Literary Legacy

The next generation of authors stepping into the worlds of Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum, and Vince Flynn share what it takes to write estate novels.

- BY JESSICA STRAWSER

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan. Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne. Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp. Once in a magical while, along comes a character who is so larger-than-life, so universally beloved, he outlives the author who created him. For the next generation of authors tapped to tell more of those stories, this isn't merely a career-changing opportunity: It's a dream come true.

Yet authors who write for literary estates are often misunderstood. Skeptics grumble about publishers “cashing in” on big names after they're gone. More awkwardly, some readers don't realize the original author is no longer living. (Brian Andrews, who's co-authored Jack Ryan novels with Jeffrey Wilson, has had multiple readers approach him at events, gushing, “Mr. Clancy, you're my favorite author.” He's not the only estate writer who's had to break it to a reader gently.)

You might be pleasantly surprised to learn estate novels often have much more to do with honoring the original authors’ wishes—and helping their families pay tribute—than with a third party’s payday. Clancy, for instance, had a big hand in what Jack Ryan’s future would look like, greenlighting his first estate writer, Mark Greaney, when he was still alive. Andrews points out that for every legacy series that begins with an author’s death, there are also authors like Lee Child, who recently tapped his brother Andrew to take over writing Jack Reacher.