The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-05-18

The latest American novelist to
mount. American fashion, rocket-like
into national view is Herbert Kauf-
man, of New York city, whose highly
romantic story, 1.-THE Stolen Throne, .
has recently started it's career with
the sort of rush which lands novels in
the best selling lists. Like many 9TH
err successful novelists, his school was
the newspaper. For some years after
his graduation at Johns Hopkins he
was identified with newspaper pub
fishing in Washington and, later,
worked his way northward, through
Philadelphia to New York.
Though only in the early thirties he
has organized a number of remark
ably successful enterprises at home
and abroad, and lately has devoted
himself largely to the production of
the forthcoming Review of Reviews
Encyclopedia For long time he was
the American adviser for c. Arthur
Pearson of London, the largest news
paper and magazine publisher in
Europe, but resigned this to embark
in a new magazine enterprise of con-
siderable Importance and novelty. The
remarkable success of his first ven
ture in fiction is, therefore, no surprise
to his friends; his career has been one
to make them expect success. He is
tall and slender and fair. He talks with
great rapidity and some gesticulatiOn.
His ideas follow each other with a
ton of his hearers.
Mr.. Kaufman's novel was written in
collaboration with May Isabel Fisk,
whose humorous monologues have
some years past. The story is of the
highly romantic type and is crammed
with adventure. 1t suggests both
Anthony Hope and Stanley Weyman
but resembles neither.
Very few first novels start the way
1.-THE Stolen Throne" did, with three
large editions before the book could be
considered fairly launched. The first
was exhausted week before publica-
ton and the second was nearly sold
before it began to come in
from the bindery 1t took
the third edition to get anywhere
near even with the rush of early or
ders Attempting to meet orders as
nearly as possible, the publishers were
not able to spare the usual review
copies for the newspapers until the
second edition was practically "out"
and the third in sight
And this, it will be noted, was not
due to the publicity of serial publica-
tion or a celebrated name. The first
edition sold to the booksellers on its
handsome appearance and the repre-
sentation of the publishers that it was,
in their belief, book of unusual quail
ity. The book itself did the rest 1t
had been written in the belief that 1t |
would meet a popular demand, and 1t |
met H. InoSe VINO pougnt the nrSt ed |
ition because of its great beauty, or its |
of interest. or the advice of |
the bookseller, or because they were |
attracted by the initial advertising,
read it and were enthusiastic. They
talked about 1t to their friends and |
their friends bought 1t. These. in turn, |
talked to their friends and they bought /
It. These, In turn, praised 1t and their |
friends bought it. And so THE Stol- |
en- Throne" was duly started on its l
career of success.
story of the success OF very popular I
novels. The appearance of the book
has a good deal to do with the initial /
sales, and the advertising OF it has a
great deal more to do with what fol-
ows. But In the end IT is the story it.
self that determines whether asnovel
shall sell one or twenty editions. |
whether it shall be one of the innum-