Thursday, September 24, 2020

About Barbara Cartland and prolificiency

 She wrote 723 novels and she holds a Guinness World Records for most novels published in a single year in 1976 (others say 1983) when she published 23 novels.

I haven't been able to find a list of those books, but I have this:

Books published 1977 by Barbara Cartland

Conquered by Love  160 pages
The Dream and the Glory  150 pages
The Mysterious Maid-Servant  165 pages
The Magic of Love  155 pages
Vote for Love  151 pages
The Taming of Lady Lorinda  149 pages
A Rhapsody of Love  154 pages
Kiss the Moonlight  150 pages
Look, Listen and Love  153 pages
Love Locked In  159 pages
The Marquis Who Hated Women  157 pages
The Castle Made for Love  167 pages
The Curse of the Clan  170 pages
The Dragon and the Pearl  153 pages
A Touch of Love  148 pages
The Outrageous Lady  153 pages
Punishment of a Vixen  222 pages
The Hell-Cat and the King  160 pages
Love and the Loathsome Leopard  149 pages
The Love Pirate  167 pages
The Temptation of Torilla  167 pages
The Naked Battle  151 pages
The Wild, Unwilling Wife  152 pages
No Escape from Love  228 pages
The Sign of Love  167 pages
A Duel with Destiny  160 pages

Recipes for Lovers  128 pages
Book of Useless Information  128 pages

that's 4206 pages, and 3950 pages of novels. That's 330 pages a month, 11 pages a day, 2705 words a day

I had forgotten that she wrote a line of pocketbooks (pulp fiction). It's not like she was writing and publishing 10-20 500 page novels a year. 

Corín Tellado published a couple more books 1973...

Aquel pasado
Aquella linda muchacha
Déjame vivir
Digámonos adiós
Un día me di cuenta
Llama a tu marido
Lo sabia
Me caso con mi marido
Me gustaría estar contigo
Mi mujer es una ingenua
Mónica en apuros (en peligro?)
No importa la edad
Te admiré antes
Yo le conozco mejor
Ahora si lo entiendo
Matrimonio en apuros
No sabía que eras tú
Nuestro vecino
Te he conocido antes
Cásate con él, Zulaica
Dime que no llegué tarde
No comprendo a mi mujer
No he venido a buscarte
Peligrosa rivalidad
Solo lo compadecí
Yo te conozco mejor
A bordo viaja el destino
Aquellos besos
El padre de Desi
Él te engaña
La dignidad de tu amor
No importa lo que seas
Prefiero mi independencia
Respeta mi libertad
Sueño imposible
Todo vuelve con él
Ya estoy casada
El destino soy yo
El hijo de mi marido
Me callé por no dañarte
Te admire antes...
Vuelvo a casa
Apasionadamente frívolo
Aquí esta mi esposa
La tía de Katy
No vuelve el recuerdo
Te pido que me comprendas
Antes eras mejor
Aquella estatua
Estabas solo
Intenta convencerme
La segunda esperanza
Mi prima Ann
Raíz amarga
Si no crees en mi verdad
Son rosas para Nancy
Tú entiendes la felicidad
Vengo a buscarle a él
Detrás de la puerta
Junto a ti es fácil olvidar
Las chicas de la estación
Me casé con mi empleado
Me casé con un desconocido
Mi falso novio
No me persigas así
No me venderé nunca
No necesitas decirme nada
Regresa, Eric
Tu orgullo nos separa
Vuelve conmigo
Agencia matrimonial
El destino llegó aquel día
Necesito casarme
No es posible que te cases con él
No te niego mi amor
Tú me enseñaste a vivir
No sé quien soy
Siempre estuve aquí
El tutor de Mauren
Sólo seré novia formal
Estás casado con otra
Mi marido lo sabia
Tengo que abandonarte
Tu vida es una mentira 

These all are 128 page paperbacks (pulp romance), but that's 84 books, 10752 pages, 896 pages a month, 30 pages a day, 7365 words a day... (Though I highly suspect there were a lot fewer words on a page of these pulp romance novels... like half the words.)

Rolf Kalmuczak had more than 100 pseudonyms, wrote some 160 youth books, 36 film scripts, 170 paperback crime novels, and 200 booklet-novels during his 40 active years. (I suspect they might have been "novelettes", with less than 100 pages)

Novelette 7,500-17,500 words (30-70 pages)
Novella 17,500-40,000 words (70-160 pages)
Novel 40,000+ words (160+ pages)

Isaac Asimov published these books in 1975

Of Matters Great and Small 320 pages
The Solar System 32 pages
Our Federal Union: The United States from 1816 to 1865 304 pages
How Did We Find Out About Comets? 64 pages
Science Past, Science Future 431 pages
Buy Jupiter and Other Stories 196 pages
Eyes on the Universe: A History of the Telescope 274 pages
Lecherous Limericks 208 pages
The Heavenly Host 96 pages
The Ends of the Earth: The Polar Regions of the World 363 pages
How Did We Find Out About Energy? 64 pages

11 books, 2352 pages, 196 pages a month, 6,5 pages a day, 1611 words a day


"The largest literary production line in the world, according to the Guinness Book itself, belongs to a 66-year-old doctor from São Paulo called Ryoki Inoue. There are 1100 works published with more than 39 pseudonyms, as required by the editors, since 1986, when he wrote his first book - a western with the title Colts by McLee.


“He produces entire chapters during his trips to the bathroom,” says Wall Street Journalist Matt Moffet, who spent a whole day with him in the 1990s to see him write a 210-page novel from end to end called Sequestro Fast Food."

One day, 210 pages... Now, that's fast! :-D


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