[BBC] Barbara Cartland, legendary author of 723 romance novels, and 750 million sold

Barbara Cartland, legendary author of 723 romance novels, and 750 million sold

I hope this is not breaking any rules, and if it is, my apologies.

This article, with cool photos and summary, is about Barbara Cartland is listed in Wikipedia as the 3rd best-selling author of all time, behind only Shakespeare and Agatha Christie. She famously wrote a book in a week, dictating 7000 words a day to a trio of literary short-hand secretaries. Her books were quite literally all the same: young 19-yar-old innocent beautiful protagonist goes for 30ish Duke, Baron, or high-ranked military man, brooding and misunderstood. No sex ever and after absurdly over-the-top declarations of love by the man at the end, it ended in a chaste kiss.

In a sense, it says a lot about people worrying that some topic has been done before, or the value of 'originality' and 'uniqueness'. Both are nice and great qualities, but it is the execution that matters far more than anything.

She was a legend not just for her sales, but for the public persona she built long before the advent of social media influencers.