Some sources attribute thousands of invented words to the Bard of Avon. Presumably, not every linguistic invention of his gained as much momentum as the others. What do we know about the way these fresh phrases proliferated through Shakespeare's time? What do we know about how one invented word gained popularity whereas another didn't?
Ok, I think I can provide some insight into this.
My main source is David Crystal, "Think on my words: Exploring Shakespeare's Language", which you should really take a look at if the topic interests you; Crystal is also quite fun to read, so.
There are some things that should be clarified about the idea of Shakespeare inventing words (as other users have pointed out).
So, with all that in mind, we can say that Shakespeare "invented" about 1,700 words. To answer your first question, yes, of course not all these inventions caught on; in fact, only half of them continued to be used, which is still nothing to laugh at. As to why these particular words lived on, in some cases they did because they were already in use (see second point). But aside from that, there probably isn't a definitive answer to that question, as it leans into the realm of why languages evolve the way they do at all; i.e there is no real logic in the way certain morphemes / words / idiomatic phrases fall out of use or survive through time.
Followup - AND are there new words attributed to Shakespeare that were likely not his own creation after more sober scholars have revisited the matter?
It looks like some scholars have been overenthusiastic with their list. Surely, various words just haven't come up yet in surviving written documents, like 'eyeball.' And if you disagree, I will bite my thumb at you.