> Doesn't it work the other way also? IIRC, John
Jakes' very successful
series
> that began with the Bastard was thought up an
commmisioned by a prominent
> agent/editor whose name escapes me now (could it be
Lyle Wagoner?) who
> made a mistake by letting Jakes' name appear as the
author. When the
series
> became successful Jakes was able to control it, but
he would have been
> unable to if the author was given a house
name.
> Mark
The book packager involved was Lyle Kenyon Engel. (Lyle
Wagoner was on the Carol Burnett Show and played Steve Trevor
in Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman TV series.) Now, I'm going to
have to throw in some "allegedlys" and
"hearsays", just to cover my rear end, but I was told by
someone in a position to know that the American Bicentennial
Series (which later became the Kent Family Chronicles when it
ran past the Bicentennial) was created and the first book
outlined by an author other than Jakes, who got the job when
the original author backed out because of other committments.
(The guy must still be kicking himself for that.) I believe
there was some litigation between Jakes and Engel to
determine just who controlled which rights, but I don't know
the outcome of that.
Best, James
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