlum books being churned out.

Whether this is to keep his name carried on(an ego thing), or a revenue raiser for the estate to keep providing an income for his dependents, I am not sure. Could be a bit of both.

It is certainly not a legal question, as I understand it. But IMO it is an ethical one. Is it false advertising? If you buy a product on the supermarket saying "made in america", you expect it to be made in america. You would feel cheated if it wasn't. So how do readers feel when they buy a Robert Ludlum book, that wasn't even written by him?

I should say, that in this case it is Ludlum, but he is not the only name which this is ahappening to. I would think it would be a fairly common trade practice, unfortunately.
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« Reply #4 on: October 16, 2007, 08:23:23 AM »
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1)Is it ethical for a publisher to publish a book under the name of an author who has deceased?

Maybe we should ask L. Ron Hubbard?
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