‘The Hobbit’ Author J.R.R. Tolkien Doesn’t Let a Little Thing Like Death Get in the Way of Cashing Some Royalty Checks

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JRR Tolkien is one of those writers with a fanbase that will eat up just about anything with his name on it. You could shove some dogshit on the street, slap it between two book covers and put his name on it and his fandom would say it's the most important posthumous work of his since 'The Silmilarrion'. And that's why it should come as no surprise that his estate is releasing yet another 'discovered' work forty years after the Lord of the Rings-creator's death. This spring, his unfinished epic poem 'The Fall of Arthur' will be released for sale.

But it's nothing new to capitalize on an author's name and success well past their demise. Publisher's are more than happy to release repurposed short story collections, unpublished works, new authors entirely, anything to keep the cash flowing. Sometimes it borders on the insensitive, not even listing that another author has taken over a deceased one's franchise. So to celebrate JRR's return, here are eight authors just as--if not more--prolific in the afterlife than they were here on earth.